I Am Legally Blind

Hi, my name is Sally. I'm currently 16 years old. I have Peters' Anomaly, which is glaucoma, aniridia (a rare disorder where iris fails to develop from the very birth) and nystagmuses (this is when you can't control your eye movements). Basically, I'm severely short sighted and can't control my eyes moving from side to side. I can't see far away, only really close up. I'm legally blind and have been like this since birth.

I can see people but I can't pick out features like eye color - I have to be very close otherwise it's blurry.

I have to pick out my friends by their voices. I can't read off a blackboard at school and when I read a book it has to be a few centimeters from my face. I have bad peripheral vision and I don't have any depth of perception, so I can't tell stairs or uneven ground.

I fall over lots but generally I'm ok getting around.

Being blind used to bother me, but now I have just accepted it. Over the years my eyesight has stayed pretty much the same. I used to wear glasses but they were really thick and they didn't help me much, so I haven't worn them since I was eight. I can't wear contact lenses because I have had cornea transplants. I used to walk with cane when I was 13, but I ditched it after a year because people would stare.

My family is great, and if I can't do something, someone will always help me out. I have an older sister Kylie, and two younger sisters, Abby and Emily, who can see fine.

I love to cook and a few times I've turned on the wrong hot plate and burned my hand. I also have to sit really close to the TV.

My friends treat me like everyone else and that's how I want it to be. We go shopping, go to the movies and hang out. When I watch the movie I miss the smaller details. I swim at the beach, but when I get dumped it gets a bit scary.

If I see a guy at a party that I think might be cute, I'll go and talk to him and use my eyesight as an excuse. I've met some great friends by doing it.

I always embarrass myself, like one day after school we went to Red Rooster. I was walking down the steps and there was a bunch of guys at the bottom. I missed the bottom one and nearly fell flat on my face. The guys looked and my friends laughed. I couldn't believe I missed it because I walked down those stairs every day.

I can't really play sport, but I play basketball with my friends about once a week even though it's scary when people start throwing balls. I've been hit in the nose a number of times because people throw it to me thinking I'll see it. I'll never be able to drive and I was so sad when I turned sixteen and could get to drive a car.

I have had at least eight operations that I can remember. When I go into an operation I never think I'll come out and be able to see at all.

I'm so used to not seeing. I would like to be able to see one day, but I'm not going to sit around and wait for it to happen. I just live and enjoy life the way I can...