#stargardts

My family and I are walking fourteen miles in March to raise money for Moorfield’s Eye Charity. I go into more details on the page, but here’s an excerpt explaining why it’s so important;

Stargardt's is the most common genetic macular condition affecting children and young people. I am incredibly lucky to have a supportive and loving group of family and friends who have helped me through this. But there are children being diagnosed with this, and other, eye conditions who have no idea what the future has in store for them. They're lost in the dark and desperately need someone to take their hand and guide them to what can still be a bright and beautiful future.

It's rare to find such a supportive place to work.

My mother is legally blind and has Stargardts, so this isn't new to me by any means at all. She's the type you will see with sunglasses and a cane due to the stage her stargadts is.

Mine is in the very early stages, known as stage one so I just see small blurry or hazy shapes and white speckles or floaties in my central vision. But it was surprising to find out as late as 26 that I have it.

The tiny dots and gold flecks is Stargardts.

Possible Spoiler Alert for “Drama Sighted”! 

Today(October 17th 2019) I(Margot) privately screened our first film “Drama Sighted” to teach about education and accommodations for disabled students like we did in April 2019. https://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/184588551231/spring-2019-screenings  During the Q&A, we discussed Individual Education Programs(IEPs), bullying and Invisible Disability. One student commented that she noticed the main character named Brandon internalized anger from being bullied and become angry himself, and angry at himself when in reality, it was not Brandon’s fault. Another student commented that people with disabilities wanted to be “noticed” and not have their disability ignored, and guessed that Brandon had his Cerebral Palsy ignored in the past before meeting Lisa. One person noticed how the female students at the beginning of the film liked Brandon at first but then turned on him. They thought the girls, Tina and Maggie, turning on Brandon was a very realistic depiction of bullying. Some people were inspired to share about their own disability experiences with things like ADHD, diabetes, and injuries, and some students shared stories about meeting deaf and intellectually disabled people who they thought had not been disabled at all at initially. We got into the topic of sensory overload and speech impairment, along with some of the frustration that comes along with those conditions, in some disabled students. We discussed safety for disabled students in emergency situations in school environments, and how teachers should never attempt to diagnose students on their own. 

We have more private screenings planned for later this month.