Author: Zeme Davey Ross

Three years ago, I launched Esme’s Umbrella at the House of Commons to raise awareness of Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) and to fund research into this distressing condition. Named after my late mother, for whom CBS tormented her final years with multiple hallucinations, Esme’s Umbrella – which is still just me – has moved apace and today I am hosting the world’s first Charles Bonnet Syndrome Patient Day at Moorfields Eye Hospital. CBS has been acknowledged by ophthalmologists and optometrists since Charles Bonnet first documented his grandfather’s experience of vivid, silent, visual hallucinations in 1760, but it has always...

I’m Darren and I work in the Technology Services team at Thomas Pocklington Trust. From the perspective of a blind person with a professional interest in the field of technology, I cannot overemphasise the positive impact that using a white cane has brought to my life. At a time when driverless cars, automated recognition apps and a range of accessible navigation solutions are emerging, it really is hard to overlook the importance of perhaps the most revolutionary invention enhancing independent living for the blind and partially sighted people of the twentieth century. A bit more about me – I...

I’m Barbara Smith, I am a representative of the Kingston Visual Impairment Parliament as MP for Independence. We are a group of blind and partially sighted residents who raise awareness of issues for people living with sight loss, and we campaign for a more inclusive community. I use a symbol cane when I go out to the shops or travel on public transport, which includes buses, trains and the London Underground. A symbol cane is a small white cane that a blind or partially sighted person holds to let people around them know that they are partially sighted. It...

I am the senior employment manager at Thomas Pocklington Trust and have been registered blind since I was 11. On World Sight Day, I want to show that with a few minor adaptions, my life is pretty similar to anyone else’s. My day starts at 6:00. Hauling myself out of bed is always a struggle but my partner Charlie and I have a pet greyhound called Jammy and his barking is an alarm you just can’t snooze through – when that pooch wants his food, you’d better make a move! Time is tight in the morning, so Charlie and...

My name is Cathy Low and my experience of sight loss started in adolescence when I was diagnosed with an incurable, inherited, degenerative eye condition called Stargardt disease which results in central vision loss. I have some peripheral vision but cannot see anything if I look straight ahead. I cannot see detail, read without assistive technology or recognise people even when they are very close to me. Despite this, I have been the CEO of London Vision for the past year. I am probably amongst the minority of people who can genuinely say I love my job. At London...

I was diagnosed with the eye condition coloboma at 3 months old, and as a result, I have never known what it is like to have good sight. Coloboma is when part of the eye does not develop properly during pregnancy. It usually affects the iris, lens, or, in my case the retina. A large part of my retina is missing. It is most notable in my right eye because the pupil is small. I have very little vision, but I can see the outlines of objects and people. I have more sight in my left eye and this...