We are sharing your stories of nystagmus to help raise awareness of the condition.
You can share your story here
This is Savannah’s story
Savannah’s Congenital Nystagmus was noticed by the Public Health Nurse at her 3 month check-up. She referred her to CUH Opthalmology and it was confirmed Congenital Nystagmus at around 6 months old. It never really affected her as a baby apart from not being able to see us from across the room. She would just follow our voices or her toys would have to be placed close to her. Even now she has her own little ways of making things easier for herself!
Savannah successfully completed 2 years of preschool with very few obstacles or problems and is now just finishing Junior Infants. At school Savannah has a lot of support from both her wonderful teacher and her amazing SNA, Helen. She also has a magnifier which was kindly granted to her from NCBI which makes life a lot easier as she can see the board and books and anything around the classroom from her desk just like all her friends, who are all so kind and patient and understanding with her. They don’t see her as visually impaired, they just see her as Savannah.
Back in April Savannah took part in a Para Athletics Event in the Mardyke Arena, Cork where she achieved first place in her race. She ran it completely unaided.
She is a bubbly, happy little girl who doesn’t let her visual impairment stop her from trying anything! Savannah is very open about the fact that she has Nystagmus and isn’t afraid to ask for help when she needs it.
Hospital appointments, regular eye tests, several eye infections are all normal day to day life for Savannah and she takes it all in her stride.
