🌟We’re so excited to introduce our October Stargardt’s Star, Emily Miles 🌟
Since her diagnosis, Emily has not only completed her GCSE’s but achieved top marks in her A Levels and has now gone on to study an undergraduate degree in Classics at the University of Liverpool. Emily’s favourite hobbies are knitting and crocheting which she says has brought her great joy and escape over the years. Emily also supports Stargardt’s Connected and our young community members by leading some of our Young People’s Zoom sessions.
Emily has expressed incredibly eloquently: “Recently, it has begun to confuse me as to why sight loss is perceived with a negative stigma around it. When I tell someone close to me that I have a visual impairment, their reaction is often that of reducing me to the stereotypical ‘blind’ box (whatever that may be), or seeing my diagnosis before seeing the things that make me who I am. One of the reasons I find this so jarring is partly because of the degree that I’m currently working towards. As a Classics student, I sometimes feel as though I live one foot in the modern world, and one foot in antiquity. Sometimes, I think that the ancient authors had a better way of seeing a person for themselves and their skills rather than as a result of their eyesight (or lack thereof). Whether it’s blind prophets acting as key figures in Euripidean drama, or talented singers described in flowing verse as having a voice so wonderful that the price they had to pay for their skill was with their vision, these ancient authors got one thing right; blindness is not the end of the story, but merely part of it. I have defiantly refused to be reduced to what people think I should be as a young woman with a visual impairment.”
Emily’s advice: “Change how you see the adversity that you have been through. There is so much power in claiming strength from something other people try and tell you is weakness”.
🌟Keep shining Emily - you are an absolute star and truly amazing 🌟
PD1: Emily in a purple t-shirt, pink hat and sunglasses standing by some ancient ruins.
PD2: Emily sitting on the lovely beach and knitting.
#StargardtsConnected #Stargardts #LivedExperience
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