Living with nystagmus - How do I do it?

Tomorrow, November 2nd, is also known as Wobbly Wednesday every year, it is a day aimed at raising awareness around nystagmus, which is put simply, involuntary movement of the eyes.

I have had nystagmus since I was a baby and it has bought about challenges for sure, but I learned to live with it from a young age, in junior school I had an external person come in and do eye exercises with me whilst all my friends were in class - bonus!

How do I work a full-time digital-only job with this condition? It can be hard at times, my eyes can get really tired but that is why I make adjustments to my day-to-day work:

• I have disabled the auto-brightness on my MacBook, the fluctuating levels play havoc with my eyes, especially on a sunny day.
• I have my contrast up quite high on my laptop and my external screen, the warm tones are easier on my eyes
• I ensure I take breaks to stretch my eyes, I look out of the window at a far away object for a minute or two, just anything to get my eyes away from the screen
• After work, when I go on my phone, I turn on my “night shift” and “true tone” settings as it is much easier on my tired eyes.

Not too informed about the condition? Not many people are, it only effects 1 in 1,000 people so knowledge is not very widespread, here are some of my favorite resources:

RNIB: https://www.rnib.org.uk/your-eyes/eye-conditions-az/nystagmus/

Nystagmus Network : https://nystagmusnetwork.org/

I hope this helps to raise awareness around the condition, if you have any questions or you too have nystagmus, I would love to connect with you!