Yvonne Shortt on Growing Through Vision Loss

Grow Through It: Health Issues & Illness

Yvonne Shortt has had Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) all her life, but was not diagnosed until she was in her 30s. The condition is hereditary. Since no one in her family had it, she simply adapted to her vision differences, including night blindness as a child. She had no idea that anything was really wrong until she started to experience blind spots and symptoms of vision loss in her 30s, and was diagnosed with RP. She got through it by processing it over time, sharing it with colleagues, with the support of her family, and by mutual care-giving. She learned how adaptable and resilient she is as a visually impaired person, and recommends that newly diagnosed people reach out to RP support groups on Facebook, which were very helpful to her. She acknowledges how scary it is to lose your vision and encourages anyone with RP to know that they are not alone, and they will get through it.