My Nystagmus Story

My name is Alex Rojakovick; I am fourteen years old and am currently in the 8th grade center based gifted program. I was diagnosed with nystagmus at a very young age and have lived with nystagmus my entire life. I have worn glasses for as long as I can remember. Yet even with nystagmus, I can still do many activities like playing basketball, biking, playing video games with my friends, and going on hikes. I also really enjoy being in the water and have been swimming in the pool and ocean for my entire life. 

One worry I used to have was learning, but I have been able to use many resources such as a touchscreen chromebook and upfront seating in class. Because of this I have been able to succeed in school and got a place in the CBG program at my middle school. CBG stands for Center Based Gifted and is a specialty program where you can take all advanced classes with other kids who excel in school. I have been in the CBG for three years now and have really enjoyed it. In addition, I was recently accepted into a high school specialty program – The International Baccalaureate Program.  I have also just begun a part time job cutting grass for four different yards. One quick way for me to make sure I don’t miss any spots is to walk the perimeter of the yard looking for any potential missed areas.

I don’t let nystagmus control my life. I enjoy doing many fun activities and am looking forward to the future.

Personally, nystagmus can vary in intensity for me. Here are some of the ways I use to keep nystagmus at the lowest impact. The first and one of the most important things to do when you have nystagmus is to get a good night’s sleep — about nine to ten hours. Being rested helps keep my eyes from being tired and moving faster or straining. Another method is taking frequent breaks when concentrating for long periods of time. Giving your eyes a minute of downtime after reading or focusing for a long time can really alleviate stress on the eyes and can let them regain focus. One more method is to always blow up text when possible! Bigger text size can make a massive difference for me and it makes reading much easier on my eyes. 

Written by Alex Rojakovick