My Nystagmus Story
My name is Anna Rojakovick. I am twelve years old and have nystagmus. I am in the gifted program at Swift Creek Middle School. Even though I have nystagmus, it doesn’t hold me back. I was diagnosed with nystagmus as a baby. Honestly, sometimes I forget I have nystagmus. Some people think that your eyes constantly moving is always noticeable, but I have discovered that when I am calm and rested my eyes slow almost to a stop. I am very thankful I have a milder case than others, but nystagmus isn’t always in the way of doing things. A tip is to get a lot of sleep. That doesn’t mean sleep 14 hours, but compared to my friends I may need an extra hour or two. When your eyes are rested, they move much slower. The less you sleep, the more the eyes will move.
For six years I took dance; I did jazz, tap and ballet. Sometimes it was hard to keep up but once you memorize the movements it gets easier. Dance is one of the sports I can do. I have found that sports with small balls are harder for me, because it’s difficult to track them. One of my other hobbies is art. In 4th grade I took art after school and had two of my pieces featured in an art contest. This year in middle school, my elective is art. I enjoy doing art because it is up close so you can see it easily but it also is very calming and therapeutic. I don’t compete in any sports, although I participate in gym and play some non-competitive sports at home. I like to run, ride my bike, play basketball and swim. In summer I love going to the pool with my friends. Even in winter I won’t hesitate to jump into 42 degree water – I love the Polar Bear Plunge!
Nystagmus is just a word. It may be with you forever, but you shouldn’t let it stop you from doing what you love.
In school I’m an A/B student who is in the gifted program. We use chromebooks a lot in school. When I was younger I would use a laptop, which has a screen that is a little bigger than a chromebook. Now I have a touch screen chromebook. This is very helpful because I can zoom in on documents. Right now I’m in virtual school, because of Covid-19. One helpful thing is when I’m in a Google Meet, I am allowed to turn off my camera so I can look closer at the screen. Over the years, I’ve found many tips with school. Don’t be afraid to ask a teacher to sit closer to the board. I prefer the left side front because of my null point. I tend to tilt my head up and to the right. So sitting left and front works better. Another tip I picked up is asking for an enlarged copy of worksheets. On computers you can zoom in but not so much with paper. Especially in math I like to have enlarged copies. Sometimes the numbers are too small, so I mistake a number for another. After school I usually hang out with friends and work on homework. This is also the time when I go and play basketball with my brother, who also has nystagmus.
Written by Anna Rojakovick