Simon’s Sightline Story

Simon’s
Sightline Story

I’ve been speaking to one of my Sightline befriendees for about six months now. We were matched due to him having trust issues and both having similar sight loss journeys. We got on well quite quickly; he felt he didn’t have to explain what it’s like to be visually impaired on a daily basis as I could already understand how he feels.

He is 36 years old and told me about his life experiences so far. When he was 7 years old, he lost sight in one of his eyes. As he grew up, he went to a mainstream school and was bullied a lot. He was told by teachers that he wouldn’t amount to anything and this understandably affected him a lot.

When he was 16, he asked different agencies and organisations for help gaining employment, but this never happened. Throughout his life he thought of many things he could do for employment but was somewhat limited to achieve these, due to numerous other health conditions.

Throughout his life he thought of many things he could do for employment but was somewhat limited to achieve these, due to numerous other health conditions.

As our calls progressed over the weeks and months, we talked of my job as a Counsellor. I recall one time I was speaking to him, and he said he had some good news to share. He told me he had enrolled in college to train as a counsellor.

I could tell how excited he was and as the weeks went on his confidence was really starting to grow and he explained how much he loves learning. He is also making new friends whereas before he was always stuck at home.

Personally, I feel privileged to be able to speak to people who are visually impaired and be a part of their journey to better things.