Kat’s Corner: Introducing Myself / My Visual Impairment Journey My name is Kat, and I view the world in a unique way, both in terms of my mindset and how I see things visually. I love my life. I’m grateful for my mom, my best friends, my soul sister, my cat, my job, my mind, fidgets, talented actors in TV shows, all the incredible people in my life, evolving technology, music, my creativity, my room, delicious food, my home, and my good health. Life is insane; it can be messy, hard, and annoying. That’s why I always try to think about everything I’m grateful for, even and especially if it’s something small. It helps me stay positive and happy.
When I was just a baby, I was diagnosed with two significant disabilities: cerebral palsy and cortical cerebral visual impairment. CP doesn’t affect me as much, aside from occasional balance issues and weaknesses on my right side, but visual impairment is still a big part of my life today.
Cortical cerebral visual impairment (CCVI) is a brain-based visual impairment. To put it in simple words, as I often tell the young children I work with, my brain doesn’t like to work correctly with my eyes. My vision isn’t like everyone else’s, and it can’t be fully corrected by lenses like contacts or glasses since it’s not an issue with the eyes themselves, but with the brain.
I see everything around me, and I definitely see it better now than I did when I was little. I just see it differently. For example, I can tell you that a room has a table, a chair, or a window. But I can’t tell you what’s on the table, who’s sitting in the chair, or what’s outside the window without getting closer. Having little to no peripheral vision on my right side is a challenge I navigate.
I also have something called a lack of depth perception, so I can’t always tell how far or close something is. This can lead to some interesting and sometimes funny situations, like bumping into a pole, running into a table, or going in for a hug with a random stranger because I thought they were my mom. Moments like that happen, and you just have to laugh them off because that’s my life. In fact, please laugh with me if something like that happens. It makes me feel more normal and happier that you get my sense of humor.
Sometimes the world looks 2-D to me, and if I enter a new room I’ve never seen before with lots of movement or unfamiliar objects, my eyes have a hard time adjusting to all the different kinds of motion in the space.
I’ve learned to adapt to my world by doing things differently. I rely on my incredible memory, sharp hearing, and strong intuition. I can immediately tell who’s pulling into my driveway just by the pitch of their car engine, something no one else in my family seems to notice.
One of the things I’m most grateful for as a result of my visual impairment is the incredibly talented and kind people I’ve gotten the opportunity to connect with throughout the years. It’s hard to learn and be in school with a disability, but no matter the stage in elementary school, middle school, high school, or now college, I’ve always felt like I had guardian angels watching over me and making sure I had the support I needed to succeed.
I got to work one-on-one with amazing therapists who genuinely cared about me. When I reached high school, I really began to understand how lucky I’ve been over the years. I continued to have incredible case managers and teachers who wanted to help, and I formed meaningful relationships with amazing people, some of whom I’m still close to today. There’s one person I think about in particular. She was my case manager for just one year, but she became more than a support person. She became one of the closest people in my life, and we now share a deep and incredible bond.
Even now, being in college, I still carry some of the anxiety I had about transitioning into a new environment. But learning that there was a transition program connected to my high school, and that there were even more incredible people on the college campus ready to support me, was a true gift. When I was in middle school, one of my orientation and mobility teachers introduced me to a YouTuber, who is blind, named Molly Burke. I have been watching her ever since. She's someone who inspires me but also makes me laugh and feel less alone on specific topics. In early 2025, she actually responded to one of my DMs, which was a very nice and sweet surprise!
I’ve had the chance to try many kinds of accessibility tools and assistive technology, and people have gone above and beyond to provide what I need. I am so grateful for technology evolving and things like text-to-speech and speak-to-text that I literally can’t live without. The key here is to be grateful, even in a world that might seem uncertain or hard to see.
