22-year-old Ashwin, a resident of Chikmagalur in Karnataka was diagnosed with retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition at an early age. But his vision remained intact till he completed his Civil Engineering.
Ashwin was ecstatic when he was selected for an internship opportunity by a Bangalore based company soon after completing his education. With this new prospect he was positive about a bright future, almost forgetting about his eye condition. Ashwin was on top of the world when the same company offered him a full time employee role after six months of interning. He was focused on working diligently to prove his worth. Unfortunately, a year into the job, Ashwin’s vision started deteriorating rapidly making it difficult for him to function effectively.

Distraught by the unpleasant development, Ashwin was on the verge of giving up work when while searching the internet for solutions, he came across Eyeway toll-free number. He reached out to Eyeway Helpdesk counsellor in Karnataka, who assured him of all possible support and convinced Ashwin to undergo rehabilitation. Despite receiving support from his employer and colleagues, Ashwin had begun to feel like a burden. The counsellor introduced him to screen reader softwares that enables blind and visually impaired people to use computers as writing and reading tools to carry out their work independently.

The counsellor also informed him about screen magnifiers which help in increasing the size of the text to facilitate easy reading for persons with low vision. Ashwin requested his employer for these assistive tools and his employer readily arranged it.

Ashwin now performs to his potential. Going forward, he is keen to focus on people centric jobs like human resource management. To help him build on his future aspirations, he was also advised to enroll for employability training at Eyeway’s partner organization, Enable India.

Irreversible vision loss often has a negative effect on a person’s mental health and quality of life. Timely intervention through counselling and rehabilitation can help people overcome obstacles to their well-being.