I went to mainstream school as a totally blind kid in the UK in the 1990's and early 2000's. I had a fantastic experience. My home life was nothing to write home about, but I was fortunate to be gifted where I wanted to be in terms of academics. I excelled at English, languages, the sciences, and when it eventually became a thing computers. My peer group at primary level were all curious and interested in my adaptations (which was paper Braille for most everything at that time, until a gigantic computer came along). At secondary level, the year group above me took me under their wing, the theory being that they were already familiar with the way things worked at high school and so they could smooth the path. My support was a one-to-one assistant, who was available to me as much as needful. In practice, this meant that the lessons where I could type, read, or otherwise manage on my own she was free to go off and transcribe my paper Braille or prepare upcoming lessons. The need for this grew less as technology stepped-up and, for my last 2 years of study (before my GCSE exams), I pretty much did everything apart from longhand calculus digitally, on 3.5 inch floppy disks.

Socially, life was tremendous: I spent my evenings with friends playing computer games, or lazing in treehouses or gardens snogging girls, drinking cheep cider and so on. Weekends were reserved for trips to the city to watch movies or buy computer games, books or videos. It was about an hour away on the train, but that gave us all a sense of freedom and excitement and distance from the mundanity of our weekly school lives.

I was a foster kid who was seen as "just wanting attention" for saying I was struggling to see. I remember one instance I was pulled out of math class to get yelled at in the hall by my science teacher for going to the principal for begging to be put in the front so I could SEE even slightly to try to take notes after begging her for weeks and her refusing because it would mess up her "alphabetical" seating chart. She was upset that I got her in trouble.

It was seen as, if I was truly legally blind that it would have been mentioned when I was placed into foster care at age 15 because it would have been known by my parents. Nope. My parents were extremely neglectful and abusive too. I'd just get abused for not being able to locate objects/not cleaning something well.

Age 18 I finally took MYSELF to an eye doctor and got answers.

This will be multi part because it’s such a long thing.Totally blind since like 8 years old but since my vision was so poor they treated me as if I was totally blind from when I entered schools. I am from California United states.


I wasn’t fully mainstreamed until 4th grade, if my father would have found out how I was treated he’d have it put to a stop much earlier. As it was he was upset. And had me repeat the 4th grade and said you have to mainstream her. Yes you can pull her out but it cant be 30 percent in the classroom and 70% in the vision room. No it doesn’t work that way, and you’re not going to do that.

I learnt braille and everything else by then and had limited access to the classroom until the 4th grade. The first try they put me in a slow people class in a 4th and 5th grade class. My father was furious! Why did you do this. What are you saying about my daughter.

Second try in 4th grade and fifth grade I was just really not down for school and kind of bored. I don’t know if I really liked the idea of school and was probably too smart for my own good. Days felt really long. I had some cases of bullying. But I got stronger for it and would always tell the teachers who didn’t always care.

In fifth grade I decided I wanted to be student body president and ran for it and actually won. I said in my speech wouldn’t you want your first totally blind student body president?

In high school I found out after I left they set up a competition in the vision room, the story was told that I was student body president and that they were trying to beat me out. I don’t know if they were ever successful.

If I was to be honest I was very shocked myself I expected to be really disappointed and upset and then for asb president my name was called. Wait they really said prag right?



I guess you want approval from your asb president so no they didn’t bully me anymore, which was a relief. I was the person who got a lot of attention.

Home life wasn’t amazing. I wasn’t encouraged specifically to play with the other kids and they didn’t want me to join them. Not even the younger kids. The children my own age yeah, didn’t really want me either. We lived in apartments and every other kid got along and was playing with each other but me. I also wanted and fancied I was a leader and wanted to help lead the group.

In elementary school I had a desk with a desk next to it. My father wanted a l shaped desk for me. Like in the vision room or an even bigger one.

I had a brailler, a brailenote after 4th grade I started out with the classic braillenotes. I used braille books and that was about it. I had an one on one aid ever since I was mainstreamed until middle of high schools when I said enough is enough I only need her for pe.e. And math and science.


I found out at the end of middle school that my braillenote was two versions or 2 years behind, and that I was using old technology. I went to california school for the blind for a summer camp and they told me. I didn’t learn that much but I did learn this. My father was pissed again. What why do you do this? Why don’t you give the appropriate versions of the tech to my daughter. They may have had a unit but it wasn’t assigned to me. It was at that point. Or even they had to buy newer units I forgot which I do remember the vendors coming to the school. I was given the newer unit. At that point it was from classic to mpower. I at one point traded it for the classic again, being nice, on my part and was told off for it. In high school I was assigned the braillenote apex. I think dad was probably on their case too on that, I didn’t trade it for a mpower this time.

In 3rd grade I didn’t have anywhere to go, and was sitting alone and at that time I couldn’t tie my shoe. A sub was there that day and I was pretty upset. I think she came outside and taught me how to tie my shoes. This was the mainstream classroom.

When I entered the school system I was given a cane and mobility training and used it until then. I had many since I lost a few and broke a few. I think I was lectured once and was told that I had to pay if I lost or broke anymore.

I was not tought print, I was pulled aside to learn braillle. And mastered it in a year. Strict asian parents.

I read and wrote braille since then and used a perkin’s brailler.

I had a lot of great support all through elementary and high school. I am still quite close with my former Educational Assistant, and love to take her out to lunch. I was taken out of class (e.g. art, and writing) to learn Braille, and to learn technology better. Thus, by the time eighth grade came I was typing all my assignments and saving them on floppy discs or flash drives.

For home socialisation, I spent a lot of time with church programs for kids, and with getting involved in learning swimming, and doing drama in my community.

As to the socialisation aspect, I participated in a lot of the school plays, and in a lot of the charity drives and in many field trips. I had a great group of friends in elementary school, in high school, less, but that's life.

I consider myself fairly well adjusted now at 30, I am in a customer service role, and have a bachelor's degree in literature. I keep debating whether I will go back and try to apply for Masters but I don't think I will.

I am low vision. When it was time for elementary school in the early sixties (Europe), the school board wanted to put me in a school for the mentally ill. My mother thankfully went and fought that decision tooth and nail. One of the teachers finally agreed to "try" it with me and so I got into the regular school. They put a desk in front of the first row, so I could read the blackboard if the teacher wrote big enough, but had to be careful to duck when they would swing the blackboard over. I was also allowed to stand up and go to the blackboard at any time without asking if I couldn't read well.

After my first year, that teacher retired and a young one came in. His father was blind, so he had no problem taking me on. Once I had my first three years of school behind me, luckily there was no more talk about putting me in that mental facility. I could finish all my school years in a regular school.

Thanks, mom!

my mainstream experience was pretty awful.
was bullied, by other kids, none of the teachers knew what to do with me. I was excluded from p.E
Wish I could have stayed at school for the blind, but they closed it down so that wasn't possible

For me school went great until about the end of 10th grade when the parapro that I had bent my fingers back and took my cane out of my hand and the school wasn’t going to do anything until my dad threatened to press charges on her for assault. After that my 11th and 12th grade years I spent fighting to get the school to follow my IEP so that I had the accommodations that I was supposed to. Most of 11th grade I did not and most of the first semester of 12th grade I did not. Then Covid hit the second semester of my 12th grade year and thankfully they just gave the seniors that were graduating that year credit for the classes and we didn’t actually have to finish the year. Also in case anybody is wondering the woman that bent my fingers back and took my cane is still allowed to work with children and in fact she works with another blind student.

I never had more than 10% acuity, didn't have any accommodations in mainstream school, and was treated normally by all other kids without exception, even those that didn't know me. My disability was somewhat visible since in addition to glaucoma I also have megalocornea, meaning my corneas and irides are noticeably bigger than usual, leaving almost no room for the sclera (the white part of the eyeball) between the cornea (the frontal dome-shaped transparent part of the eye) and the conjunctiva (the pink tissue connecting the eyeball to the rest of the face).

Socially speaking I had lots of friends, mostly female, but also had some close male friends heavily influenced by my passion for technology. I could do everything other kids could, though I was never a big fan of sports so I spent most of my time with the girls and that is why most of my friends were of the opposite gender.

I went to a normal school, for some time, and the experience was mixed.

Things were normal between me and sighted students. Hell, sometimes I was way more mischief doing guy then even my sighted peers. Had very good friends.

Only problem was the academic activities, speaking up in class, participating in class discussions, that was not good. Most of extra carricular activities were for sighted people, and we didn't have this accessibility provisions or devices at that time. So, my academic performance was terrible, dispight the interest and capability in learning I had.

Things improoved in a special school, for my academic marks and extra caricular activities. But, only disabled friends there.

In middle school I was mostly just shunned. I didn’t take school seriously but I saw this jewish woman of a 6th grade english teacher yell at all her students for not doing homework. She legitly had an anger issue and she cared about her students. It was probably pretty bad and I was like nah sorry I don’t want to be treated like that so I really got serious and stepped up my game and did all my homework and actually became a very good student.

It wasn’t helpful socially. I was laughed at and was called a teacher’s pet. The jewish lady who was my 6th grade English teacher really liked me. I went back in 8th grade and then high school and gave her a gift. Our interaction was very strained and strange. I wonder if she had other types of personality disorders. Despite being her favorite when I went back she was very cold and not totally sure she recognized me or had the same attitude. I was kind of upset and disappointed.


Socially I hung out by myself, ate lunch by myself or in the vision room. A few people remembered that I was the asb president but it really wasn’t a big deal. I had the same technology. and I think


Things changed at home but I was still friendless, and didn’t have that much to do. Except one thing.

I would since elementary school go to the southern california based camp bloomfield and now what is called path finders apparently, I was very shocked to learn recently that was the name. The old name or the reiteration of it was foundation for the junior blind.

I went on a surf trip was picked out for being brave and terrific and the blind person all blind person should be like and I was off to the races.

I represented and was the flyer girl for the foundation of the junior blind for a few years. I was locally well known and was walking home from somewhere maybe high school or something I forgot why I was walking around it may be middle school too and a neighbor was like hey prag I saw your face in the local newspaper. I made front cover of the local city paper and it’s a big one one of the bigger ones in the United states actually. Our city is pretty big. After that first time I was noticed on the surf trip I got myself front page on their organizations newsletter.

I had a teacher’s aid who also worked at the junior blind at the time who came in and was like hey I saw you on the flyer’s prag. My father probably knew but I didn’t until she told me.

I had a bit of a fanclub of mostly adults at the foundation of the junior blind when I went to events. Couldn’t ever have peace and quiet. Newspapers loved me. I went to many interviews and photo shoots. One time at camp bloomfield I was taken out and we drove back down to L
A for a day or half day because they needed to photograph me and interview me. Then we went back.

My father told them I was and won student body president in fifth grade, and they went wild. I had a fangirl this staff that really was enammored by me and my spirit and who I was.

I got involved in reading in the mall at one point.

And going back briefly I won the most respectful award in forth or fifth grade.

Oh yes in fourth and fifth grade I’d get bored and would play with my cane at the back of the classroom and also read books. And not pay attention.



In middle school I fund raised for the braille institute and did really well going everywhere in my neighborhood and selling I think it was brittle like the candy.

I started to use a computer in middle school at the very end. The last year I caught some of my friends whispering at the back of a bungalow. They were talking more normally until I came. They wanted to be part of this site but also didn’t want me to be involved. I found out what it was.

I was obsessed with Harry Potter at the time and loved it. It was and I don’t know if they are now but was the most popular fanfiction writing site.

I wrote stories for a while and had someone else post it. It didn’t really work that well so I really tried to learn it myself. By this point it was high school actually.

Home life in high school was fairly meh as well mostly very llonely and by 10th grade my parents didn’t want to fund me for any activities because I didn’t enjoy anything they wanted me to be part of. And they are like if it’s not what we want we don’t want to support it. I read a lot of books at home in high school.

For the previous schools I went to it had vision rooms but high school I didn’t. So I had a teacher for the visually impaired come a few times a week. I had a lot more freedom. After a while. I had an aid all the time until 10th grade and I thought she got in the way more than not in the way so we limited her to certain classes and they were in the morning. P.e. Math, science, and when I took or was thinking of taking ceramics. By senior year when I was not taking these classes mostly except for a science I think or maybe not even that I mostly didn’t have an aid.

I used braille books and a perkin’s brailler.

My father had them furnish two copies one for home and one for school.


My father also had the district come to my house and install their version of jaws. I also had a periodic table for at home. I also had other stuff like a braille ruler and protractor, a reading pad and a trace wheel. Little things like that. I took some embosser paper from school to do my math on.



Social life was usual, I had one friend. There was no bullying at all though I did speak up about disability bullying. I was largely shunned I had a friend or two. I had a group of friends since the 4th grade but they all went to another school and they thought they were too cool for me. and was friendless. I would eat lunch in front of my next class. And one day this other teacher noticed and was like what are yu doing there? Why don’t you come in and have lunch with us? So I did and made some friends which i’d go back and had lunch with.

Inspired by me, this teacher would make his students go out in the school yard and half of them would be blindfolded and given a broom and the other half would guide them around. Actually a pretty interesting idea. They had a pretty good appreciation for blind people.

In ninth grade I wanted to start a writing club. I wanted to call it eternal writers I guess like always writing and forever. But it got no where. I had a teacher agree to host it got a few names and no one showed up.

At the end of ninth grade I was picked out as one of the best writers in my class and my name was submitted to the journalism teacher. I was asked if I would like to be in journalism. I was accepted. So in tenth grade I was on it. I think I was one of the younger ones and served on the newspaper for 3 years. For the first I was the conservative of the opinions column. Apparently some conservative teachers like it. I had a pspanish teacher I turned out not to like and he didn’t like me, but first day I showed up to class he expressed how much he enjoyed my articles.

I did speech and debate my senior year of high school and that was fun.



At the end of high school or junior year I lead a pretty successful writing workshop group online on this writing website. It was actually pretty cool.

Oh dude my school didnt give me any tours or anything, have to be walked to class pretty consistently because the hallways have repeating murals (so they look the same to my poor blobby vision). The dude on the school board who helps LV/Blind students wasn’t told until two months after I joined when one of my teachers emailed to ask for help with accommodation ideas for a project. I was also expected to constantly advocate for myself and to come up with solutions. I’ve been left out of classes before because the teacher said I couldn’t be on my phone or laptop despite the fact i couldnt participate at all (and it was over STDs too!)

Unified / disabled kids only gym is SO COOL though. Rock wall, running races etc. And there’s no dodgeball!!

Officially getting my IEP in three weeks!

Note: I am over 18 and rejoined public school with six months left in senior year.

Because of that i dont talk to anyone other than the other disabled kids in the unified class and other seniors. Genuinely worried I might get called creepy if I talk to someone whose under 18 even tho we’re in school. (Its definitely irrational!)

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My experiences were pretty different in each school I went to.

In kindergarten, I was in the special education class. This was where all the students with behavioral problems were, meaning I was the only one with a physical disability. Since I was getting no adaptations and my visual impairment was being treated as a behavioral issue, my parents decided to homeschool me for 1st and 2nd grade.

For 3rd grade, I went back to mainstream school. My first teacher was great, she enlarged the worksheets, had me sit in the front so I could see the board. Although, I had not quite developed good social skills, so I was mildly bullied throughout elementary. My 4th and 5th grade teachers got annoyed with my accomodations, and often "forgot" to enlarge papers or make sure I could see everything. Luckily my TVI was a lot better this time, and she helped me develop computer and typing skills, which was going to be very useful in the future.

6th grade was similar to elementary, most of my teachers refused to accommodate, and it was a constant fight with the schools. After getting pity passed, I went to my state's school for the blind.

This school seemed amazing at first, there was no more fighting for accomodations, and I learned how to advocate. I left last year due to their virtual/in person hybrid system being terrible, and exposing all their flaws. They taught to the lowest common denominator in the class, so if one student was at a lower level than the rest, the teacher had to teach at that low level. This basically stunted the other students' academic growth, and made some of us fall behind in a few areas.

Last summer I had already planned to move, so I decided to give mainstream school one more chance. I just finished my first year in mainstream highschool, and this is one of the best schools I've seen. The teachers accommodate for everything; I just have to ask. All the students use Chromebooks, so I access all the notes electronically, meaning I can adapt it as much as I need. My current TVI is also great; she's gotten large print books already ordered for next year, and I'm getting a mobility instructor soon. We even came up with the idea of making pamphlets about my visual impairment and accomodations to give to my teachers next year.

Socially, high schoolers seem to understand a lot better when I explain things like nystagmus or albinism to them. There are definitely ableist people, but I don't interact with them at all. Luckily everyone seems to appreciate the vision puns :)