Ellis’ Story

Ellis is 10 years old and he has ocular cutaneous albinism, with low visual acuity, nystagmus and a very high level of photophobia which has an extreme effect on his eyesight in bright conditions. He is registered as severely sight impaired and has been since he was three months old. Ellis really enjoys using technology and is very skilled in online film making for digital storytelling. His computer monitor was no longer suitable for him to use at school and home because of the progression he had made in using tech and he needed a new, specialist monitor to help him access programmes like Powerpoint, Word and the internet for school work and at home.

Independence at Home was able to provide a grant towards a much larger monitor for Ellis and this has meant he is able to not only access his work at school independently, but at home he has developed a You-Tube vlogging channel which has over 1,000 subscribers. He can now use gaming platforms to play and socialise and even coaches his friends in their gaming skills.