DLA &Keratoconus

[coley456]

Hey,

I have had keratoconus now for 4 years, and i've been under the impression that I would have to surrender my driving license if I apply for DLA. The thing is without my lenses my vision is bad enough to meet the requirements to register myself as blind. However do you need to register yourself as blind/partially sighted to claim DLA for KC. Or can you register yourself as blind/partially sighted and still keep your driving licence. As with my lenses in I more than meet the requirements to hold my driving license.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Andrew MacLean]

It would be a good idea to declare to the DVLA that you have keratoconus. If you cannot see well enough to drive you shouldn't be driving, but if, with lenses, you can see well enough then you are probably okay to drive.

The law is the same whether you have keratoconus or not. There is a minimum sight requirement; if lenses make it possible for you to meet or surpass that requirement then you can drive.

Andrew

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/motoring/le ... dg_4022529

[Jezzafletcher]

Hiya - I have KC. I had to stop driving 7 years ago as no degree of correction makes me legally able to drive. I have had grafts but with limited success. In April my consultant decided that I should now consider registration as Partially Sighted - which I have now done. I have no entitlements to any any disability benefits! I think that you'll find that you come nowhere near to being able to claim disability benefits - the criteria is very strict and I think you probably have to be registered as blind - uncorrected vision is not the benchmark - it is what/how well you see with correction. If you can drive with corrected vision then enjoy!
Jez

[space_cadet]

in short if your vision CAN BE corrected with lenses/glasses/other means you are not legally blind without aids, as definition wise you are NOT legally blind if you can obtain corrective vision with aids. As someone who would give her world to have correctable vision but spends her days in a blur think yourself lucky n dont try put yourself in a box you do not fit! plus if you can drive hell no are you legally blind. sorryto sound so blunt it really gets to me and many who i know who are legally blind to read posts by people claiming to be where we are when in fact and reality they area million times better off than we can dreamt o be,

[space_cadet]

it is alsoworth remembering if you are legally blind/patially sighted your consultant will have a legal obligation to inform the DVLA so you will without doubt loose your licence,

I urge you to really think hard if you want a life of being unable to see as you claim you can now, a life where you miss out on social arangements with friends due to exhaustion from trying to see, you end up choosing the same thing in restraunts cos you can not see the menu, that you debate learning braille only to find no where near you offers courses as it is a dying language, that you ahve to argue with your local social services to do a mobility assesment cos you "do not look blind" and the list goes on,

I seriously urge you to gather facts n ask yourself one simple question DO I WANT THIS FOR MY LIFE? AND THE ANSWER WILL NO DOUBT BE A HELL NO!

please by all means come n spend a day as me n then when you are hysterical due to the attitudes of others go back to your life n think yourself fortunate, until then I would seriously suggest you learn to appriciate what you have as so many of us are no where near as luck as you are!

[Andrew MacLean]

The only person who can register anyone blind is a consultant ophthalmologist. As Lea says, if you can get correction good enough to drive with lenses in then you will not be registered. If you cannot, then you should already have stopped driving.

[space_cadet]

if you have worse vision then you are letting on and still driving i would urge you to think about other people as id hate to hear of someone being run over and killed efficivily murdered by someone too proud to admit how their vision is.

[Anne Klepacz]

Half a mo, folks - I think if I were Coley, I'd be feeling a bit under attack, which I'm sure isn't the intention of the replies. We all have different degrees of difficulty with our sight, and of course there's always someone worse off than you. But I think one of the hardest things with KC can be coming to terms with the huge difference with how some people can see when they can wear their contact lenses (often very well) and the complete blur when the lenses are out, when we can feel completely helpless and totally dependent on other people. And trying to cope with that constant transition between being capable and being incapable isn't easy, especially when you're not even out of your teens.
The fact that we're 'part time' partially sighted does mean that it's far more difficult for us to access help, and why it's so hard for people who don't have KC to understand the condition. Why is this person complaining when they can obviously see perfectly today? We've all had the thing of 'if you can't wear your lenses, why don't you wear glasses?'
It's why, a year or two ago, there was a big discussion on this forum about how good it would be if there was a category of 'variable sight registration' to take account of people like us who can cope well some of the time and not at all at others. Sadly, I can't see that happening any time soon. So we're left with having to deal with the scary times when lenses can't be worn for whatever reason (limited wear time during the day, infections, abrasions and all the other joys of lens wear) with little or no recognition from Joe Public that there's a genuine problem here.
Anne

[Elizabeth R]

i had that problem people don't understand it.i had people taking the piss.holding thing to me closes to me.where your glasses. now i don't talk about it .to much a big deal to healthy vister and other people.have you got your lens yet.no i stop tell them it take a long time to be fitted,no KC don't work like that.get a lens right way.it take months the lady that fit the lens,she the only person who understands me.eye doctor.the other healthy people don't.it a very big problem

[coley456]

Thanks to Anne and Andrew for clearing that up a little it was really good. With lenses i am more than capable of holding my license and i would never drive my car in any situation without my lenses. To 'space_cadet' (for lack of a better name) I don't really see how any of your comments are relevant in a forum entitled 'self help' and 'support association'. I understand if you have bad vision I really do. But its not like i have 20/20 vision without lenses. You must feel that the world is against you and its the hardest thing having kerataconus. KC is a royal pain in the *** but its manageable and by far not the worst thing in the world. Id try to encourage you to be more supportive of other people on here as were all in the same boat really. Im not in any way trying to con the system i'm just trying to see what the options are, no harm in that! But thanks again to Anne and Andrew for all the other constructive comments you were a great help And I completely agree with you anne about the 'part time partially sighted'. Very good idea!