KC worsening and problem at work

[helenw1301]

I had KC for just under 2 years now. Last week I went to the eye clinc to check my KC and has deteriotated a lot in my right eye. Now I am being referred to the contact lens clinic.

Does anyone know the rough waiting time of going to the contact lens clinic based on your experience?

Also I work in a supermarket and the other week a customer dropped a jar and the glass smashed everywhere. I cleared it up and I did miss a piece of glass due to my eyesight. I am worried that I may get dismissed as I am having a meeting with my store manager tomorrow. They do know about my KC and probably aware that my eyesight has gone worse. It has gone worse in my left eye, but not for KC.

How can they dismiss me for having poor eyesight when there are other colleagues with worse eyesight than me (not KC) and one is 30% blind.

Your opinions please

[Andrew MacLean]

I am afraid that it is hard to give a time that you should expect to wait for a new contact lens. This will vary according to the type of lens, and even where you are.

As to your work, I am sorry to say that there is still an aggressiveness in some managements that is unsympathetic to people with disabilities. In your place, I'd take along a trade union rep, or at least download the group's leaflet for employers

http://www.keratoconus-group.org.uk/sit ... tions.html

Your employer knowing that you have keratoconus is not the same thing as your employer knowing what keratoconus is.

All the best

Andrew

[GarethB]

Dismissing someone for missing a piece of glass I feel would put your employer on dangerous ground for unfair dismissel, especially if noone was hurt. The safety rep would probably record it as a near miss incidennt and recomend that all spillages/breakages are cleared by the janitorial staff who will have the proper equipment for cleaning breakages without risk of harm to themselves. I know this was the policy for the supermarket I worked at 10 years ago and they are one of the top 3.

The meeting with the store manager might just be part of the incident investigation process to comply with their safety policy which all companies must have by law under the Health and Safety at Work act 1974.

Your emplyer under the Disability Discrimination Act must make reasonable adjsutments for you so an example may be working in a different area of the store.

[alison falshaw]

Hi

I completely agree with Gareth and Andrew's comments and advice.

Last year I had problems with my employer. I had to go off sick due to severe eye strain, when I tried to go back to work my employer tried to make me redundant. It was a very very long story which I wont go into her but it taught me a lot.

The Disability Discrimation Act is there to protect people with a disability and also to ensure that your employer makes any adjustments to your working environment for you. I found a lot of support and advice from an organisation called Action for The Blind. You probably never heard of them, I hadnt until I went looking for help. They supported me through every step of the way, they even attended meetings with my employer!! They carried out assessments at their resource centre, which provided a list of recommendations of adjustments that could be carried out to improve my working environment. If it wasnt for these people, the KC group ( and my solicitor as it went legal) I would have just simple walked away from my job. But I wasnt prepared to let them get away treating people they way they did.

I am sure your employer is completely different and that your meeting is purely an investigation, but do take as much information from this website with you. As Gareth says, your employer may be aware of your KC but they wont understand its daily affects and what they could do to help.

Good luck and keep us posted. There is a lot of help out there - trust me!

[GarethB]

We should probably publicise the work of Action For The Blind as many here have found them really useful. Same goes for RNIB, just because they have Blind in the title many think they only help the blind whne actually they are there for anyone with a visual impairment.

[Andrew MacLean]

I agree

When I was registered blind, it was the RNIB that helped me find our the sort of support that could be made available. Action for the Blind do excellent work also; is there any way that the group could include links to their web pages, perhaps from our own home page?

Andrew

[alison falshaw]

Hi again,

Yes that would be a great idea. I can't sing their praises enough. I am very lucky that I have a local branch. I know on my recommendation they have helped a friend of mine who has a 18month year old with a tumour at the back of the eye, get the benefits that she was entitled to etc.
It was only by chance that I picked up a leaflet whilst at Sunderland hospital. I had gone to my local hospital for years and never found one piece of info regarding KC, visual impairments nor any information on where to get help - shocking really.

If we could put a link to their web page it would great, I'm sure a lot more people would use their help.

ali

[Anne Klepacz]

The links are already there folks! Just go to LINKS.
Anne

[alison falshaw]

Of course they are, thanks for the reminder Anne!
ali