erm, HELP!!!!!

[paw81]

Hi

Really hoping that someone may be able to help me out here. I recently got a job where one of the esentail requirements of the post was that I had 'normal vision'

When the pre employment occ health form came I (perhaps foolishly) owned up to having KC and now they want to see me on Monday for a medical which isnt usual practice.

Basicly I'm having a panic attack in that after securing a job that I've been studying at university the last 3 years for, I'll have the offer withdrawn because of my KC.

I only have KC badly in one eye (it's next to useless) and so just wear a pair of glasses with a balance lens in one eye and a perscription lens for my good eye. I passed my dirving test using these glasses with no problems about 2 years ago, although I'm not 100% if I can still read a number plate from 25 meters just now.

I've been trying to get a new perscription from my opticain, since I was discharged from the hospital eye clinic about 18 months ago, but they dont seem able to sort me out (they gave me a new perscription that was total garbage) and so have refered me back to the hosptial.

What do people think? Is there any kind of (UK) eployment law that would offer me some kind of protection, or am I well and truly stuffed???

[Andrew MacLean]

Well I'm not sure about your being stuffed, but don't carve your goose until you know it has been cooked.

I am a little surprised that you describe the condition of one eye as being so bad; have they never tried to fit a contact lens? I wear glasses with a blank lens over my worse eye, but I have a contact lens behind the blank eye.

If you are legal to drive you probably have 'normal' vision.

Andrew

[Lizb]

you dont say what the job is, for it to entail "normal" vision. is that 20/20 uncorrected, or just corrected vision that they class as normal? the "normal" vision essential criteria could potentially eliminate a lot of candidates as there are a lot of people out that that just wear CL or glasses. I lost a PSV licence but maintained my car licence upon diagnosis of KC due to my uncorrected vision not meeting the minimum standard for PSV standards.

I, like you, wear prescripition glasses for my good eye and a balance lens for the bad eye. I get great vision in CL for both eyes, but due to dry eye cant wear CL for any length of time and as i can get the vision in glasses for at least one eye i dont bother currently with CL - tried them a number of times but given up due to CL aggravating my eyes and causing me further problems - i dont think the red eye look suits me very well

As Andrew said, dont assume you are totally stuffed yet. If you dont know what they class as "normal" vision, then ring them up and ask - that may put your mind at rest but also allow you to put together an information pack for your medical and also your potential employers for them to understand KC better. I can guarantee (after seeing my work's occupational health team) it is highly unlikely that who you see will have any idea about KC - unless they are an eye specialist of some sort.

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi and welcome to the forum!
Have you found the leaflets about KC and work on this website?
www.keratoconus-group.org.uk/sitev3/publications.html
Keratoconus at Work is a leaflet you can give to occupational health which describes what KC is and how employers can help. Keratoconus - How the Law can help you at work outlines what protection you have. Both are downloadable.
There are very few jobs for which good 'unaided' vision is a requirement. The vast majority look at corrected vision. And of course, for many people KC doesn't progress beyond mild.
Good luck and do let us know how you get on.
Anne

[paw81]

The job is for an invironmental protection officer. The main points I would be needing good eyesight for would be driving arround, using cctv equipment and using a something called ringlemann chart which is used to assess if smoke is legally classified as dark smoke or not. The requiement in the person spec says 'normal vison with or without corrections'.

I've never tired lenses as when I was 1st diagnosed about 4 years ago my eyesight had rapidly deteriorated over about 6 months and I had no idea why - I was chuffed to buttons at just being able to see clearly again with glasses and so wasn't too fussed about the fact i was only really seing out of one eye.

I wasn't really worried about it untill I went to the opticains and they gave me a duff perscription. My lens ATM is quite thin but the new one was like a milk bottle top and was like wearing someone eleses glasses. They ran another test for me and gave me a second perscription but this one wont be ready untill friday so if they have it wrong this time I've got a problem. Both times they tested me they used one of those machines rarther than the 'lens on a stick' type tests that I've always had before. It was also alot more rushed than I was used to as my last few perscriptions had been done at the hospital. Has anyone else had these problems using high street opticains?

Anyway getting back to the point, do you think I would have a case for argueing that I do have normal vision (or sould do if I got a lens for my bad eye), and could posibly persue something under disability discrimination legislation if they wanted to withdraw the offer of employment???

[Lizb]

driving - legally they generally cant exclude you from a job is you are unable to drive due to a disability, except in cases of PSV/HGV etc.
It does sound like you get corrected vision, so there should be no issues there.

Re the opticians, are you using "bog standard high street chain" that have limited experience/knowledge of KC? if so have a look somewhere on this website and there is a list of opticians who have experience of KC.
I generally spend somewhere in the region of 20-30minutes just having my sight checked out, trying to get the best possible prescription for my good eye. My opticians also have the contract to fit CL for KC from my local hospital so all the staff are used to and know about KC - even the new staff come in for a look at a KC eye if they havent really seen one before.


disclaimer:- "bog standard high street chain" is not meant to be negative about high street chains, my husband uses one and always gets very good service from them, i just mean ones that dont see any/many cases of KC so dont understand the complexities of the condition.

[Lynn White]

Hi There,

It sounds like you have normal vision to me. Many people have a "duff eye" for various reasons. What your employers are worried about is that you might have something wrong they need to know about. What you need to find out first though, is if they have regulations that state the standard of vision in each eye. For example, some professions demand you have a "Not less than..." standard in the worst eye. If they do not have anything like this, then they have to take the standard from what you can see with both eyes open.I think they are asking for a medical because they have no idea what KC IS.

As far as opticians go, there are opticians and there are opticians! What you need is an independent optician who is prepared to take their time with you and also help you with a letter to your employer to state your level of vision and so on. The fact they got the prescription wrong in the "good eye" may be because you have KC mildly in that eye which would tend to mess up the measuring machines a little bit.

If you want to discuss this more, you can pm me.

Also, as Andrew says, has no-one ever suggested a contact lens for the bad eye?

Lynn