Colin isn’t a native of Ohio, but chose to live in Cleveland as a young professional navigating the visual world with Alstrom Syndrome. He’s legally blind and says his light sensitivity is what affects him most on a day-to-day basis.

“I always say it's not as significant as legally blind makes it sound. I still read 12-point font. I just hold things closer, and use the built-in magnifier on my work computer and on my home laptop too,” Colin explains. “I get around basically with sunglasses, and maybe on occasion I'll use my phone to zoom in on a sign that's far away.”

A Case Western Reserve University graduate and an employee at Clearstead, Colin chose to live downtown because of its perks - a quick walk to work, easy access to the Healthline bus route, close proximity to a grocery store and an accessible apartment building in his budget.

“Living and working downtown is just the perfect combination,” he raves. “I wouldn't trade it for anything!”

Colin is even making downtown more accessible for pedestrians! He joined a rock-climbing gym within walking distance of his home, but dreaded the walk because of a complicated five-way intersection that made it difficult to know when it was safe to walk. So, he submitted a 311 call to ask for audible pedestrian signals (ones that give audible feedback if a walker should wait to cross the street), and his request was granted! So next time you’re crossing the Detroit Ave, W 9^th St, W Huron Rd and W Superior Ave intersection, you can thank Colin for the more accessible street crossing experience!

One call and one request made all the difference in that intersection, which proves it’s worth it to ask for help and point out where things should be improved. Colin advises any other young adults, like college students and young professionals starting new jobs, to never be afraid of asking for an accessible version of a lecture or spot in front.

“It is just one way of putting yourself forward and making things fairer,” he explains.

 He understands it can be nerve-racking to do so, but it’s worth it.

“It's intimidating for anyone to ask anything of anyone, and this is very much a putting-yourself-out-there kind of thing, and it's very personal too. But it's that first step of maybe that first half hour, hour, day, week, of a class or job, and if you get things right, then you won't have to do it again,” Colin said.

Another personal example Colin shared is related to his current job at Clearstead, a partner of Cleveland Sight Center. Colin wasn't as familiar with Clearstead's Windows computers as he was with Macs he used in college, so he asked for support. Colin took the time and put in the effort to learn the accessibility settings (magnifier, cursor size, etc.) and work with the HR department for further instructions.

Many people unfamiliar with the range of vision included under the umbrella of the terms of “vision loss” or “legally blind” may not understand how Colin can do his job, which largely involves looking at data and visualizing data.

“These days with data analysis, it's less of what your eyes can pick up in the raw numbers and values, and more of what you can interpret from trends. It's a lot of pattern recognition, which I guess pattern recognition is something that someone who isn't visually impaired would assume someone who is visually impaired have a problem with,” Colin muses. “I feel like I'm very good at pattern recognition!”

Thanks to accessibility settings in today’s computers and phones, there isn’t much of a barrier for Colin to cross to do his job. If he does encounter a problem, Colin is able to adapt.

“I feel like one of the things that I learned from being visually impaired is being adaptable,” he said. “There are certainly times where you can feel overwhelmed by it, and choose not to adapt, go with what you've known, or remove yourself from a situation, but otherwise I feel like it has led to being able to change direction very quickly, and adapt. I think that's a strength of mine.”

Cleveland is lucky Colin chose to live here, and so is Cleveland Sight Center for working with him and learn from all his strengths!

Clearstead is an independent financial advisory firm serving wealthy families and leading institutions across the country, as a fiduciary. It provides wealth management services and investment consulting to help clients meet their financial objectives, achieve their aspirations and build stronger futures.