Blinded by daylight, simple tasks like choosing make up becomes challenge for Tyla Rich no teen girl would want to faceLike any young girl about to enter their teenage years, Tyla Rich is interested in fashion and make-up.
But unlike any other, there is much more for her to master because of a rare eye condition which means everything she sees is black and white.
A labelled sketch of her eye shadow palette allows her to pick out the colours needed to follow make-up tutorials off YouTube.
When out shopping, the 12-year-old from Kinmel Bay has also learned to distinguish her favourite body spray by using her other senses.
Literally blinded by the sun, Tyla’s world is a grey one where shapes and shadows are snatched away by daylight.
She wears specially adapted glasses, but it’s only when the curtains are drawn and night time emerges, that her vision becomes clearer.
Tyla Rich may be 'blinded by sunshine' but singing is brightening up her life
Diagnosed with achromatopsia at eight-weeks-old, the rare genetic condition means the Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan schoolgirl is registered blind.
While she does have some vision, Tyla is colour blind and suffers from photophobia – a severe intolerance to bright light and glare – as well as nystagmus, an involuntary and uncontrollable movement of the eyes.
She also struggles with her directional vision and is only able to pick out objects less than three metres ahead of her labelled sketch of Tyla Rich's eye shadow palette allows her to pick out the colours needed to follow make-up tutorials off YouTube
But her proud mum, Kara says she is continually impressed with the way her daughter overcomes hurdles on a day-to-day basis.
She said: “Tyla’s world is ever changing and as her mum, I often wonder how she will cope in the coming years hoping I have given her the tools she needs to enable her to become as independent as possible.
“I hope I have brought Tyla up to find alternatives to her way of doing things due to her visual impairment and colour blindness, simple things such as applying makeup can become a problem.Tyla went out and bought an eye shadow set with her pocket money as she had seen the smokey eye effect on YouTube and wanted to experiment.
“She would sit and watch videos on her iPad and then try to re-create the look herself, but she couldn’t distinguish the colours.
“One day Tyla asked me if I would write the colours down in the same patten as the eye shadow set.”
LOOK: Inspirational Kinmel Bay girl Tyla Rich who is 'blinded by sunshine' is thriving at school
At school, Tyla has the names of the colours written on her pencils for art and the row of black and white school buses as they appear through her eyes means she has to use other methods to identify which one is hers.
Kara added: “As her mum, I am so proud that she is finding other coping mechanisms to get through her life.
“She does struggle with matching clothes together and while I do give her the independence to dress and choose her own outfits, there has been the odd occasion when I have had to ask her to change because the colours clash.”
Tyla most prized possession is her iPad which she can hold close to her face to watch internet videos, vlogs and blogs and at school, it is linked up to the teacher’s white board.
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Watching programmes with her family at home means she has to pull the sofa close to the television in order to see, but she continues to amaze her parents with how she deals with her condition.
“It’s only when we take her for her eye tests do we realise how limited Tyla’s vision actually is, she is unable to see the top letter on the board,” Kara said.
“In the sunshine, Tyla explains that her vision goes altogether and everything appears white without her red prescription glasses.
“As she gets older, she does try to explain things a lot more to me, which I do my best to try and understand and support where I can, I try to listen and adapt things accordingly.”
At the moment, there is no known cure for achromatopsia but it is a condition that won’t get any better or worse.
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The only other options available are stem cell treatment.
Alternatively, she could undergo an eye transplant, but both involve major risks that Kara is not prepared to take.
