The Seeing Eye

I’ve now started writing it. It may be trickier to gather the information this time, as more stories came to light the more independent I became. This next book will be bigger and mark the real progression in my life. 

As soon as I acquired the ability to type on an eye gaze computer back in 2012, the idea of writing a biographical book instantly came to mind. I began drafting parts of my days on my computer every few nights. Now, twelve years later, the book is finally complete. A third of it that is. Initially, it was only going to be one book, but as the time has passed and there has been little improvement in my condition, which has meant the book’s scope has expanded. Don’t worry; this doesn’t mean it will start to become dreary and repetitive. Living a life with this rare and enigmatic condition offers unique books, unlike any other.

On my computer in front of me. The sensors beneath the screen detect the unique glint in your eye. Everyone has one, you just need to calibrate the computer to your specific glint to make it compatible for you. This process only takes only a few seconds.

When I look at a position on the screen, a small circle starts to tick down before selecting the cell; this process is known as dwelling. My dwelling time is set to 0.6 seconds per selection. I could go faster, but 0.6 is my average speed, which gives me the time to speculate and select what I desire. 😉

It was a cathartic experience, I enjoyed writing it especially the parts I personally enjoyed living myself. However, it soon became a source of stress, as I felt I couldn’t truly enjoy myself until the book was completed. I believed that finishing it was essential for my happiness and personal progress.

I founded the Locked-in Trust charity four years ago, but it hasn’t achieved the reach or impact it needs. This was another motivation behind completing the book: to propel the charity to the forefront of society.

This was just an additional driving force. From the moment I gained the ability to type, writing a book has always been a goal of mine. Over time, more incentives to pursue this dream emerged. There eventually came a time where the issues with my employees finally started to diminish, coincidently, I also hired an experienced manager, which relieved me of many of the managerial responsibilities, allowing and granting me the time to crack on and focus on the book. It wasn’t completely peaceful, but he certainly took on much of that management burden. I realised this time isn’t going to last forever. The time was now.

Firstly, being condemned to locked in Syndrome. Means you can’t naturally get your words out succinctly, and it feels absolutely horrible, overwhelming, swamping.  Even with these communication aids I use, I have to simplify everything I want to say into basic words like “hot,” “cold,” “hungry,” or “itch.” This reduces complex thoughts to single words, leaving hundreds of words trapped in my mind that I can never express. Unless I wrote a book of course.

Secondly, I foresaw that my book would help others immensely. It will enable people to truly understand and empathise in ways they can’t without the books content. When you ask people how they think someone in my situation feels, they can’t reply; it’s unfathomable to even imagine. My book provides that perspective. Although my aim wasn’t initially to inspire many, it will naturally happen because I think the world could do with some hope right now. Fundamentally, I wrote this book to introduce myself to the world and explain who I am. But my overall journey I am hoping that it will inspire all. Thirdly, fourthly, etc. the reasons for writing a novel kept piling up, giving me so many motivations to get it written and complete.