Sickle Cell Anaemia affects everyone who has it in different ways. The effects can be dependent on the amount of time spent in hospital, to the severity of the crises.

The problems with education

Due to my sickle cell I have faced many obstacles concerning my education at both secondary school and at college. The problems with secondary school were much easier to overcome due to the understanding of the teachers and fellow pupils, and the work was not so difficult to understand. I received help if and when I needed it, and the deadlines for assignments were ignored for my extenuating circumstances.

College on the other hand was much more difficult to overcome as the work was a lot harder and they were less understanding concerning the severity of my illness. However, I was able to stay another year and complete the course. So I now have a GNVQ Advanced IT qualification.

The problems with employment

As I am unemployed at the moment, I have not encountered any prejudices with working as yet. I have heard of the difficulties that you can encounter because of the pressure that the workplace puts on employees to attend and they do not like employees to be ill. In a previous occupation, I did have to take a couple days off, but they were fully understanding with my problem and didn't pressure me at all.

More to be added...