My husband has a rare genetic retinal dystrophy called Stargardt’s disease. Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy begins to damage both eyes somewhere between the ages of 6 and 20. Individuals with this disease first notice gray-black or hazy spots in the center of their vision. This disease is degenerative and the vision loss is progressive. His drivers license came up for renewal with his last Birthday. Unfortunately, he was put on a restrictive licence due to his vision. He has difficultly seeing at a distance. Which means he is perfectly capable of doing his job as all his work is up close.
Jason created a mock up of what he sees when driving.
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| What normal people see |
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What Jason sees
Pretty obvious why he has a restricted driver's licence |
Jason is the Web Designer and Administrator at Campbell University and is perfectly capable of doing his job from home. His Doctor wrote a letter to the University requesting that he be allowed to work from home as not to put his life in danger. We were very hopeful that he would be granted his request. During my maternity leave, Jason stayed home for two weeks and then one week as half days. The entire time he was home he updated and maintained all website content from home. He has been employed with Campbell for five years and has always gotten outstanding yearly evaluations. I also graduated from Campbell University Divinity School and worked in the Divinity School Admissions department before enrolling in the School of Education to become an Elementary School Teacher. Needless to say, we have a long history with the school and consider ourselves well invested.
Sadly, my husband was told his only option was to work at Campbell in his office. The reason given was that "the University doesn't want to set the precedent of employees working from home." This was very discouraging to us as we hoped a Christian University that states "faith, learning and service excel here" would have more compassion for a visually impaired employee. We submitted a second letter asking them to reconsider letting Jason work from home as an ADA (Americans with Disability Act) accommodation. He has all the resources needed to work from home and it would not cause the University undue hardship. He was denied again, but given a flexible work schedule in terms of his arrival and leaving times.
We ask all our friends and family to join us as we continue to pray that a opportunity would open for Jason to work from home. He loves his job and is a hard worker. We have a beautiful daughter who loves her Daddy. We hope that Campbell will have a change of heart and show compassion for their employee who has shown nothing but dedication and professionalism in his five years of employment.
