What is Albinism? From Someone With Albinism 

Always happy to make the acquaintance of a fellow PWA. Within you the best of luck in school. While it is likely true that you won't be able to drive if you are legally blind, self-driving cars may be easy to come by when you are looking to get your first car, so I'll cross my fingers for both of us to be able to drive soon. :)

@@UnsightlyOpinions tysm for such a sweet reply! I wish you the best luck:)

That's pretty awesome you're learning braille, and in the future, you could be a braillest. Do you have, or use a cane? I've learned to appreciate mine, because I don't have to watch my feet.

So African Albinos can have red hair and brown eyes, then are Europeans with red hair and brown eyes Albino also or No?

I have also albino

Me too

What is the name of your graphic novel??

@@HMMC101 It's name isn't set in stone, but for now it's "The Backstage". Not very creative, but it deals with the day to day lives of characters with the overall theme of how people present themselves at work and college vs more personal relationships with family and friends (stage self vs backstage self). It's still not a fully fledged project, but I'm working on it!

@@emerie4144 will you come back and update us on this comment when you finish it (no rush or pressure!). I would love to read your work. I love graphic novels and I’d love to learn from the information in this one!! I wish you luck! Keep doing the great work! You’re doing great!!!

@@HMMC101 Thank you so much! 🥰 Yea I can try my very best to update on progress, though it may take a long time. I'll save this video. Glad someone is interested!

I’m so glad you enjoyed the video! :)

Thanks so much! I’m glad you found it educational. :)

Thanks so much Beverly! Interesting take! Funnily enough, all of the folks with albinism I've met have matched the same description of high achieving, type A people. I'm sure there's exceptions but a very interesting coincidence or even genetic predisposition.

Happy to help!

I was familiar with both. Amazing they accomplished so much. :)

Glad you liked it!

My pleasure!

Hi Harley! Thanks so much. I didn't realize it expired after 7 days... I'm going to try to fix that up right away!

Any time!

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Always happy to meet a fellow PWA! Purple shampoo does wonders. Work in in at the ends the the scalp at the very end once a week - not every wash - and it should even out the brassy colours. Also avoid shampoos/conditioners with sulphites I’ve noticed those yellow my hair a lot more! :)

@@UnsightlyOpinionsok, thank you, I'll check my purple stuff for sulfites.. Sounds like I'm overusing it!

​@@achromatic03Matrix brand has a great purple shampoo.

Thank you! Great questions. There is most certainly persecution in different parts of the world and people with albinism are still hunted and killed in countries like Tanzania. There have been instances in my life where albinism is the butt of a joke or people have discriminated against me because of that, but I see that more as disability discrimination than albinism specific. I think the best rule of thumb is only refer to someone's medical condition if it is necessary for the context of a conversation. and most folks in the albinism community prefer person with albinism (PWA) rather than albino. It's complex but gets into the person first/identity first language debate a little bit.

@@UnsightlyOpinions hey thanks for the reply! Ahh im sorry you got discriminated against for either way. although j wish im wrong on this, sadly i can’t help but think if we all had the same amount of melanin in our skin. Human nature as it is would lead to racism and discrimination based on hair colour or eye colour. Ah yeah, i did know in some African countries that there was serous persecution of people with Albanisim. I used to live in a city and there was a neighbour who had come here (UK) from Africa because of persecution due to his albinism. I would talk to him waiting for the bus some mornings, He never said which country he was from exactly. It was so long ago now I can’t remember much else from our conversations. Thank you for clarifying about the term to use and i think i understand, its about defining the person in front of you as a person and not them as a person with albanism or say a noticeable genetic difference. I think i understand it and yeah in most context of conversation it doesn’t need to be mentioned.

I have a few other videos in the works at the moment, but I'll try to do a video on products soon. The shampoo I use is this one here: amzn.to/3vvc80o

No you are not confused! It's one of the most common misconceptions about albinism! Other animals like mice and rats have red eyes when they have albinism, but most humans with albinism do not. My eyes can look pink-ish in harsh lighting conditions or in the flash of a camera but that isn't because my eyes are red, it's because the pink of my retinas are reflecting through my blue irises. Folks can also have aniridia which means that they are born without irises and the eyes will look more pink/red because of the same retina reflecting back issue, but that isn't very common even amongst folks with ablinism. It's a separate condition.

It really doesn’t help because our bodies can’t synthesize or metabolize it in cells.

Many different eye disorders can cause photophobia and light sensitivity not just albinism! Nystagmus like your other post says can contribute to the photophobia you experience. But if you are concerned, chat with your ophthalmologist or optometrist about it. :)

Doesn't make you albino. My aunt albino. My son sensitive to lights cause he has axenfeld rieger symdrome

I wish haha. If only I had all seeing eye or daredevil like reflexes. It would make life a lot easier. :) glad you enjoyed the video.

It can be a challenge for sure. Not being able to drive is probably in the top 5 most annoying things about being blind for sure!

What I was trying to explain is that you don’t need perfectly white hair or skin or light coloured eyes to have albinism because of the many types and genetic mutations associated with it. Some may produce more pigment than others. I was trying to clarify that just because you have light blond hair doesn’t mean you have albinism either. You need the other features associated with albinism like nystagmus, vision loss, foveal hypoplasia, etc. there are also forms of albinism that only affect eyes and don’t affect skin or hair pigmentation at all.

@@UnsightlyOpinions No. I'm suggesting there maybe folks who have a hint of albinism but different metrics doesn't make them technically a person with albinism. I had to refresh my understanding of it,but the blondism in the Australian Aborigines and Melanesians is caused by the Tyrp1 gene,with other candidate genes does cause albinism.

I don’t think that’s a fair conclusion. People with albinism can come from any country and ethnic background. They will still share every other physical, and social feature of their heritage just not the melanin, so no I would not consider albinism a race.

@@UnsightlyOpinions I got ya. But so… to what race do they belong to?

As an African American Albino myself, unless the European person has other traits that were described in the video like nystagmus or photophobia, they are not an albino just because they have red hair or brown eyes. We are born this way due to genetics. I rarely comment on videos but I’m hoping that you were genuinely asking the question and not being insensitive.

@@starlightmonbebe I think Albinism has everything to do with Europeans turning pale, it is something that just happens not necessarily evolutionary, Albinos stay out of the Sun and live over 70 years without Sun exposure so why would Vitamin D from the Sun be a requirment.

@@woodchipgardens9084 Again I myself am not European and an albino. I inherited a gene from both parents that was, lack of a better word had a mutation that lead to me being born with albinism. It runs in my family and none of my family are of European descent. I have red hair and brown eyes. Both of my parents are African American. I also “look white.” If you are genuinely curious about albinism, may I suggest you look up some information in medical journals or speak to medical professionals who specialize in treatment people with albinism. Your previous comments are very rude and highly offensive.

@@starlightmonbebe a lot of offensive people in the world isn't there, look up Lazarus Chigwandali and Salif Keita it might cheer you up.

I’m good thanks. This will be my last comment. You don’t seem to be genuinely interested in albinism and just interested in hot takes and tomfoolery. I’ve spent all 51 years of my life dealing with my albinism. As a mother, I’ve raised my children to be aware of my condition and how to assist me as I age. There’s a plethora of information about albinism out there if you’re willing to look and genuinely learn. Have a nice day.

They wondered if I had HPS for the longest time due to blood issues. Very cool to meet a fellow PWA :)