Despite visual impairment, CSU student scheduled to graduate May 5

CHARLESTON, SC – April 16, 2012 – When Miguel McDaniel looks into his own eyes through a mirror he does not see what we see; his pupils darting and jumping quickly from side to side, a condition known as nystagmus. 
“I don’t really feel them moving, unless I am really tired, then I can feel them jumping,” he said. Then he closes his eyes and places his index finger on his eyelid. “But when I close my eyes, I can feel them moving and jumping.”
 
McDaniel does not see how we see either. His condition requires patience and intense concentration. Reading assignments, tests, taking notes, they all require more time to digest. The additional concentration required to read sometimes leads to headaches.
 
“When I look straight out of my eye, I see a lot of different things,” said McDaniel, a native of Orangeburg, South Carolina. “The difficulty in reading is I see a lot of different words so having to focus on one point is a struggle. I have to really focus to read, but I make do.”
 
McDaniel doesn’t understand the challenge, or the compensation he must make when he is reading, driving, watching television. He has nothing to compare it to; he’s lived with the condition since birth.
 
Nystagmus is rooted in the part of our inner ear that senses movement and position and helps control eye movements, a condition sometimes described as “dancing eyes.” When the nerve malfunctions and fails to send the message to the brain, the result is involuntary eye movement.
 
Nystagmus has kept McDaniel in eyeglasses since the age of five. He is allowed to drive his red and yellow 1978 Monte Carlo using a restricted license. McDaniel doesn’t take the standard vision test. He submits a letter from his eye doctor to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
 
McDaniel said the strength of his eyeglasses makes objects appear closer than they truly are. “My friends are like, ‘why are you pressing on the brakes?’ and I say, ‘I don’t know, they look closer to me.’”
 
While Nystagmus is a challenge for McDaniel, it is not a spoiler. McDaniel is just days away from graduating from Charleston Southern with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting.
 
“It’s taught me perseverance,” said McDaniel. “It taught me a lot of patience. When I feel like it shouldn’t be this hard or it shouldn’t take this long, I understand that success comes with patience.”
 
Prior to enrolling at Charleston Southern in the fall of 2007 McDaniel came to a basketball summer camp, hoping to play for Barclay Radebaugh’s Buccaneers as a student-athlete.
 
“The workload of school, that’s a big commitment,” said McDaniel. “I wasn’t ready to take on both of those at once.”
 
“My coaches offered to put in my contacts if I got them,” said McDaniel. “The problem with contacts is I could never get my eyes to stay still long enough to put them in, and when I got closer (putting his finger to his eye) my eyes move faster. I tried twice to get contacts but it didn’t work out.”
 
He says he is stronger, more determined and focused as a result of Nystagmus. McDaniel didn’t miss the opportunity to thank Charleston Southern University English professor Dr. Nancy Canavera for her encouragement.
 
“When I first came here my teacher, Dr. Canavera, really pushed me to get a letter from my eye doctor, he said. “She gave me extra time when I was taking tests. I told her I was OK. I didn’t want any extra benefit. I just wanted to go to school like any normal student would.”
 
McDaniel added the small classroom settings at CSU were a perfect fit for his education, enabling him to get the personal attention he needed to succeed.
 
“I noticed the difference in a small environment,” he said. “I was able to focus and get more done (in the smaller classes). When I was deciding on college I was worried about the big classrooms. If I got in a classroom like that, knowing I don’t see very well, it would be very difficult for me to pay attention or take notes.”
 
Front row? No problem. Miguel McDaniel is a front row guy anyway. “Since I was a kid, I sat directly in front of the TV,” he said. “It’s the best way for me to view things. The closer I can get to the board, the better I can focus. The smaller environment at CSU has helped me excel. I accomplish more.”
 
Unless medicine identifies a cure, Nystagmus is a condition McDaniel will live with the rest of his life, a challenge he welcomes with a 20/20 attitude.