Disability Is Not Inability

I became a resident of the World on February 20th in the 90’s. 

I lived for playing with my friends and exploring adventures in my life. When I turned three-years-old, I was enrolled in Kindergarten where I continued to build relationships with new friends and extended family. After two years, opportunities came knocking and I moved to the United Kingdom for a stable life.

When I turned seven-years-old, I began to experience challenges with my eyesight. Some of the early signs included short sightedness, difficulty reading books with small letters and mild headaches. These led to feelings of frustration, because as a child I couldn’t understand why I was not able to do what my age mates were doing. 

This became  a concern, so I got referred to an optometrist for them to find out what was the issue. The medical examination and test results revealed that I have a non-cancerous benign brain tumour in the optic nerves, and diagnosed with a spontaneous condition called neurofibromatosis (Type 1).

Consultations with the medical team followed, in an effort to safeguard my eyesight. I was put on chemotherapy treatment to shrink and prevent the tumor from growing. After each treatment, I was in pain, experienced fatigue, nausea and I had to be hospitalized intermittently.

I developed a strong sense of fear, deeply thinking if my life would be going forward. Unfortunately, in the course of the treatment, I became visually impaired when I was nine-years-old.

Visual impairment was a hard diagnosis to accept, because my eyes welled up in tears.

I became apprehensive for my future.

To  pull myself from these feelings, the first step was to accept my new reality with the support of my family and church community. I was able to stand tall and make the best of my life. Though I lost my sight, I cherish the memories of what my environment is all about, animals, plants, colors and people.

When I lost my eyesight, music became my passion because I started to play songs on the piano by ear. I was later enrolled in formal piano lessons to learn the notes, scales and chords.

I fostered my music talent and pursued it on further education at University. The music courses I studied gave me the experience of performing live in venues and producing music in the studio.

Currently I record different styles of music, on an electric digital grand piano called Yamaha DGX660.

As time progressed, I relocated to Canada for better career opportunities, for people with disabilities because I am a multi talented Musician, Voice Actor, Model and an  Accessibility Ambassador who enjoys working with people.

I am passionate about Diversity, Equality, Accessibility and Inclusion.

My dream is to inspire other people living with a physical disability, by sharing my experience globally.

-Nasir Khali

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You can connect with Nasir by clicking the links below

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