What Is Albinism? - A Personal & Informal Presentation.

• Albinism is a RECESSIVE condition, which means that each parent must carry one copy of the mutated gene in order for a child to be born with albinism.

• One form of albinism is inherited from only one parent; however, this is quite rare. The parents of the child with albinism do not have to have albinism in order to pass the condition onto their offspring.

• On the other hand, if one parent has some form of albinism while the other parent does not, there is only a 50% chance that the offspring of that couple will be born with the condition; however, the offspring will carry one copy of the gene and pass it onto his or her offspring.

• Statistically, the chances of a child being born with albinism are 1 in 17,000; however, albinism is not specific to one race, gender or ethnic background. This is perhaps a controversial claim that may need further study, but it has been said that the occurrence of albinism is South Africa is much higher, where the instance is 1 birth in 4000, because of inter-familial marriages—cousins marrying cousins.

• The most common form of albinism is OCA1A, where a child has no pigment in the eyes, hair or skin.

• Due to this lack of pigmentation in the eyes, hair and skin, there are other factors that affect a person with albinism. Although a person with albinism can lead a perfectly normal life, he or she must take extra care when going out in the sun; the vast majority of people with albinism do not tan, their skin will burn if exposed to harmful ultraviolet rays. Eyesight is also affected because of albinism; the average eyesight of a person with albinism is 20/200, which in North America, translates to legal blindness. Granted, there are varying degrees of legal blindness, but as a general point of reference, it is safe to assume that every person with albinism has 20/200 vision.

• Because of the vision impairment, most people with albinism require special assistance in school.

For more information, please visit:
* http://www.albinism.org
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albinism (less info)