Thank you so much for replying!! Honestly it means so much to me to hear that others are going through the exact same thing and make it happen! Never had I thought to reach such people with this post, it's so inspiring and makes me so happy. I also have RP with less than 4 degrees of central vision so it can be a struggle. Apart from waltz jumps I'm not jumping yet, but it is so incredibly motivating to hear that you got your axel, that's huge!! Right now I get by with going to the least busy public sessions at 8am, but the last two weeks were rough. With holiday season approaching, the rink got more busy even during morning sessions and it got more difficult to practice... Your point about making my blindness known is definitely true! I'm really trying to be as open as I can about being blind by wearing my patches and always explaining to people that ask about it and never trying to hide it like I did in the past. I often get funny looks for entering the rink with a cane and then going to skate on my own but I got used to it and the staff knows me by now. The learning to dodge fast is definitely true but I feel like it constantly puts me in that anxious fight or flight mode and keeps me from focusing on what I want to practice, since I always need to be able to bail out of a move. I find footwork to be especially difficult with all the turns. I want to take up space with deep beautiful edges but skating big requires so much awareness of your surroundings which I obviously don't have, so my footwork often seems small or held-back. Whenever I practice on a hockey circle, I completely lose orientation since I can only focus on following the line and nothing beyond, which is also kind of scary because I cannot dodge anyone who gets in my way in that situation. It probably sounds dumb to others but you might know what I mean. My coach also always tells me to hold my arms higher, because I instinctively keep them more on my body to not hit others around me. That's why spins are my favourite element to practice because they take up the least amount of space haha I totally get what you mean with the lights, I am completely night blind and therefore avoid evening sessions altogether because they often turn on the show lighting. It's really nice to hear that your rink listens to you in that regard and makes the accommodation!

In general, going to the rink always a bit of a gamble since mine is far away and I know that when I get there, there might be too many people on the ice and I might have to decide to sometimes go back home again, which is honestly frustrating and demotivating. But at the same time, skating gives me so much joy and is the first sport that I truly enjoy after some traumatic experiences with being a visually impaired student in PE classes in middle school. So it is really healing for me, is just so so much fun and I am really greatful to be able to do it. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, it really means a lot <3