A campaigner for people with disabilities said she wanted a school for the blind opened in Bermuda.

Sherrie-Lynn Lilley, the director of Inspire Bermuda, a charity for the disabled, said the blind learnt differently and needed a special school.

Ms Lilley, who lost her sight more than three years ago to the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa, added blind children deserved equal opportunities.

She said if children who have lost their sight were not given the right start in education, they may appear to have intellectual problems later in life.

Ms Lilley was speaking after she and other members of the Inspire Bermuda team visited several schools last week, including a Wednesday trip to her former school Warwick Academy.

Ms Lilley, a Bermudian who lives in the US, said she wanted schoolchildren to be campaigners for people with disabilities, who were often marginalised.

She added she hoped to get across the message that, with the right support, people with disabilities can make valuable contributions to society.

Shelly Grace, a Warwick Academy teacher who taught Ms Lilley, said pupils at the school were working on a project on chronic health conditions.

Ms Grace added: “I am hoping that this will enlighten them so that they can bring a more empathetic and realistic approach to what they are writing about.

Sienna Woolridge, a Warwick Academy pupil, said: “I took away the fact that no matter what my situation may be like in school or out of school, I still have the ability to make something of myself and I can make the world a better place for someone else.”

Mikayla Choudhury, another pupil, added: “It doesn’t matter what your background is.

“That is just your background and not who you are. You can do whatever you want to do.”

Inspire Bermuda hosted a seminar for caregivers last month, addressing issues of grief and loss and suicide assessment.

Another seminar was held at Evening Light Church, Parsons Road, Pembroke.

Ms Lilley said Inspire Bermuda would be walking in the parade for Heritage Month.

She added: “We are going to be having our first stage production in the summer.

“We are going to be pairing exceptional people with able-bodied people to put on a play that I have written.”

She said several workshops, with one on mental health, had also been organised.

Ms Lilley added she was surprised at the problems faced by the disabled when she visited home last year and launched Inspire Bermuda in January.

Ms Lilley said: The response to Inspire Bermuda has been phenomenal. This has made me extremely happy.”