Gemma Mackintosh (15), of Stuart Avenue, Ardersier is using some of the negative experiences she endured throughout her own schooling to campaign for changes.

Through taking part in an exhibition called Moving Stories, which celebrates 10 years of the Scottish Parliament, the teenager – who has a condition known as albinism, which affects the pigmentation of her skin, eyes and hair – got the chance to tell her story through words and pictures.

Gemma's condition leaves her very sensitive to sunlight and her eyesight is extremely poor. She is also registered blind.

"I joined the forum Haggeye, which supports blind and partially sighted young people in Scotland, in November 2007.

"Members meet throughout the year and discuss any issues that we feel are important," she said.

"As a member of Haggeye, I was nominated by my peers to be the Highland representative in the Moving Stories exhibition which opened at the Scotland Street Museum, Glasgow, on April 27 and is currently touring the country."

Taking part in the exhibition gave her a chance to experience how parliament works and a taste of life as a politician.

She explained: "A historian came and asked me questions about my experiences in school and life with having a visual impairment.

"I also got lots of pictures taken as well. It was a really great experience and really gave me a good insight into how parliament works.

"Despite experiencing quite a difficult time in school, I wanted my message to be positive.

"I want to change the way education is delivered to kids with visual impairments in the future in a positive way."

School for Gemma was difficult and she has recently left, hoping to do her highers at Inverness College because she feels she will get better support there.

She explained: "Every child has the right to a decent education and it seems in some cases people with disabilities are being excluded rather than included."

For the first two years of her secondary education, Gemma attended Culloden Academy before having to experience the trauma of changing schools because she was so badly bullied.

"It was different groups of people who gave me a hard time in school," she said: "It was like one person was horrible to me and then other people followed.

"Sometimes it got physical, with people tripping me up. But mainly I think it is because children are not educated about disabled people properly and I think it is a lack of understanding on their part.

"That's something that I would like to see changed. I think people should be taught about the different types of disabilities in school.

"I think that would at least help."

Gemma attended Millburn Academy thereafter, but she says her quality of life didn't improve.

"The bullying may have stopped, but the support I received there was much worse.

"It's not a personal attack on either schools, I just want to change things for future generations."

Simple things, like receiving her school work in a large font, proved a problem and Gemma also found it hard not having a classroom assistant for many of her lessons.

"Receiving your work in large font may not seem like a big deal, but it was for me. I can not read small print, so it is a necessity," she said.

"And often when I would receive the work in the correct size of print, it would be poor quality.

"That obviously affects how well you are able to perform in school."

Gemma explained that this could be rectified quite simply by purchasing the correct type of equipment.

"When I say equipment, by that I mean the correct size of printers, photocopiers and scanners," she said.

"I know it is all about money, but why not buy equipment that is suitable for everyone in the first place, so that people with visual impairments have an equal chance of getting a decent education?"

Gemma has recently been elected as a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament and wants to take her campaign for change in education for visually impaired children further.

"I'm delighted to be involved in the Scottish Youth Parliament because I have a lot of views that I think are important and I want to get across to people who have the power to make a difference," she said.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, Gemma is interested in studying politics in the future.

She said: "I think it is really important to stand for what you believe in.

"And I don't think you can do that by getting angry about bad things that have happened in the past.

"I'm not a negative person and I believe that with a bit of effort people can change the things that they believe are wrong.

"I won't just sit down and say nothing if there is something that I think is wrong."

j.macculloch@highland-news.co.uk