Edge Case Existence

(Re)Building a Life at the Intersection of Tech, Disability, and Systemic Failure

Please Note: This site and its identity is a work in progress!

An Introduction

Hello, my name is Niall Horn ¹. I’m from North Yorkshire, England in the United Kingdom.

If you know me, it’s probably through my work in the Visual Effects industry (VFX)² on various films and TV shows, later moving into Deep‑Tech R&D³. I have a background in Computer Graphics/Simulation, Machine Learning and XR. While my career was/is my life; it’s also just been visible the interface defining it so far.

What’s mostly invisible, until now, is the reality of living with a complex set of medical conditions. I have a genetic condition – 47, XYY (Jacobs Syndrome)⁴, which lays the substrate for multiple conditions that make my life exceptionally challenging.
These include neurodevelopmental conditions: Autism (ASD), ADHD and Dyspraxia (DCD)⁵ – alongside daily (very) physical mental health challenges from conditions like: Treatment Resistant Depression and Anxiety Disorders as a product of comorbidity.

I believe it’s time to accept that these medical conditions are disabilities for me and people like me who suffer from these. We shouldn’t have to feel ashamed in saying so. I know the importance in facing these realities head‑on, because staying in the shadows and over‑abstracting lived experiences like my own, or building marketable social narratives will not help bring about awareness and to some extent (hopefully, one day) change. While these conditions do have some positives, these can be warped by stereotypical viewpoints that unfortunately blur the lines in ways that negatively affect those seeking support. People like myself want to be part of a society, but one that also accepts us for all we are.

Yet, even in 2025, people like myself often feel compelled by societal expectations to hide these conditions and "mask"⁶ in order to participate fully. Given what I have personally experienced over the past 14 months and throughout my life, this is understandable – but it's not sustainable, either for individuals or for a society seeking to balance innovation with genuine inclusion.

I'm here to share parts of my life and my story, across different areas, and to explore questions like: why should disabled individuals who want to integrate and contribute face such significant barriers? Why should we struggle with challenges that arise from predispositions determined before birth?

I want to (re)build my life, to be more than just an existence. I want to rebuild my career in tech, and integrate the knowledge and experiences I’ve faced into my life and the way I work, learn and educate. However, this won’t come easy.

Hence, Edge Case Existence is born…

What is This Site?

Edge Case Existence is my interface with the world. It's a place to document what it's really like to live, and (re)build – when your path isn't one most people are prepared for. Some of this is about rebuilding: my career after experiencing a prior alleged discrimination event that I am currently dealing with⁷, recovering from medical trauma⁸ and working to move forward.

A lot of what I write will reflect on people and experiences that shaped where I am – some very supportive, some quite the opposite. But I’m not here to assign personal blame. I want to present my experiences and let everyone take away what they can from them. My aim is awareness: sharing what really happens when complex medical realities and rigid systems collide, and what I’ve learned in the process. I want to open up honest conversations about living with serious, intersecting conditions while working in demanding technical fields.

Concurrently, I want to get back to building. This may include: open‑source tech projects, experimenting with new ways of working, and sharing my journey to a new sense of self; now that I (somewhat) actually understand what I'm dealing with. However I know transcending your disabilities, and being the best you can be in, irrespective of the barriers faced is not enough to be accepted.

This isn’t a brand, a movement, a manifesto or an attempt to chase attention. It’s a record of what happens when you try to move forward, even if most systems aren’t built with you in mind. While I do have a personal dev site (currently neglected due to career loss), Edge Case Existence has broader ambitions in covering these aspects of my life and story.

Why ‘Edge Case’?

In programming, an edge case is a scenario most systems don’t account for – a test that yields something rare or complex enough to reveal weak or blind spots in the system’s original design. It is no coincidence that I see duality in this definition to myself and my lived experiences. Not a failure, but proof that systems need to adapt and grow, and we as a species still have a way to go. I myself am also part of this, growing and learning more about others’ experiences from all walks of life.

In tech, edge cases aren’t there to break things; they highlight what needs fixing, and sometimes, what needs a ground‑up rebuild from scratch — for the greater good of everyone, even if the task of doing so seems too great.

However many just choose to erase the edge case(s); cull it, and act as if it never existed, leading to a system destined to fail.

A Note on Perspective

This is my story, but I know I'm not the only one. There are others facing similar challenges, regardless of their disabilities, life circumstances and careers. There are others we've lost along the way who deserved far better during their life.

Now that I better understand why things have been challenging, and I'm continuing to develop my model on both my perception, introspection and meta-cognition of learning to live with my conditions, I want to help others feel recognised rather than isolated. The intersection of career, medical, and personal experiences has shown me it's time to talk openly about these realities.

I believe in sharing the real picture, not for sympathy, but to shed light and (hopefully) help others navigating similar territory. If you're curious, if you know my work, or if you want to understand what (re)building life under complex conditions looks like, you're welcome here.

I'm looking forward to releasing both written and video like content in the near future, as my cognition allows. In the meantime I recently started documenting small pockets of my life, like the 2025 Holiday season on my Instagram

- Niall (George) Horn
(Last Updated January 2026)