For this year’s Giving Tuesday, LightHouse is raising money for our Little Learners program, which serves blind and low vision children from ages 0 to 3. We’re sharing stories sent to us by families who have been served by the Little Learners program.
Here is a story from Little Learner’s Mom, Amy:
“Our son was diagnosed with achromatopsia as an infant. His visual impairment is a genetic disorder in which the cones of his retina are not functioning so it makes him very photophobic. Our son also has nystagmus (abnormal eye movement), no color vision and very little depth perception.
“Our family is so lucky to receive services from Little Learners! Our Little Learners Specialist Gail has experience working with young children who have achromatopsia, which is awesome because it’s such a rare condition. Gail provides us with support at our son’s ophthalmologist appointments- she asks questions that we wouldn’t know to ask. She also helped us with getting our son the right type of glasses and tints.
“Our world is so color-based and Gail has helped us understand that even though our son knows the names of colors, he doesn’t actually see them, that he only sees shades of gray. Since our son doesn’t see depth very well, things like stairs and curbs are very challenging to navigate so Gail taught him to tap with his toes so that he will know there’s a step.
“In addition to teaching my husband and I how to help our son learn about the world around him, Gail has dropped off toys and games that she thought would be helpful with strengthening our son’s vision. She gives us wonderful ideas, great advice and really empowers us to advocate for the best possible care and services for our child within the medical and educational systems”
