Monday, June 28, 2010

Its how you play the cards

So we got an unofficial diagnosis of cortical visual impairment (CVI) or sometimes known as cerebral visual impairment. After learning about what CVI is and its characteristics, I realized that Lauren did fit many of the classic symptoms. CVI is a neurological vision impairment and is something that can't be fixed with glasses or surgery. Of course, I am sad again. I feel bad for baby Lauren, to not be able to see properly and to not hear properly, the world must be such a confusing place for her. I would be so scared. I can't imagine how she must feel or what she is feeling. To have two of your senses impaired in some way, it must be hard to make sense of everything around you. I wouldn't know what to do but just eat my bib...which is what she does!

So what to do now? Well, we are going to start working with a vision consultant who is going to evaluate Lauren's vision from a functional perspective and then we'll have to start "training the brain". The good news is that her vision should improve with time. How much it will improve, we don't know. But simple things like perhaps showing her objects against a solid dark background instead of a busy background can help her "see" better and process the information easier.

Why did this happen? We have no idea. We have no family history of any of this. Why us? We have no idea. I guess why not us? And maybe it makes no difference. The cards have already been dealt at this point. Now its about how we play the cards. We are getting Lauren all the help we can. We'll just have to wait and see....


1 comment:

  1. Hi Kate, i remembered receiving a stack of black,white and red flashcards from Zav's Neonatologist when he was 5months plus. He was starting focus on toys then, but tracking poorly though. Did not follow our movements either or seemed aware of his surroundings . We start flashing the cards to him 5mins/day almost everyday. Not sure if that helps or its just a coincidence but we noticed that he starts tracking the flashcards (and other toys) pretty well after a month of us showing him the cards. For the past 2wks or so, he actually followed us when we walk past him.

    By the way, happy to hear that Lauren is starting to show signs of imitation! Its really great!

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