As a low vision parent, the demands on me have changed since the Preschool and Toddler years. My Arden is now seven years old with kindergarten, first grade, and half of second grade under her belt. That said, we both certainly had our anxious moments as we maneuvered through the school system for the first time. There were school and activity forms to fill out and endless notices and newsletters to read. It always takes me longer than other parents to read and fill out these forms, so my CCTV and I usually have to burn the midnight oil to keep up.
Despite my diligence in filling out forms, Arden’s first day at kindergarten didn’t go so well. After dismissal, I received a phone call at work telling me that the bus didn’t drop her off at home because no one was there to meet her. Obviously, they didn’t read the form stating to drop her off at the Day School with several friends. I had long since given up my driver’s license due to low vision, but luckily my friend Cathy dropped everything and drove me to the school. The last bus arrived and shy little Arden stepped off. That night at bedtime she said, “The morning was fun and then I had the worst day of my life.”
Things have smoothed out quite a bit since then. I started telling other parents about my vision impairment so they could understand why I don’t recognize them at T-Ball games. We live about 200 yards from the school and about a half-mile from the recreation park, so getting to school functions and most sporting events is quite painless. And other parents kindly offer us rides every now and then.
It has been a little bit harder explaining my vision to children though. They’re hurt when I don’t recognize their unique little faces. And in first grade, Arden was embarrassed and confused when her friend told her class that I was blind. I told her, “That’s okay. I am legally blind but I have a lot of vision.” No wonder it’s confusing!
To help them understand, I gave an Art Enrichment presentation to her class. I showed them how I used ZoomText and a ZoomText keyboard to magnify those interesting Diego Rivera paintings online – which they thought was pretty cool.
Arden has had a lot of good questions through this time period. She demanded to learn how I got this eye condition in the first place. I taught her some middle school level genetics and she exclaimed, “I don’t understand!!” I told her not to worry, especially since most adults don’t understand either. As time goes on, we don’t need to talk about my vision as much, but I welcome the questions and am sure there will be much more as we navigate through the next phase.
Get smart with the