Vision specialist

So with the holidays and everything, I never updated on what happened after the functional vision assessment that Julia had.  When the specialist came to the house, she "played" with Julia and then told me that she recommended that Julia be checked quarterly.  This meant that she would be on "monitor" status.  I am very familiar with "monitor" status because I teach special ed.  In high school, if you are on monitor status, you will be dropped from services after a semester if you don't need the
extra help anymore.

Well, the vision specialist (she works for Delta Gamma), the occupational therapist, and Julia's case manager came to the house to review the functional vision assessment.  There was a lot of discussion and I contributed as much as I could.  It again was very surreal to be the parent in this meeting and not the special education teacher.  The team decided that Julia does need vision services so the vision specialist will be coming to the house once a month to work with her on functional vision.  She also will still receive occupational therapy once a month as well.  The vision specialist/occupational therapist will be working on fine motor skills, scanning, and mobility, especially when it involves depth perception. 

We also talked about how hard it was to keep her glasses on.  At the time (this was back before Christmas) she was still hit or miss with keeping them on.  A goal was put in her IFSP about glasses.  The great news about this is that when she gets her next prescription, First Steps will pay for a set of glasses!  Hooray!  That is definitely great news since she will probably need a new pair shortly after surgery.  Now I won't have to just replace the lenses, but can get her new frames as well.

Some days I swear that Julia can see really well.  I wonder if it is the mom in me wanting the best for my daughter (can we say denial).  Like today, she was picking up nerf darts off the floor, and that was without her glasses!  Other times I notice that she has trouble.  She doesn't use her peripheral vision so she will trip over things on the floor and has a lot of trouble with steps.  She is very, very hesitant to let go of me in an unfamiliar setting. 

I have my moments where I wonder if she really needs these services. The normal person would never know that her vision isn't great.   But then the special educator in me reminds my nagging conscience that First Steps wouldn't have qualified her if she didn't need the help and that preventative services are always more successful than trying to catch up later.

So right now we are just patiently waiting for surgery day.  I had a little tearful moment today when Julia was in the tub.  Without her glasses on, you can really see her eyes.  They are definitely turning more hazel/brown colored.  I got a little sad because the pupil in her right eye is not centered in her eye.  It is small and a little oddly shaped.  My heart hurts for the future and Julia having heartache over being "different."  I love my little girl and she is absolutely perfect.  But not everyone sees the perfection that I see.  I see the courage, intelligence and sense of humor that she has.  I mean really, she takes eye drops like a champ (nothing like her brother - it is like wrestling a wet squid to get drops in his eyes), she has had more appointments than I can count and is about to have her fourth surgery.  She is a champ.  She is beautiful.  She is my Julie-bean.