The surprises never end when it comes to our boys. We've always known that Nick's vision wasn't the best, but we had no idea how bad it was. Hayden's vision teacher signed Nick up for a low vision clinic because of his history and because he is highly nearsighted. The ophthalmologist was able to estimate Nick's visual acuity between 20/200 and 20/400 with his glasses on. I about hit the floor when he said that. 20/200 is legally blind. He also said that it appears Nick has reduced visual field in his right eye. WOW! We were not expecting that. Nick is a little clumsy and runs into big objects, but I just thought he was being a 2 year old boy. Apparently, his vision is playing a bigger role than I thought.
Hayden's vision teacher (now Nick's too) said that we may not notice much difference for him in school until the third grade when the print changes to 12 point instead of the large print of preschool-2nd grade. She did provide some hope stating that his acuity may get a little better as he gets older. Our fingers are crossed for that. She will be over to do some further testing to see if Nicholas qualifies for vision services through Heartland AEA. He qualifies medically but he has to qualify academically also. If he does, he will also be going to special education preschool in the fall.
Before the boys were born, I was always worried about how we were going to buy 2 cars for their 16th birthday. Now, it looks like we may not have to buy one. I had always planned on bribing Nick to take Hayden places. That's not looking promising now. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that, legally, we have 2 blind children and that Nick may never be able to drive. While I am having a hard time believing it, the thought makes me very sad for my boys-especially Nicholas. He is just like his peers in every way, so not being able to drive would be so terribly hard for him. I just keep thinking that maybe he made a mistake and that I will be worrying about all of this for nothing.
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