Cortical visual impairment

[Guest guest]

Ann

Thank you very much for your post. I so appreciate

you and the other professionals taking the time to

educate us.

Boy, you've hit a nerve on this one!

Caitlyn's diagnosis of a cortical visual impairment

was suggested by the school for the blind to account

for the symptoms she was displaying (they actually

said Caitlyn would be considered mild).

For instance, she could find objects easily on stark

contrast, yet was unable to on cluttered surfaces.

I.E. (only a few examples)

She easily found a cheerio on a black surface. She

could not on a patterned surface--after staring at the

board confused, she pounded her fist on the board and

when they all moved, she quickly grabbed one up.

She also was able to find small toys on a carpeted

surface, but when they were laid out on an area where

the sun was shining through Venetian blinds creating a

shadow on the carpet, she could not find them at all

(even though they were obvious to us).

She is mesmerized by lights and ceiling fans.

She tends to " trail " walls when walking independently.

Her MRI was abnormal, but the doctors will not give me

a definitive answer as to the meaning! They all say

that because there's no treatment for the problems,

other than the therapies we're doing anyway, what's

the point in analyzing it.

We've been to 3 neurologists, and none of them will

acknowledge anything, even though the radiology report

states abnormal frontal lobes, hypoplastic corpus

callosum, and subtle periatrial decreased white

matter.

I'm tired of doctors feeling like they're " protecting

me " by witholding explanations. Do they not realize I

can see day to day that there's something seriously

wrong here?!

In some strange way, it would give me comfort to hear

Caitlyn diagnosed " legally blind " , because then I

could understand and cope with the difficulties that

the school and I see she so obviously has.

__________________________________________________