“We are so grateful to be a VIPS family”
Driving home from the ophthalmologist’s office, Victoria and Josiah’s concerns were confirmed— their baby boy Lucas has Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and Strabismus. At the time, Lucas was not able to track his toys, watch his older brother dance, or see his parent’s faces. His family felt defeated.
There are so many unknowns for a young family of a child with visual impairments, but Lucas’ parents were not ready to sit by without giving their son all the opportunity to succeed despite his vision loss! They met with their VIPS interventionist, “Miss B”, and within that first session, she was able to isolate specific colors, textures, and lights that Lucas could focus on. She left their home equipping the family with ideas and resources to work on improving Lucas’ vision.
Lucas’ family drove all the way from northeast Indiana to Louisville, Kentucky to attend the annual VIPS family retreat. The connections they made were priceless, “It meant the world to spend time with other families who had similar experiences to us. We left that weekend even more equipped and empowered to advocate for our son’s future.” They felt encouraged knowing that both of their sons were taken care of by the VIPS staff and volunteers while they were able to attend sessions during the retreat.
Lucas just turned two, and Victoria and Josiah are still uncertain about his vision. However, through the help of early intervention, they feel better prepared to help him reach his goals, ”We as parents have been trained to advocate for our son and to work with him on a daily basis to encourage his visual strengths and to continue to work on his deficits. We are so grateful to be a VIPS family.” Raising a child who is blind or visually impaired can be isolating and hopeless, but VIPS aims to empower all parents or caregivers to be their child’s best advocate while providing a community that is rooting for the success of their family.