Our son Luke was born in July of 2013 at just 24 weeks with the lowest weight of 1 lb 6 oz. He battled many illnesses, many complications, and late into his long NICU stay he developed Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a very rapid and aggressive eye disease. ROP left him completely blind in his right eye with a need to wear a prosthetic eye shell over top of it, and with extremely limited vision in his left eye. When Luke was first diagnosed doctors honestly couldn’t tell us what life would look like for him, what he would be able to see, or if he could see anything at all.
As a parent it was devastating, and all the unknowns for our sons future were downright terrifying, no parent is truly prepared for this. We quickly started researching services and support for visually impaired/ blind children and that is when we came across Light House for the Blind! Lighthouse welcomed our family in with open arms, pouring so much love, support and resources into our lives! Luke started receiving services through the Lighthouse infant & toddler program almost immediately after leaving the NICU.
Luke stayed in the infant/toddler program until he was old enough to transition into the children’s program, which he remains active in today. In the Children’s Program they teach life skills, social skills, the children get to interact with like peers who understand them, and most importantly, they have fun! Luke is now almost 10 years old, he is a full time braille reader/writer, he uses a white cane when navigating, and is in general education at a public school.
We truly credit Lighthouse for the Blind and all their devoted and amazing staff for how well he is doing. They have created an environment and community for the blind and visually impaired that celebrates their differences, promotes their strengths, encourages hard work, builds relationships, promotes self-growth and integrates them into the seeing world with the needed skills to be independent. As parents there is really nothing else we could ask for, for our son. Lighthouse has done so much for our family, but most importantly, they gave our son a future with no limits attached.
