Low Vision

We are no strangers to low vision assistance as we’ve received help for our son’s vision since he was 3 months old. Without early intervention he would not have come as far as he has and we would not have known how we should have been helping him.

It can be daunting to begin with but there are wonderful organisations out there with the expertise and the kindness to help you and your child. I know because we have been lucky enough to have been beneficiaries ourselves.

If you care for someone with low vision, here are a list of low vision organisations and resources to help you, help them.

Resources for the Blind & Vision Impaired

Frequently Asked Questions About Albinism

One of the things I love most about sharing our life as a special needs family is the opportunity to help others by sharing our experience and knowledge. I often get emails from parents of newly diagnosed kids seeking answers to common questions, especially about...

Recognising signs as a first time special needs parent

As a first time parent I knew all about milestones. I didn’t know much else about parenting but after reading pregnancy and baby books for 9 months I was an expert on milestones. You know the ones - the first time your baby smiles, sleeps through the night, rolls,...

Independence & the special needs child

As my son grows older (he'll be 12 in March) we are grappling more and more with the challenge of developing his independence. For most 11 year olds, catching the bus home from school, walking around the corner to a friend's house and having sleepovers are no big...

Albinism 101

June 13 is International Albinism Awareness Day. My son will be giving a series of talks to classes at his school next week in the lead up to the day. I'm so proud of him and his desire to share his knowledge with his peers. Although I suspect he's more into the fact...

Oh Happy Day

If you had been following any of my social media accounts today you would have seen my proud pictures and posts about my boy receiving an award at his school's presentation day. Anyway, for those who missed it Gilbert received a certificate and medal to recognise he...

Demystifying Albinism: Seeing Red

One of the biggest and most enduring myths about albinism centres around the colour of the eyes. The stereotypical view is that people with albinism (PWA) have red or pink eyes. "Will he have red eyes?" I must admit that was the first question I asked our...

What He Sees

I dubbed today "vision day" as it involved a trip to the opthalmologist for Gilbert's regular check-up, followed by a visual scanning training session with Vision Australia. The day didn't get off to a great start - we misplaced Gilbert's glasses which are sort of...

Dual Diagnosis Dilemma

I am acutely aware that I don't talk much about Gilbert's albinism on the blog. It's not because I think it doesn't merit more attention - it does, it deserves much more focus than it currently receives here. But it's hard to dedicate equal time to his separate...

Back to School: It’s Done

My kids went back to school this morning. After weeks of nerves and anxiety mixed in with a little excitement, Matilda returned to school in Year 1 and Gilbert started there in Year 2. It went better than I expected. They were both excited to get their lunches...

Happy 20th Birthday RIDBC Hunter!

On the weekend we were invited to RIDBC Hunter at Floraville to celebrate their 20th anniversary. RIDBC stands for Royal Institute for Deaf & Blind Children and the fantastic staff at RIDBC Hunter really helped us come to terms with Gilbert Bear's albinism...