I have posted an article my father sent me about a boy in Oxford Mississippi who is legally blind like me. My parents and I went to Oxford every two years for my cataract surgeries.
Oxford Eagle 03/29/2011,
Sight Savers brings world into focus
Program helps children see world around them
BY ALYSSA SCHNUGG
Andrew Jones sat in the waiting area outside Room 404 in the University of Mississippi Student Union. Like most 7-year-old boys, he was a little antsy to get on with the reason he and his family were at Ole Miss on Friday.
Andrew, who lives in Starkville, Mississippi was waiting to see Dr. Dawn DeCarlo, who would examine his eyes and his vision to determine if he was eligible for a $2,600 closed circuit television, or CCTV, that enlarges objects up to 75 times their normal size.
“I use one at school,” he said. “I use it to read words.”
If Andrew fits the criteria, he and his family will get the CCTV at no cost.
About 15 children from all over north Mississippi attended the Sight Savers America clinic this past Friday. A handful of them would go home with a CCTV. The others would take home other various vision aids, including telescopes, handheld magnifiers and Braille equipment.
Bittersweet results
At the end of his examination, Andrew’s results were bittersweet. He was visually impaired enough — 20/200 with glasses — to take home one of the CCTVs.
“It’s a really neat machine,” said Andrew’s mother, Sharron. “It was worth the trip. It’s not just for books. He can see all kinds of things, like money and photographs. It’s going to help him tremendously.
Children at the clinic have conditions that cause them to be “legally blind” that can’t be completely corrected through glasses. Some of the children suffered from optic atrophy, retinopathy of prematurity; nystagmus and other serious conditions. Andrew suffered seizures as a baby which caused his optic nerve to be underdeveloped.
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