Transcript

Emily: My name is Emily Coleman, and I live in Washington State. I’m married to James, and we have three children. Our middle child, Eddie, is blind due to optic nerve hypoplasia, and he is also diagnosed with Autism.

When Eddie was diagnosed with blindness at four months of age, he was the first blind person that we had ever met. So, it was totally overwhelming, kind of our first introduction into this world where everything was going to be new.

So, you kind of feel like you’re on your own and that really is the most difficult part.

I use FamilyConnect as a way mostly to connect with other families that are sort of in my same shoes. So, it’s a great resource for me to turn to, to look for some information that I wasn’t able to find anywhere else.

What it did for me is it opened up my eyes to a world that I just didn’t know existed.

The part of FamilyConnect I like the best—I do like hearing from other parents, and I like when parents write blogs about experiences within their own lives and some challenges they’ve faced. But, also, the success stories that they share or ideas and tips.

I think that it is important that parents of kids who are visually impaired connect with each other because in the real world we’re often alone. It’s really important to connect with other families in whatever way you can, and FamilyConnect provides the great resource to do that.

Narrator: FamilyConnect, familyconnect.org