Early Intervention for Visually Impaired
Newborns: A Perspective of a Parent
and "TVI in Training"
Kate Mozingo, The Ohio State University
When our son was three months old, he began having seizures. We were then told by doctors that he had epilepsy, low muscle tone, and
that he was unresponsive to any visual input. We
made appointments with lots of different specialists and began physical therapy right away, and
one of the first things our physical therapist did
was give us a referral to early intervention services. I remember looking at the website for
Ohio's "Help Me Grow" intervention program that
night and thinking, "She thinks we don't know
how to parent him." Why did we need to be
taught? It is only in retrospect that I now understand that having a child with multiple disabilities
had somehow put my name on the list for parenting grad school.
As I train to become a teacher of visually
impaired children and their families, it becomes
more and more clear that the well-intentioned
"What to Expect When . . ." books do not "cut it"
for children who are born with disabilities. We
were fortunate that our son's vision is much better
than we initially thought, and he can interact and
learn using all of his senses. But many families
who have children with a sensory impairment
must not only learn a new language, such as sign
language or braille, but must first learn how to
communicate and play with their infant at the
most basic levels in order to facilitate very important first learning experiences. I was curious as to
what exactly parents can do from the first day
they bring their babies home, if they are aware of
visual impairments from birth. What is the time
51
