[ Music ] >> Lois Harrell: Vision teachers often get questions asked of the parents, sometimes the parents don't understand what the ophthalmologist said, or sometimes they feel that they just didn't get any answers whatsoever. And so there's some cautions here; we should answer their questions, but we should respect the ophthalmologist's position and let the family know that the ophthalmologist is looking at the visual system, the physical visual system, and now what we do is take that information and help the child to develop his functional vision, if we can. >> Parent: But our ophthalmologist said it was the worst case he's ever seen [inaudible]. >> Harrell: So where does that take us? >> Parent: Nowhere! [laughing] >> Harrell: It does. >> Parent: It does? >> Lois Harrell: It gives us lots of information. >> Yeah? >> Harrell: Okay? 'Cause I've seen hundreds of kids with optic nerve hypoplasia. I've been in practice for over 40 years... and what it says is... sometimes, sometimes kids with vision differences, their vision improves as they, as they get [inaudible]. But it says function and touch. You know, he focuses on touch, so that he can do organized scanning. And I'm quite an advocate of pre-Braille... but there are ways to expose him to the Braille early, okay? If you don't mind, I'll address that. Isn't that great? [music] >> Parent: Yes.  >> Harrell: As you're working with the child to demystify the experience for the parents, let them know what you're looking for. The parents don't see that the child actually turned toward the pen light. So it's helping the parent to see what you're looking at, or to question some of the things that are different, and then address those issues in a way that says, "But there's things that can be done, and this is what we can start with." There are activities and experiences that allow the baby to be part of the action and then realize that he has a role in his activities, then my mind is actively involved with the process. [ Music ]