Blindness

Well, it seems to be official. Macayla seems to have lost all of her sight. Until recently, she was still responding to light. We could turn on the overhead light in her room and she would look up at it. But now she does not respond to it. She no longer responds in a dark room to a single source of light, static or flashing. We just had an appointment with the eye doctor and he stated that based on what we were describing as far as her responses and the condition of her optic nerves and retinas, that he believes she is no longer processing light. Her hearing has become extremely sensitive while all this has been happening as well. She jumps at sudden sounds, even if they are not that loud. We are so thankful that her sight stayed active as long as it did. Most kids with Battens lose their sight early on. But she was still responsive to light and shadows this past summer. It has given us some great moments of joy when she would be in the midst of a series  unorganized movements and suddenly pause and look at us. We are thankful in Macayla's case especially considering she has been such a strong visual learner. She really kept her sight longer than we anticipated. We praise God for that and we praise Him that her memory has held on for so long and that she is generally happy and smiling.