I know its been a while since i posted to the site but with work commitments and family commitments etc its been hard to find the time.

Today i was sent a post on Facebook that made me think about Caitlyn and in general the way people perceive not only Vision Impairement but in general any disability.

This is the post i received.
My wish for 2010 is that people will understand that children with disabilities do not have a disease; children with disabilities are not looking for a cure but ACCEPTANCE........93% of people won't copy and paste this, WILL... YOU be one of the 7% that does and make this your status for at least a day

As i mentioned in my own re-post of this..

Very True and close to my heart. People often do not accept Caitlyn for who she is. They judge her like she has a disease. Society today needs a wake up call. These kids and Adults in general just want to be normal in their own special way!!!

Society is definately judging of the way people look and act. Their disability is often taken way out of proportion and made into something like a flesh eating disease that everyone wants to stay away from. From our own experiences we have had people shy away from Caitlyn as soon as they hear she is blind.

Caitlyn already is starting to catch up on her learning and how to interact with the world in general. I admit she has had difficulty in learning some things other kids find very simple.. As an example she really hasn't crawled around much cause she has her own little world which is basically what she can find within her arms or legs reach.. To get her to stand and take a step hasn't been easy but she is finally starting to take one or two tentative steps.

Well enough of my rant and rave for today. I will do my best to update the site a little more often.

I am now located away from the immediate area of where Caitlyn lives, so therefore don't have the same amount of contact with her. However, I was so pleased when seeing her last weekend that she only took a short time to be comfortable with me.
The photo of her on the swing was taken then and she certainly enjoyed the swinging motion, as you can see by the smile.
Big brother took her down the slide also but not to sure of that.

Well finally i can write about this. I wasn't able to put anything on the site due to family members being able to read it. Oh Well they got a real suprise when Caitlyn and her Mum arrived on their doorstep.

Caitlyn has had her first Flight on a Airplane. She went really well apparently although was a bit upset during takeoff due to the noise.

They are currently in Auckland and will be starting to travel around tommorow to see the north island of NZ.

Will put updates in as possible.

Well the festive season is over and Caitlyn certainly faired well. Everything from books, touch mat, musical mobile phone etc. I was concerned that being able to purchase a gift for a VI child would be very hard. Yes it is to a degree but one only has to think a little harder and go searching. Caitlyn took all the excitment in her stride and to cap it off I was speaking (on the phone) to her dad on December 28th and heard the explaination - "She stood up by herself" Yes our little darling had stood up unaided, all be in for only a moment but yes she has done it and will obviously be progressing further over the next few months.
Christmas certainly didn't supress her appetite either, with her enjoying everything that was placed on her high chair tray.
I look forward to 2009 with anticipation of the challenges and goals that Caitlyn will achieve.
To all who are following her progress via her website - Happy New Year and let us all enjoy each and every day.
Cheers for now
Mooty

This is an interesting read for the possibly future of vision impaired people including Caitlyn.

Technology Review by MIT

This could lead the way for the regrowth of eyes in people affected by Microphthalmia or Anophthalmia.

Well, Its been a little bit since i posted. Mainly due to the fact that nothing of any major interest has happened.

Caitlyn has been growing well, Had a visit to the doctors for usual checkup - ALL clear.

Today we had the 2nd attempt at fitting her prosthetic eyes and well.. She took them well.

She looks so different with them in. It is actually quite scary to see them as i am used to her normal eyes.

Will post pics once i am able to get some really good ones.

UPDATE: have posted 1 pic so far - Click link

Well the day after the Hospital visit and we look back over what happened yesterday. It was a very long day for us all. Caitlyn was an absolute angel. She had fallen asleep sunday night at about 11pm. We couldn't give her anything to eat or drink after 2am. By 7am she finally woke up after the trip up to Brisbane. She had a bit of a grump and grizzle about 8ish but soon forgot that she hadn't eaten yet. 8:30ish they took her down for the surgery. She was back on the ward by about 10:30ish. By THEN she was hungry.

We just received the notification for Caitlyns first moulding for conformers. To do this she will be put under a full anaethstetic (not sure how to spell that one!!).

It is Monday morning (8th September) at 7am.

Well, the cleanup from the combined birthday parties is still on-going. Caitlyn and Andrew had a combined birthday party yesterday. Quite a few people showed up and it was a rather enjoyable day. The biggest problem now is the left-over meals etc we will have to go thru.

I will post a few pics here in the next few days. Wasn't able to take many pics as things where always happening. Hopefully some of the others who attended might have one or two pics as well.

I can't believe it is almost 1 year since the birth of my special little girl. There are a lot of things that have happened in the year and only some of them have been posted here. I really do need to thank a lot of people who over the past 12 months have provided the support network that both my Wife and I have required to get thru as we have.

Firstly I obviously need to thank my Wife who without her none of the joy and happiness of Caitlyn would have been possible. She has been beside me all the way as I have been beside her. Not saying it has been easy in any way. We have both at times blamed ourselves and each other for Caitlyns condition. We also have asked on a number of occassions why this wasn't detected in all the scans we had prior to her birth. This is something that we have found appears to be a common question from others affected by Microph/Anophthalmia.

Secondly I need to thank my direct Family. Their support and encouragement has not only allowed us to get thru all the hurdles but allowed us all to grow as a Family. It certainly has brought out the needs of each person within themselves. It shows how hard it is to accept yourself for how you are. People often Judge each other by their first impression or appearance. With Caitlyn we have all had to learn how to judge people by how they react to you rather than how they look to you. Vision Impairment has show us that sometimes as a Human Being we often make the mistake of judging someones appearance firstly before we know anything about that person. Watching Caitlyn judge people by touch, smell and hearing has taught me to value what we do have.

Thirdly, Several people have been of a great support simply by knowing that they are there. Tim and Judith from Jethro Consultants as well as the entire network of readers from Real Live Preacher who supported us not only with their words of support on their websites and by email but also by their prayers and thoughts for all of us.

Lastly, and certainly not least of all, I need to thank my friends who have helped in any way possible. We also need to thank the fantastic people at Narbethong Special School, RIDBC, Vision Australia, Guide Dogs and Seeing Eyes Dogs. The network of all these specialists and friends has helped us in many ways. Our next biggest hurdle is to start the construction of our new house. It has been specially designed and built on a family members property to allow us to provide the best environment for Caitlyn. It is quiet yet not too far from main roads etc to allow us to get her to her hospital and specialists visits. We will have specially designed sensory gardens as well as marked pathways and fully fenced yard so as to ensure her security and safety. I have designed and will implement a complete video surveillance system so that she is able to walk around the yard and yet be watched at all times by my wife and myself.

At no point have I ever asked for support in the past however due to recent price increases and decrease in our general family earnings i am asking that if anyone can donate to help keep Caitlyns-story.com going i would really appreciate it. This website has been not only a source of information for myself and my family but it is now also beeing used as a reference by many other families who are affected by this condition.

Caitlyns-story.com will continue to grow in the future but may require additional funding options such as additional advertising banners. At this point i would rather not put them on until absolutely required. If you are able to help with any donations please register yourself and make a comment here for this post. I will then contact you personally to arrange for the paypal donation details to be passed onto you.

Please also keep an eye out for a post i will put here shortly. I am about to upload a video sequence that i have made. It is a collection of the photos we have taken of Caitlyn over the last year. Please once this post is only feel free to pass this onto your friends as well.