Breaking Up is Hard to Do

What She Wore: Blue jeans, tennis shoes, periwinkle polo with a little yellow polo player. You can sneak purple and gold in all over the place.

What She Ate: Cheese and chicken enchiladas with my homemade red sauce. Yummy!

Finding the right doctor or therapist for your child is a lot like dating. You arrive early, you look nice, your hopes are high. Often times, you are disappointed. More often than not, I find doctors lacking. Some don't understand the nuances of your child's health--the worse ones aren't really interested. The best ones are great. You leave their presence feeling better. They are as hopeful as you are about your child. They feel like members of "Team Charlie" rather than cross-town rivals.

Sometimes, however, you get someone that you don't love. In some cases, you have a choice--you get a second opinion, you change courses of action, or you just don't go back.

I'm starting to think that I'm not wild about Charlie's Vision Therapist. I'd like start by saying that she is the consummate professional. She's perfectly on-time, she calls the night before to confirm, she gives me all paperwork typed, and she has a myriad of strategies.

I don't think she has a lot of faith in Charlie, though. The first day she came to work with Charlie she brought Braille materials and a special needs catalogue from Toys R Us. Right then and there I think I soured a little. I'm not opposed to Braille if that's what Charlie needs, but he's seven months old. He's not reading anything. Let's work on his vision for now, and when it comes time to read, we'll figure out which way is best for him.

Whenever she comes, she acts like Charlie is blind. She assumes the worst and that's exactly what she gets. She comes with bells and colorful toys, beads and flashlights, and he ignores the whole thing. I've had two different doctors--both specialists--tell me that he is definitely not blind. I've had other experts in children tell me that they think he has vision. The verdict seems to be that he's missing some of his vision field. This makes vision inconvenient, but present. Our job is to get him using his vision as best he can. So far, I've seen a vast improvement in the last four months. His vision is more centered and he makes more eye contact than before (as opposed to none, we have some). He still has a long way to go, but I see progress and so do others.

So, I'm left feeling like the girl who's always wanted to get married and have kids, who's well out of college, and who's dating a tool.

For now, she's one of the only Vision Therapists in the state. She's all we've got. I have to decide if her positive therapies out-weigh her negative vibes. Ahhh, the choices we parents have to make.