ican Stories - The Salatto Family

When you have a baby your whole life changes instantly. You now have a little person who needs you and your love twenty-four hours a day. When our son Collin was born our whole life changed instantly, not only because he was in the world and needed us but because he needed our eyes to help him see the world. The day after Collin was born he was examined by a Doctor who came into my Hospital room and said “I don’t think your son has any globes”. Well, I had no idea what she was talking about. I have no idea what she said after that because about a thousand things were running through my head. I looked at her and said “are you telling me that my son has no eyes?” I didn’t even understand the question I was asking. She told us that she thought he would be blind. When she left the room my Husband Ralph and I (Sherry) just sat there thinking now what? How do we do this? How will he play? How will he walk around? How will we teach him? What will other people think of him? Will he ever know what his Mommy and Daddy or his two brothers look like?

After a lot of testing and a great eye specialist, we found out that Collin was born with bilateral Microphthalmia with cysts. He would have no vision in his left eye and we were not sure how much vision he would have in his right. I bought every eye-stimulating toy on the market and we started doing everything we could think of to stimulate his vision. He got his first set of glasses and his first conformer when he was two months old. It was hard to deal with all the questions people would ask when we went out in public. We had good days when we would tell people he was born with an eye condition that made him visually impaired and we had bad days when we would just say he failed the eye test so they gave him glasses. As Collin grew we waited for every milestone to be difficult for him because of his vision. Instead, Collin showed us that he could do everything any other child could do even though he could not see very well.

Collin is now five years old and in Kindergarten. He wears a sclera shell in his left eye and he is beginning to learn Braille this year. He played on a Baseball team last spring called the Challengers (A league for kids with disabilities).His Brothers were volunteer “Buddies” for the team He took private golf lessons this summer with his Grandmother and he his now taking swimming lessons at our town pool. Needless to say he is a very energetic little boy who loves sports. He is always trying to keep up with his older brothers (Jason 14, and Brian 12) they are also very involved in sports so it was important for Collin to find a sport that he could play.

We have come a long way as you can see. It has not been an easy road but has certainly been interesting. Instead of us teaching Collin he has taught us. Collin is a very special little boy who has a way of touching everyone who spends any time with him. He adjusts to any situation and accomplishes things we never thought would be possible for him to do. I am so proud of him every day and now instead of wondering what things he will not be able to do we wait anxiously for him to show us everything he can do.