When Parker Fortenberry was a baby, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Although he survived the tumor, they knew at the time it was destroying his vision.
“Going through this as a parent, you feel alone. You’re like, ‘how am I going to make my kid able to succeed in the real world?’” Olivia Fortenberry explained.
As a mother determined to help her son thrive, they’ve been tackling new tasks together from a young age.
“So our first big hurdle is reading. ‘Oh, man, what are we going to do?’ We noticed in kindergarten the print wasn’t as big as it needed to be,” Olivia Fortenberry said it was challenging to simply enlarge the font for Parker.
Therefore, he was sent down the difficult path of learning braile. According to Olivia, educators thought if Parker couldn’t see the writing, braile was his only option.
According to Dr. Bhavani Iyer from the Dan Arnold Center for Vision Rehabilitation at the UT Health Houston Robert Cizik Eye Clinic, many people commonly misbelieve once glasses, contacts or surgery no longer improve vision than nothing more can be done. However, she said that’s incorrect. Instead, Dr. Iyer knows of a number of technological advances that can assist people with low vision to see well.
“A kid like Parker who was so smart, and he could do it and the mother knew he could do it... but he just didn’t have the right resources,” Dr. Iyer explained, “When I can see in the clinic that, ‘hey, this kid is capable of doing it and all he needs are the right resources,’ Sometimes it comes down to me unplugging what I have on the wall and letting him take it home until he could get his device.”
See more from KPRC 2+ at 7: Haley Hernandez shares how the clinic is trying to prevent learning delays that can happen when students have difficulty with sight:
Dr. Iyer unplugged a machine in her office that helps Parker magnify his schoolwork so he’s reading books and music now. He also has other devices that he carries from class to class to assist him in learning.
The devices can help Parker with other stages of life too, including when he learns to drive.
However, the devices are expensive and not covered by insurance.
“So, what we try to do is we work with the, you know, manufacturers or even the dealers and then sometimes we try to get a sample on the floor to at least to demonstrate to patients so they are able to see what is out there and we also have a lunar library where patients can try it before they buy it,” Dr. Iyer explained. “It’s not fair that there is no third-party coverage for devices.”
Luckily, the Dan Arnold Center for Vision Rehabilitation raises funds to assist patients with low vision.
“UT Health raises funds, too,” Dr. Iyer said. “But we’ve always found resources to help patients... our motto is not to turn anyone away.”