A letter from Paul McFadden, father of three-year-old Annie.

When Annie was born she looked like a baby bird that wouldn't live. Our beautiful daughter was born prematurely at 23 weeks, and it was five months before my wife Cherie and I could take her home from hospital.

Annie is totally blind in her left eye, and has only some vision in her right. She has a vision impairment called retinopathy of prematurity.

Can you imagine being told that your baby is vision impaired? It's confronting and daunting for any parent. The support from the Association for the Blind of WA - Guide Dogs WA has been our saving grace. Annie is now three years old, and has flourished under the Association's care and services.

We were surprised to learn that the Association is not fully government funded and needs to raise several million dollars a year to provide its services.

The staff at the Association met Annie right after she was born. They've known her almost as long as we have! Staff even visited us in hospital to help educate the nurses about how to look after a baby that's vision impaired. They've been with us from the very beginning.

The range and depth of services is far beyond what we expected. The physiotherapist there got Annie to walk. Then the occupational therapist took over. When Annie showed signs of delayed speech, the speech therapist stepped in. To be able to come to a local organisation with all services under one roof is a wonderful benefit. It's reassuring to have just one number to call whenever we need someone to talk to.

Meeting other parents at the Association has given us a sense that we're not alone. Their child's eye condition might be different, but each parent around us has the same thoughts, the same issues, and the same concerns. It's extremely comforting.

You may not realise it, but the services here in WA are some of the best. Last year we moved to Adelaide to be closer to family, but we didn't have the support we were used to. There was an immense gap in Annie's life without access to services like social work, speech therapy and vision specialists. Annie flatlined without that support.

We moved 2,800 kilometers back to WA - away from family - to come back to the Association.

I'm really proud that our State is leading the way in services for children who are blind and vision impaired in Australia.

Since we moved back to WA, Annie has really progressed. On Tuesdays, she attends playgroup at the Association. On Wednesdays and Thursdays she goes to three-year-old kindy. It's her fist term, which has been very exciting for all of us.

Annie and her one-year-old brother Michael are just like any other brother and sister. When Cherie and I hear them playing in another room, and can hear them giggling and laughing together, it's truly heartwarming.

Vision impairment is a scary concept, but Annie certainly doesn't live in a scary world.

Children in WA are being born all the time who, from either congenital conditions or environmental factors, are or will become blind or vision impaired. Early intervention is critical, as 80% of what children learn is through their sight.

You can help provide equipment for children's groups and therapy; developmental therapists and specialist; independent living skills and recreational services; and camps and excursions. These are tangible things, but the lifelong skills they help children develop aren't.

Yours sincerely,
Paul McFadden

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