Taylor’s vision is developing but in perplexing ways. She describes her vision as “looking through a window in the rain” in that the image is constantly moving and distorting as rain drops keep falling on the glass. She also describes her images as cracked so that if we ask her to look at a flagpole or line on the wall, she describes it as cracked or broken up in a few places.

Lines and Letters

When looking at a series of letters, she only sees part of them. For instance, when I show her a letter “P” she says she can see a curve but not a straight line. I asked her, “How can you see the curve but not the line?” She answered, “If I could see the whole thing, you wouldn’t be asking me these questions.” When I show her a letter “A” or “V” she knows it is one of these letters because she sees the triangle in each but cannot tell them apart, despite the fact that the triangle outline of each is inverted. When she sees a letter “E” she sees horizontal lines but no vertical line. When looking at a letter “H,” she sees vertical lines but no horizontal line. When looking at a computer screen in a dark room, when a line is shown, she can identify if it is strait or curved. If it is strait, she can identify if it is horizontal or vertical. If she is shown two lines she will report seeing three or four.

Colors

Taylor has always been able to detect colors. Using 8″x11″ pieces of colored paper, she can identify the color at up to 100 yards away and probably farther (we ran out of space). However, when walking back to where Taylor was from 100 yards away, she couldn’t identify me as a walking person until I was 20 feet away.

Surprises

Every now and then Taylor will surprise us by recognizing something that clearly takes better vision skills than she normally exhibits. For instance, she recognized that I needed a hair cut. This was true but not “that” true, so she must have caught a glimpse of something.  This happens from time to time out of the blue. When it does, it is a pleasant surprise.