Life lessons

This is Carter Scott.

Carter Scott loves music and jumping on the trampoline. He’s a fighter and determined to overcome the barriers that vision loss presents in his life.

 The Scott family, of Forest: Rusty, Julie, three-year-old Carter and his younger brother Grayson lead the life of the average busy modern-day family, while parents Rusty and Julie stand strong alongside their son Carter, being his best advocate when it comes to dealing with the everyday efforts that face him. It’s not all struggle, and Julie says they remind their boys everyday how important they are to them and this world and even though Carter doesn’t have vision, he can accomplish anything he wants, just in a different way.

 Carter came into this world prematurely at 25 weeks, three days on April 8, 2009 weighing one pound, eight ounces and spent 114 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. As a result of his prematurity, Carter developed Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in both eyes. ROP is an eye disease thought to be caused by disorganized growth of retinal blood vessels which may result in scarring and retinal detachment.

 “Carter was a fighter from the beginning and continues to surprise us everyday,” says Julie. “He reaches milestones at his own pace and has a team of amazing therapists who have worked with him since he came home from the hospital and who have supported both him and us to help him reach his fullest potential.” 

 Carter has had a total of 14 surgeries and treatments under anaesthetic at five different hospitals within Canada and the United States. He is treated by doctors across the border in Michigan, and Julie says although it is very costly, it has been worth every penny as both doctors specialize in ROP and there is no one in Canada that can compare to their expertise. One of these doctors was able to give Carter the five per cent of vision in his right eye when he was nine months old by injecting his mom’s blood nutrients into his eye. 

 Carter has appointments every few months and his vision has slowly been improving and stabilizing. There are many advances and treatments such as stem cells and microchips that Carter’s parents hope he will be able to benefit from. His specialist is very hopeful that Carter will have vision in the future.   

  Carter goes to preschool three days a week and has a support facilitator that is able to help adjust his learning environment so that he receives the same curriculum as the other children in a way that he can understand it best. "He has grown leaps and bounds from interacting with kids his own age," says Julie. "Putting him in daycare was one of the hardest things we had to do, but one of the best we’ve done for Carter." He receives support through Pathways, CNIB and has an amazing group of teachers who have provided a great learning environment. 

  Julie's best resource is talking to other parents of visually impaired children. “You learn a lot from people in the same or similar situation to your own," she says. "We are learning something new along with Carter on a daily basis.”

 Rusty and Julie have wonderful family and friends who have helped them out in so many ways, big and small, and say they  wouldn't have gotten through anything without them. 

 “When we first learned about Carter’s vision loss we were understandably devastated, but as time moves on, we have realized that Carter is still our amazing little boy who can do whatever he wants in life,” says his mom. “He was given to us for a reason and has already taught us so many life lessons. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for our amazing little boy.”