KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Danny Robeson captures a lot of hearts. But it can be hard for the two-year-old to capture an image of hearts or other things in his brain. Danny’s vision trouble isn’t in his eyes.
“It’s actually in his brain. So the information, when it goes in through his eyes, his brain isn’t able to make sense of what it is he’s seeing,” said his mother, Laura Robeson.
It’s called Cortical Visual Impairment or CVI. It results from a brain abnormality. Danny has Cerebral Palsy. CVI sometimes goes along with that. The good news?
“It turns out over time with certain visual stimulations, you can actually get vision back,” said Brent Kevern of LifeScience Technologies LLC, a Johnson County-based company.
Kevern developed an iPad app at the urging of a niece in Michigan who teaches kids who are visually impaired. The app is being tested in Michigan and at Kansas City’s Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired.
Danny is exposed to images with increasing complexity. The goal is to rewire the brain to accept the signals. What makes this app different from others for CVI is that it keeps track of Danny’s eye movement. It charts the time he spends looking at the system so his teacher and his mom can see what’s working and build exercises from that.
Early reports are encouraging.
“Some of the parents that have children in the program are actually saying that their children are able to identify their faces for the very first time,” said Kevern.
Danny’s mom is excited about the possibilities.
“My hope is Danny has an education and life experience like any other child would have,” said Robeson.
She hopes his brain will be able to absorb all that he sees.