The Eye Exam: Patience and Progress

David and Mercedes Rizzo share how their daughter’s recent eye exam was a blessing from God, both for them and the ophthalmology team. 

Our daughter Danielle is sporting a new pair of eyeglasses. They look great on her. The frames have a splash of pink. Perfect! She has been wearing glasses since she was a toddler, so we have gone through quite a few pairs. Some have been broken. Some have been lost. Some she has outgrown. Many pairs have been donated. We wrote about donating old glasses in a previous CatholicMom post, “It is in Giving to All that we Receive.” 

An added twist is that Danielle has autism and is non-verbal. At this point in her life at age 27, you might think and expect that the annual eye exam would be routine, no big deal. For Danielle, that is not the case. It is hard to believe that even with more than twenty years of eye exams, Danielle has never read an eye chart until now. 

The Eye Exam 

Fortunately, Danielle has had the benefit of several great ophthalmologists who have shown her kindness and compassion, as well as quality medical care. Her exam is never easy for the doctor because she has not been able to provide verbal input. 

This changed at her last appointment. She saw a different ophthalmologist who tried a new technique. The doctor isolated the letters so that Danielle would read one letter at a time instead of a row of letters. Danielle used her iPad to identify the letters correctly one after another. Danielle’s response time was slow. She carefully looked at the letter, scanned her choices on the iPad several times before making her response.

We are grateful that her ophthalmologist allowed her the time she needed. It really was something to witness. Danielle was unable to answer complex questions for the doctor, such as “Is this letter clearer than that one?” but she demonstrated that she was able to identify correctly what she could see on the screen. 

We continue to be unexpectedly surprised when Danielle shows us something that seems miraculous in the ordinary moments of her life. The doctor took extra time with Danielle for this exam and the results paid off. We left with a prescription in hand for her that was lower in strength than she had been wearing. 

The Importance of Prayer  

Being parents of a young adult with special needs, we have learned that prayer can help direct you to the right doctors, specialists and other medical professionals. Prayer can ease anxiety around medical appointments, tests, and diagnoses. Going to the eye doctor when Danielle was very young used to cause us anxiety. She had a short attention span, she could not read an eye chart, and she had sensory reactions to wearing eyeglasses.

We expanded our prayers and asked for a doctor who could evaluate and treat our daughter’s vision problems and (of equal importance) to treat her with the dignity that she deserved. Our prayers helped us to generate the strength and endurance we needed for all of Danielle’s medical appointments. We began to see God’s handiwork unfold. Certainly, we saw God’s handiwork at her most recent appointment.   

When Danielle went to pick up her glasses again, she was asked questions like “How do they feel?” We let the technician know that she could not answer verbally. Again, Danielle surprised us. She gave a thumbs up to the technician, who smiled and proudly remarked to the other technician who had helped Danielle earlier, “Hey, she gave me a thumbs up sign!” We like to think Danielle’s ophthalmologist received a thumbs up sign after Danielle’s eye appointment too.  

Experiences like these remind us that children and adults with disabilities can be catalysts for change in the lives of those who come into contact with them. They force us to love beyond our ability to love. Sometimes parents experience healing when we see how our children have become a transformative force in the lives of others, even total strangers. As the saying goes, God works in mysterious ways. 

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Copyright 2026 David and Mercedes Rizzo
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