My name is Christina Laty

My name is Christina Laty

I don't know much about the very beginning of my life, but I will tell you what I know. I was born with Nystagmus and Septo Optic Dysplasia, a syndrome of Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. My parents started noticing that I have low vision when I was about three months old. And then my mom did a bunch of research, and judging by my behavior, she found out that I have Septo Optic Dysplasia. But she couldn't convince the doctors. Finally she found a doctor that wrote a book about the syndrome. She brought me to that doctor and asked him to diagnose me. At first he looked annoyed that she didn't believe the other doctors, but then he came back out of his office and said she was right. 

When I was little, I had sensory problems, so whenever something would touch my mouth or if I touched something with unusual texture, I would projectile vomit. My mom had to feed me every twenty minutes with juiced vegetables with no texture in it. That was what the earlier years of life were like.

Four years old was a big year for me, because if I remember correctly, that's when I started my growth hormone shot, thyroid pill, and thirst control pill. For preschool, I went to the Blind Children's Learning Center. It was a great school, and I made some great friends. I went there for two years. Then I remember taking a test, that confirmed that I didn't need to go to kindergarten. So I skipped kindergarten and went to first grade at Killybrooke Elementary School.

From first to third grade I took Braille lessons. In second grade I first saw the BrailleNote. I immediately wanted one. I told my teacher about it (my Braille teacher) and she said (if I remember right, or if not I think something around these lines) we would talk about it when I was efficient in Braille. I don't think it ever got brought up again. But I still wanted one. In fourth grade, I didn't use Braille at all. Then, all of a sudden, in fifth grade at the Braille Institute, (to which I had been going since eight or nine years old) there was a choice between writing in print or Braille, and I chose Braille! I decided that day that I wanted to get back into Braille. I also started wanting the BrailleNote again. Also in fifth grade, sometime before spring break, I found out that the aid that I had been with since first grade was leaving, and after spring break I would be with a new aid. A day or two before spring break, on the day of the Killybrooke talent show, I was introduced to my new aid. 

I forgot to add something really crazy in the first chapter. That thing is what a couple doctors wanted to do to me. One doctor wanted to dunk my head underwater, saying that he did it all the time and it would reset my brain, and another doctor wanted to spin me around a bunch of times, saying that that would reset my brain.

When I was in fourth grade, my younger sister, Lizzie, did gymnastics. 

One day, when my mom, Lizzie, my little brother, Andrew, and I were walking back from the building where Lizzie did gymnastics. I decided that I wanted to take a shortcut. So I started walking away from my mom, who was too occupied with the younger two to notice. Where I thought was about three quarters away from where I would turn, I said hi to someone on his bike that I passed. All of a sudden, he got off his bike and stepped in front of me. I tried to turn the other way, but he stepped in front of me again. "HEY! HEY! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR EYES?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR EYES?!" He yelled. I tried to get away with saying there was nothing wrong, but he kept yelling the same question until I told him that I was visually impaired and couldn't control them. Then he went onto another question. "HEY, HEY! WHO AM I?! .WHO AM I?!" I tried desperately to think of who he could be, imbue I didn't know this person. Then Mom called me, so he knew my name. "HEY, CHRISTINA!! CHRISTINA! WHAT'S MY NAME! WHAT'S MY NAME?!" So I told him that I didn't know him. Then Mom told him that he was scaring me. "I'M NOT SCARING HER!!" he was totally wrong. I was scared out of my mind. Then Mom helped me get through the bars of the fence that separated her from me. That night, Mom called the city about it.

During seventh grade, I went to Costa Mesa Middle School/High School. I was with most of my friends from Killybrooke Elementary, but some of them went to Tiwinkle Middle School. In previous years, I had gone to the Braille Institute with one of my friends, who already went there, and was a junior in high school. We got to see each other at break, and sometimes I would say hi to her during passing period, where our paths occasionally crossed, and once collided! I was in the ASB for my elective there, but I eventually switched to band. I play the flute, starting in the after-school band in sixth grade, and I still play. I still talked to my ASB friends though. 

Then, I found out I was moving to Colorado. My dad moved on April 1st, and the rest of my family (including me) stayed in California to finish packing and such. For 8th grade I went to Ranch View Middle School. This coming year I will be attending ThunderRidge High School.

Recently I have created my own blog latywritermusician.blogspot.com