Meet Daniel

October 25, 2018

Daniel Szymanski ‘s medical journey began at 4 weeks old. As a newborn, Daniel began having seizures. He was immediately admitted to Phoenix Children’s Hospital where his family learned about his brain abnormalities, called Polymicrogyria. This was the cause of his seizures (infantile spasms), Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and ultimately his physical and cognitive delays.  After a year of failed seizure medications, Daniel had a hemispherectomy of the left hemisphere. The surgery resulted in a huge decrease of seizures and, unfortunately, vision loss in the right field of both eyes; the physical and cognitive delays remained. Today, Daniel has Cerebral Palsy, controlled seizures, and two visual impairments. He has weekly therapy sessions, which help him grow stronger and improve his vision.

When Daniel’s family started to research schools, they learned about Foundation for Blind Children. They had a very positive experience at the school visits with Foundation for Blind Children and they knew that was where we wanted him to send Daniel.  Daniel’s family applied for a scholarship through the Arizona Leadership Foundation and with scholarship assistance, Daniel is currently attending the FBC preschool. They love that he can socialize with his peers, while at the same time be taught by supportive teachers.  Daniel loves Adaptive PE and music class.  Away from school, Daniel enjoys swimming with his family, playing outdoors and doing anything with his big brother.   Without the scholarship from the Arizona Leadership Foundation, Daniel would not be able to attend FBC or receive the early childhood education he needs to work with his visual impairments.  The family is so grateful for this opportunity and the progress it has brought to Daniel’s life.

About Foundation for Blind Children: Foundation for Blind Children provides education, tools and services that enable anyone with vision loss to achieve greater independence. FBC serves people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired, beginning with our early intervention program for children ages birth to five and continuing through our adult program which provides rehabilitation and transition services to help adults find or maintain employment.  Our goal for every person we serve is for them to live as independently as possible and be a contributing member of the community.  Their programs include: Infant Early Intervention, Preschool, Elementary Education (K-4), Itinerant Education, Sports, Habilitation, Arts and Recreation Program (SHARP), Adult & Transition Services, Low Vision Clinic and Braille & Media Services.