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<p>TRUCKSVILLE &#8212; Madi is 12 years old and has never been able to see well.</p><p>She was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, a condition that&#8217;s left her legally blind.</p><p>Madison &#8220;Madi&#8221; Carlsson also has an intracranial cyst, which causes right-sided weakness, and pituitary dwarfism which causes growth hormone issues.</p><p>Madi is also one of the most pleasant kids I&#8217;ve ever met. She&#8217;s adorable and she&#8217;s fun. She has never let her vision issues get her down.</p><p>She likes to tap dance. She also plays the piano. Well, she doesn&#8217;t read music and has never taken a lesson, but she loves to sit and play &#8220;Madi music.&#8221; It&#8217;s not bad, either.</p><p>She sings in her church choir. She&#8217;s a Girl Scout and wants to be a Girl Scout leader some day. A good student, she says she also wants to be a teacher.</p><p>&#8220;I want to help kids,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Madi likes to read. She read &#8220;The Diary of Anne Frank&#8221; last year.</p><p>She likes to get involved with events that raise money for other kids or organizations. She was the spokesperson for Ryan&#8217;s Run, a fundraising event coordinated by Ryan Leachy of WNEP-TV, one year.</p><p>Madi&#8217;s parents, Alison and John, describe her as a &#8220;good kid&#8221; with a &#8220;good heart.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s all true. I spent about an hour with Madi in her Trucksville home and fell in love with her. She&#8217;s just so darn cute.</p><p>And now Madi is looking for help.</p><p>Recently Madi was able to try a new product called &#8220;eSight eyewear&#8221; &#8212; glasses that will correction her visition from 2600/20 to 20/10. Glasses that cost $15,000 and aren&#8217;t covered by health insurance.</p><p>These glasses could take Madi from legally blind to almost normal 20/20 vision.</p><p>According to the eSight website, these special glasses are comprised of two components:</p><p>&#8226; The headset houses a high-definition camera, OLED screens and multiple supporting technologies used to capture and display a real-time video feed.</p><p>&#8226; The controller carried by eSight users includes a small, lightweight processing unit that does the hard work of adjusting every pixel of the video in real time. The controller also houses the battery, which powers eSight.</p><p>When Madi put the eSight glasses on, the results, as her parents said, were amazing.</p><p>I asked Madi what she saw while wearing the glasses.</p><p>&#8220;In could see my dad,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And I saw flowers. I saw the hotel doors open and close. And I saw my baby sister.&#8221;</p><p>Madi could see all those before, but only from the closest of distances &#8212; like inches away. The eSight glasses bring everything to her.</p><p>With the glasses, she would be able to go to school and clearly see the blackboard and what&#8217;s written on it. She will see her teacher&#8217;s expressions and she will see her fellow classmates.</p><p>Madi will be able to sit on the couch and watch TV, no longer having to get within a foot or so of the screen. She will be able to sit in a movie theater and watch a film on the big screen.</p><p>She is so excited about the prospect of getting the eSight glasses that she has set a goal of learning to drive someday.</p><p>You can see the way these special glasses have inspired Madi to aspire to a much higher quality of life.</p><p>She showed me how she currently reads &#8212; by bringing a book to about one inch from her eyes.</p><p>Madi has come a long way in her 12 years. Alison said she and John noticed Madi wasn&#8217;t tracking things with her eyes as early as 2 months of age. She wouldn&#8217;t smile back at them when they tried to make her smile.</p><p>&#8220;Her eyes would bounce,&#8221; Alison said. &#8220;She would twitch a lot.&#8221;</p><p>Madi didn&#8217;t walk until she was 3 &#8212; Alison said she would just &#8220;scoot on her bum.&#8221; At this time, Alison said Madi can see four feet ahead with her right eye and one foot with her left. The right side weakness alters her gait when she walks, but doesn&#8217;t slow her down.</p><p>Madi is right-handed, but her condition forced her to teach herself to write with her left hand. She admits her penmanship could be better.</p><p>Madi is excited about the prospect of getting the eSight glasses but she doesn&#8217;t nag her parents about them. She knows it depends on raising the necessary funds.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re really cool,&#8221; she told me.</p><p>Madi has a special cane that helps her navigate, but also alerts others to the fact that she can&#8217;t always see where she is going or who or what might be in her way.</p><p>This is the only life Madi has ever known. She has coped with the vision issue and has made the most of it. She has grown into a polite, smart and tremendously fun girl.</p><p>John, 40, and Alison, 38, have three other children: Emmalee, 10; Jacob, 7; and Charlotte, 2.</p><p>On the wall in their living room, a sign reads: &#8220;All because two people fell in love.&#8221;</p><p>Alison told me she would love to take Madi to a pumpkin patch and let her walk around and search for the one pumpkins she would like to have.</p><p>John and Alison have always allowed Madi to try anything she wanted. She has done well in most, except for that one time at gymnastics class. Madi didn&#8217;t like gymnastics, so she moved on.</p><p>Her favorite food is pizza &#8212; any pizza and she loves to watch &#8220;The Price Is Right.&#8221;</p><p>Getting the eSight glasses would mean everything to Madi. And she promises to give a big &#8220;thank you&#8221; to all who help.</p><p>In the meantime, Madi will continue being Madi. She will keep giggling, tap dancing and playing those special songs on the piano.</p><p>She will keep getting good grades, reading, learning and enjoying life.</p><p>Let&#8217;s hope there will soon be sight &#8212; as close to perfect sight &#8212; for Madi.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Columnshot-1-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi11.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Madison Carlsson, 12, was born with optic nerve hypoplasia. She is legally blind and the family is hoping to purchase special glasses that would allow her to see, but they cost $15,000. Fundraisers are being held to raise money for the purchase of the glasses. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi11.jpg</photo1><caption1>Madison Carlsson, 12, was born with optic nerve hypoplasia. She is legally blind and the family is hoping to purchase special glasses that would allow her to see, but they cost $15,000. Fundraisers are being held to raise money for the purchase of the glasses. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi21.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Madison &#8216;Madi&#8217; Carlsson, 12, was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, making her legally blind. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi21.jpg</photo2><caption2>Madison &#8216;Madi&#8217; Carlsson, 12, was born with optic nerve hypoplasia, making her legally blind. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi31.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Madi Carlsson&#8217;s mom, Alison, holds a book while her daughter looks at it. Madi, 12, was born with optic nerve hypoplasia and is legally blind. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi31.jpg</photo3><caption3>Madi Carlsson&#8217;s mom, Alison, holds a book while her daughter looks at it. Madi, 12, was born with optic nerve hypoplasia and is legally blind. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi41.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Madi Carlsson enjoys tap dancing and taps in her family home Thursday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi41.jpg</photo4><caption4>Madi Carlsson enjoys tap dancing and taps in her family home Thursday afternoon. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi51.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Madi Carlsson, 12, enjoys playing with her baby sister, Charlotte, and loved seeing her when she wore the special eSight glasses. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi51.jpg</photo5><caption5>Madi Carlsson, 12, enjoys playing with her baby sister, Charlotte, and loved seeing her when she wore the special eSight glasses. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi61.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Carlsson family: Emmalee, 10, John, Madi, 12, Charlotte, 2, Alison and Jacob, 7. Madi was born with optic nerve hypoplasia and is legally blind. The family has found a pair of special high-tech glasses that would allow her to see but they cost $15,000. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111515InFocusMadi61.jpg</photo6><caption6>The Carlsson family: Emmalee, 10, John, Madi, 12, Charlotte, 2, Alison and Jacob, 7. Madi was born with optic nerve hypoplasia and is legally blind. The family has found a pair of special high-tech glasses that would allow her to see but they cost $15,000. </caption6><photoCredit6>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit6></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Sight for Madi</strong></p><p>There are fundraising events scheduled to help the family pay for the eSigth glasses:</p><p>&#8226; Dec. 5 at Wisecrackers at Mohegan Sun Pocono, there will be a comedy show. Call 570-760-6609 for information and tickets.</p><p>&#8226; On Dec. 6, a Princess Tea Party will be held at Take the Stage in Dallas. Call 570-690-5439 for more information.</p><p>&#8226; There is a GoFundMe page, &#8220;Sight for Madi,&#8221; and a Facebook page of the same name, &#8220;Sight for Madi.&#8221;</p><p>The family said about $3,000 has been raised so far.</p><p>Checks should be made payable to: Sight for Madi, P.O. Box 1763, Shavertown, PA 18708.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

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In Focus: Madi Carlsson looks beyond her vision problems and enjoys life to the fullest