Our Mission:
Find Cures
We are dedicated to curing hereditary childhood blindness and vision disorders.
Our Story
In 1989, doctors predicted a dim future for Sam and Vivian Hardage’s son, who was born with ocular albinism type 1 (OA1), a rare, but debilitating, genetic eye disease. Ophthalmologists told them that there was “no treatment,” “no cure” and “no hope.” Very little was known about the disorder because few scientists were researching hereditary vision disorders.
So, in 1991, the San Diego couple established the Vision of Children Foundation...
“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
– Socrates”
What is ocular albinism (OA)?
Human albinism can be divided broadly into two types, oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) and ocular albinism (OA), where “oculo” means eye and cutaneous means skin. These terms were devised in the late 1940s, when medical science was less sophisticated than it is now. The terminology sounds simple, but in reality is probably incorrect, since all forms of albinism have relative deficiencies of pigment in the hair, skin, and eyes. Historically, ocular albinism is an inherited disorder in which the eyes are deficient in the amount of melanin, which gives the eye its color or pigment, while the skin and hair appear normal or near normal in coloration.
Our Goals
1) To fund cutting-edge research focused on developing treatments and/or finding cures for hereditary blindness
2) To provide education and support for a worldwide network of families affected by vision disorders
3) To provide state-of-the-art vision aids to assist low-vision children in need
4) To honor young people who have overcome their vision challenges and are living extraordinary lives by featuring them in Vision Heroes videos and blog posts