Blaine
by Erika

Hello, my name is Erika. I am a mother to four boys, one of whom has Vitiligo. His name is Blaine; he is 8 years old and in the 2nd grade. Blaine was diagnosed with Vitiligo when he was around 4 years old. Initially we made several attempts to make "them" (the white spots) go away; but after months of trying and no progress, we decided to let things go as they were meant to be, which in turn meant that Blaine's spots could become a blessing in disguise if we treated them as such.

We don't make them an issue, or point them out. We introduce Blaine at the beginning of each school year, so that the other kids understand and actually forget about his spots. He is just another one of the kids. I do admit I tend to go out of my way to give a little something extra during the holidays or special events; this way Blaine feels he is as special as we believe he is. 

He does prefer to wear pants, but if I lay out a pair of shorts he doesn't mind either. His spots are very apparent on his forehead, so he wears longer hair; on his knees, so again pants do the trick (but I don't make their choice either way a huge ordeal); on his elbows, so I kiss them constantly; and his eyes tend to appear tired (pinkish or white) so again the hair has helped to camouflage that a bit. My biggest advice to parents is to get your kids involved (it builds confidence and develops strong character) in sports, clubs, family and friends night outs, and tell them all the time how much you love them!! (Blaine is currently involved in guitar, Boy Scouts, and baseball).

Erika,

Blaine’s Mother