visual dysfunction info

[Mtmom124]

Sarah, when I have more time I will send more info...hope this helps for
now.....Donna


Below are some multipurpose exercises you can perform at school (or home) to
improve  visual skills. Do two or three of these exercises for a total of
15-30 minutes 1-3 times a week. You may feel some eye strain, but no pain.

Pencil push-ups: Hold a pencil at arm's length. Focus on the pencil's number
and move the pencil toward you. When the number blurs, extend your arm and
begin again.
Then hold one pencil in each hand; one as close to your face as possible
without the number blurring, the other at arm's length. Focus first on the
near pencil (you should see two of the distant pencil). Then stare at the far
pencil until you can see two of the near pencil. Alternate your focus,
gradually increasing your speed. Do each exercise for five minutes, rest five
minutes and then repeat.

lMarsden ball:Put press-on letters on a Wiffle ball. Hang the ball by a
string in a doorway. Twist the string and while the ball turns identify as
many letters as possible. Perform for three minutes, rest three minutes and
repeat.

Random letter jumble: Place press-on letters or numbers randomly on a clear
acetate sheet. Put the acetate over a TV or computer screen. Turn on the TV
and try to track the letters or numbers in sequence (e.g., a,b,c or 1,2,3).
Do for three minutes, rest three minutes and repeat.

On the move: While a passenger in a car or while walking briskly, hold your
head steady and try to read road signs, license plates, etc., on your far
right or left, without moving your head or eyes. Do for five minutes, rest
five minutes and repeat.

Couch potato: Turn on a TV station – such as the Preview Channel – that
continuously lists text on the screen. Also open a newspaper. Alternate your
reading of the TV and the paper, gradually increasing your speed. Do for five
minutes, rest five minutes and repeat.

For example. I hung a nerf ball from the ceiling by a string. I told the
student to face a direction. I would stand directly behind them and swing the
ball around in an arc. It would travel in a circle and then I would catch it.
I told them to hold their head still, only move their eyes but watch for the
ball coming from the left and follow it with your eyes to the right until it
disappeared. (We read from left to right and we were working on tracking the
ball.)

Developed to train eye/hand coordination, visual scanning, visual tracking
and fine motor control. Includes the following programs:


Finger Tapping can be used to evaluate and improve upper extremity fine motor
speed. When an initial auditory signal is given, the client is to tap an
index finger on the input device as fast as possible until a second auditory
signal is given.


Maze Learning helps develop fine motor control, anticipatory planning,
strategy and spatial organization. Client uses an input device to move the
cursor from the starting point through the maze to get to the "cheese."


Spatial Organization develops spatial orientation and short-term spatial
memory. Requires the client to orient a line in the same direction and angle
as the target line presented.


Visual Tracking/Discrimination enhances the ability to orient spatially in a
continuously changing environment and to discriminate visual stimuli and
coordinate motor responses in accordance with that discrimination. The client
is required to keep the cursor on the "road."

Visual Tracking/Inhibition enhances the ability to integrate visual input
with fine motor output, developing the capacity to shift mental sets. Client
moves a "paddle" up and down the screen to hit a "ball" as it moves randomly
back and forth across the computer screen. The "inhibition" option may be
selected to randomly change the border color, and thus the required response.


Visuospatial Tracking/Response helps train the ability to coordinate visual
input with motor output. The ability to shift mental sets and respond to
target stimuli is also developed. Client attempts to keep the cursor inside a
large box, which moves randomly about the screen. When a target appears on
the screen, the client must move the cursor out of the box to the target and
then return the cursor to the box as quickly as possible. Can also be done on
paper with targets of any type, and the index finger.


Visuospatial Memory helps to develop visual orientation and short-term
spatial memory. The client plays a "concentration" type of game using a grid
of colors.