Week 4
THE CLINIC EXPERIENCE
We arrived at the clinic for O’s session and were immediately greeted by Amanda’s smiling face. This week I was invited into the therapy room. The first game was steeple. Have I mentioned how much I hate steeple? I don’t think it’s O’s favorite game either. Amanda told me it’s usually not a favorite among most kids, but we have to continue playing it until we master it. Generally speaking, once Olivia’s eye muscles are strong enough that she can fixate normally, we can move on to the next step. Every exercise is a building block to the next so it’s important to become proficient with the foundation first.
PEPPER TRAMPOLINE
The purpose of this exercise is to help the student recognize spatial awareness, while simultaneously incorporating sequencing, timing, and rhythm. Basically, O has to figure out where her body is in space, and understand where it is when it changes position. Spatial awareness is important for young children to learn early on in life becuase it helps with dexterity, balance, flexibility, and body strength. It also helps the body to learn to manipulate objects and interact within the world. This activity also has the added benefit of promoting attention and memory recall.
As it’s name implies, the activity utilizes a trampoline. If we were to do this activity at home, the child can simply jump on the floor. The student can also use different variations such as naming four sides of the room using colors, animals, etc.. During this particular exercise, the trampoline is placed at the center with four different colored discs that are laid out in a north- east- south- west pattern. This vaguely reminded me of the 80s handheld memory game Simon, in which the color patterns would start off easy then gradually become more difficult. A sequence of three colors would be called out and the “jumper” would jump in the direction of that randomized pattern. They would begin a regular jumping pattern then perform 2 jumps in each of the three directions. This requires them to twist their bodies in the air until they come down facing that direction. As the exercise continues, a sequence of 3 to 4 to 5 colors would be called out to evaluate how much the student can effectively retain.
This particular pattern was laid out as green-red- blue- purple. Amanda would call out the colors at random and O’s feet would have to land facing the direction of the specific disc. Amanda started out easy by announcing two color names then advanced to a more difficult pattern. Os performance was satisfactory except she had some difficulty with jumping in a 180* circle from green to blue or red to purple. We were able to successfully complete a four-color pattern. Towards the end of the exercise, Amanda included me in the game and let me call out a five-color pattern. O made it through the first four colors but was unable to add in the fifth color. In retrospect, I could barely get five colors when I played the handheld version so my daughter is a rock star.
HOT LAVA VARIATION
Afterwards, O was intent on leading the therapy session. She laid out the balance beam and announced that she wanted to get out of the lava. She did the forward heel to toe without any difficulty but had some trouble walking backwards. She was cooked in the lava several times. O took a few cues from her previous session and asked if she could tap the ball as she jumps off the balance beam into the lava. Amanda was pleasantly surprised at this request and was very accommodating.
ZAP IT!
Amanda took control after that. O said she wanted to play the memory game, but Amanda had a much better idea. She brought out a card game called Zap! The game of Zap! had letters that closely resemble each other such as a lowercase b, d, p, and q. The letters had a line underneath so the participants can distinguish the correct letter of the alphabet. The game of Zap! is a combination of a letter game and the game Uno. The letters are helpful in identifying letter reversals and laterality. Laterality refers to the preference humans tend to show for one side of their body over the other, such as handedness or the primary use of the right or left side of the brain they predominantly use. Letter reversals are common letters a child would often write backwards or upside down such as b, d, p, and q.
The idea is for the student to identify the correct letter and come up with a word that begins with that particular letter. Once the player correctly identifies both the letter and a word, they win the card. The elements from Uno are “skip” and “reverse” cards to make the game more fun and challenging. If the player draws a Zap! card, they lose the card. The player with the most cards wins. Occasionally we had to help Olivia come up with a corresponding word but she was the clear winner, 13-2.
I SPY
The final game for this week’s therapy was the game I SPY. Amanda brought out a copy of their garage sale copy that included a bell, a deck of cards, and four cardboard playing boards. The deck of cards had several images on both sides of them similar to a Where’s Waldo? book. At least one of those images on the playing cards matched up to the images on the playing boards. Once the player identifies an image that matches up to their playing card, they ring the bell and win the card. Amanda included me into the game so I could join in the fun. I know O really enjoyed having me a part of the game. I really want her to enjoy this time even though it’s a lot of hard work.
THE HOME EXPERIENCE
This week home therapy is going to be up to me since Andy will be working a lot of long hours at the hospital. I am really dreading having to play steeple more than anything. I really want to fast forward through and have a different activity. I have found that I would rather do anything, ANYTHING to get out of doing the steeple game. This includes dirty dishes and other menial tasks that do not include practicing steeple. We now have a routine that I would do every other exercise but steeple. Andy would do steeple.
I cheated this weekend. Andy was working the entire weekend so it was the kids and I. I took Amanda’s advice and purchased I SPY off of Amazon Prime the second we got home from our therapy session. She also suggested Spot it so that was added to the cart. Don’t you just love Amazon?
Do you remember how I mentioned I would do anything but play steeple? I took a little bit of nursing discretion and replaced it with I SPY. Whether or not that was the right thing to do is another story.
“I SPY” and “Spot it” arrived shortly before the weekend Andy was supposed to work. I saved the special unopened Amazon box just for the weekend. The kids had seen it arrive on the doorstep that Thursday evening and magically knew the special box contained something for them. We opened the game and M automatically went for the bell. DING! DIIIIING! DIIIING! Over and over and over... I should mention he kept ringing that blessed bell the entire time we were playing. It did not take long before the bell disappeared
Technically, I SPY is not a game for four year olds. Interestingly but almost expectantly, M was successful in spotting every single car that was on his cards. It’s all about a frame of reference right?? “Spot it” was a little more suited for his age. “Spot it” is similar to “I SPY” in which every card has a matching picture when it is next to another card. Since I was trying to play the game on M’s level so he doesn’t feel left out, we modified the rules a little.
M is now interacting with our therapy exercises. It’s important to remember this advice: not all of the exercises should be done with the other child, because an eye specialist prescribes these exercises specifically for O. Some of these activities can cause more harm than good if the person does not have a specific need or diagnosis.
Therapy is becoming a little bit monotonous. Olivia is beginning to dread performing these exercises at home. Sometimes trying to find time to work it in the evening routine is difficult. I have found that it’s easier in the morning on our days at home or right before dinner on work nights. I often find myself trying to rationlaize that we need a night off form therapy unitl I am reminded how much we have spent and more importantly what is at stake.