Ali's therapist met us today with another hand out in hand. Rena is queen of handouts and homework. Rena is an occupational therapist that focuses on movement and motor skills. It's evident that Ali is working through Cortical Visual Impairment. That has been the case ever since Ali emerged from a coma in May. But she has gradually improved ever since. In fact, her improvement from week to week is measurable. Monday, Rena said that that was the best day yet. But then she said the same thing again today. But it was the truth. Ali is more cooperative and teachable with each visit to the therapist.
Here are the exercises Rena gave us as homework:
- Use face to face interaction and facial expression (smile, open and close mouth, raise eyebrows)
- Provide support for trunk and head when working on visual activities
- Use real objects that are familiar, desirable and use them one at a time (cup, bottle, spoon, bowl, etc.)
- Hold toys/objects 8-10" in front of a child's face/in periphery/slowly move in different directions.
- Use brightly colored/shiny toys (lime green, bright red/orange, etc.) against a black, non-patterned background for high contrast
- Use voice to help the child find your face and sounds to help them find toys and objects (musical toys, bang toys together, etc.)
- Offer toys in bright lighted area
- Offer toys to child's hand while identifying it and consistently use the same name every time ("ball"..., "bear"..., etc.)
- Decrease noises when working on seeing
- Help your child identify sounds with simple words, "That's the vacuum," or "Do you hear the phone?