Learning @ Lightspeed€¦ · 7. This Rule is essential… HAVE FUN! I have included some advice later on how to deal with difficult children and get them to do their therapies, but

Learning @

Lightspeed

We’re moving on,

continuing to build the basic

visual skills into your child

By Darin Browne B.Optom

Learning @ Lightspeed ©Darin Browne, 2010

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Welcome to Levels 3 and 4

of Learning @ Lightspeed!

Congratulations! You've made it through the first two levels and now we

have the chance to move on to some really fun and also powerful games and exercises.

Remember that even though some of these exercises might seem a little weird or crazy, each of them is building the visual skills your child needs

to perform well in school. Yes, even the crazy ones!

Remember our basic vision therapy rules, and try to devote five minutes per exercise per weekday, with the total time for doing all the exercises in

each level to be around 20 to 25 minutes.

And finally, remember to keep things as fun as possible! Sure, some of

these exercises require real effort and can be quite taxing, but always try to emphasize the fun aspects of what you were doing rather than the

work.

In these early stages of therapy, try to be as consistent as possible doing them every week day, and try to enjoy the journey as you work with your

child towards establishing the visual skills they need to do well at school.

It's great to have you onboard!


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Don’t Forget Our Rules…

1. Do all required exercises DAILY: Allow around 20 minutes per day, and we want to aim

for at least doing them every school day in the week. Remember, this will be an intensive

over 6-8 months, so it is worth putting the effort over that time, knowing that this

commitment won’t be going on for years (which many other forms of therapy do!). There is

an end point, so pace yourself and try to do the therapies every school day, but have

weekends off.

2. Try and Do Your Therapies at the Same Time Every Day! You can do the exercises at

any time of the day you wish, either in the morning, after school early evening, or whenever

you have a chance to do them. However, I would caution you to try and make it a regular

time, don’t change it from day to day. Routine needs to be your friend, not your enemy!

3. Reading Glasses Should Not Be Worn for These Therapies, Unless they Wear Them

Full-Time. Unless stated in the specific exercise, do not wear your reading glasses when

doing the therapies. However, if your child wears glasses full time or most of the time (in

other words, not just for reading and computers), they should wear the glasses for all of the

exercises.

4. The exercises should change every 2 weeks: So please do you best to ensure that you do

not fall too far behind. If you fall behind, you can do the exercises twice in a day to catch up.

5. If Don't Understand the Task, Don't Worry: Some of the therapies take a little bit to

get your head around, and that's OK. You can always email me or call the office, but if you

are not sure just do the exercise anyway, as you understand it, as well as you can. Many

times if parents do not fully understand the exercise they just leave it, and nothing gets done,

so you are far better to do the exercise badly than not at all, and given that many exercises

treat the same condition, you can probably pick up the slack with a later exercise.

6. Please, don’t skip therapies: Just do them even if you are not sure if you’re doing them

the right way. You won’t cause any damage to your child. Also do them, even if they seem

easy for your child. We don't know what has been learned and what has not been learned, so

my advice is to do them anyway, even if they seem too easy. It won't hurt them!

7. This Rule is essential… HAVE FUN! I have included some advice later on how to deal

with difficult children and get them to do their therapies, but for now the main message is to

keep things fun and enjoyable, not tense and painful. If you find things are getting a bit

much, see the link below for advice.

http://onlinevisiontherapyathome.com/wp-content/uploads/Play-by-the-rules.jpg


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Learning @

Lightspeed

Level 3

Therapy Manual

By Darin Browne (B.Optom)


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This exercise should take 5 minutes per session

MATERIAL: A group of numbers to read from (see example)

OBJECTIVES: This activity enhances:

Auditory span Visual and visualization overtones

LESSON:

1. Have child sit comfortably with feet flat on floor. Instruct child to listen

attentively. Call off four digits as a start. Use a monotone voice -completely expressionless. Have child repeat after you the digits

he/she heard. See how many he/she can repeat accurately. Drop back to previous level when child begins to miss at least two out of 10 numbers. Practice at the lower level until he/she can perform at the

next level. Make note of the type of misses encountered - omissions, additions, reversals, substitutions, etc.

2. Repeat in reverse of order heard. Starting with three digits, have child repeat the digits in reverse order. Do not frustrate. Work at a level

which can be accomplished and yet is challenging. 3. Have child do these auditory span activities under the following three

visual conditions once his/her own preferred method has been

observed and noted: 4. Looking directly at teacher's face.

5. Looking at nothing in particular, like out the window, at ceiling, towards a blank wall, etc.

6. With eyes closed.

7. Call off digits while you walk about the room, behind him/her, with his/her eyes open. Repeat with eyes closed.

8. When difficulty is encountered in repeating digits (especially in reverse

order) have child trace the numbers on the back of his arm or hand with his finger. Try to repeat the digits while looking where he traced them on

his skin. Try to visualize them.

4213794865 5139865173 2574615938 1523872469 3741568962 7924184315 9481287536 8926475361 6293184759

Auditory Span


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This exercise should take 5 minutes per session MATERIAL:

Balance board: This is simply a 50cm square board

(around 1cm thick) with a block of wood nailed to the bottom. The block should be around 7cm deep, and a 15x15cm square. It is helpful to paint two footprints

on the top of the board to help children in feet placement during the exercise. If you cannot obtain

exactly this sizing, just try and get something close, because the exact dimensions are not that important. We will use this apparatus many times throughout Learning @ Lightspeed.

OBJECTIVES:

This activity enhances: Flexibility between visual system, body coordination and balance, as well as left-right awareness. It can also be used to “weight”

future activities, so that if the child can do the activity, we then ask them to do it while balancing, making the task much harder.

LESSON: 1. Allow child to jump on the board, fall off it and play with it.

2. Next, ask child to balance and hold a position, maintaining an easy, erect posture, with chin up and eyes looking straight ahead. 3. Ask them questions and see if they lose their balance.

4. Practice rocking rhythmically, right and left, and also front and back. Try doing this to a rhythm or a song.

VARIATION: Set up the chart below on a wall, instructing the child to tip their board in the

appropriate direction, either front, right, left and back. Once they have mastered this, try the second chart and see if they can handle it as well. In the

second chart they need to recognize the code as well as the direction. Tip forward = , backward = , Tip to the Left = , To the Right =

50cm 15cm 7cm

Balance Board


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Balance Board Tipping Chart


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Balance Board Tipping Chart


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Rolling: MATERIAL:

Balls of various sizes, ranging from basket balls or soccer balls down to squash balls.

OBJECTIVES: This activity enhances: fine and gross motor.

LESSON:

1.Ball Rolling. The child sits on the floor, with his legs apart, and you roll the ball to him (and he rolls it back).

2. Pairs of children roll the ball back and forth to each other.

3. Increase the distance between the children, and see if they can aim the ball between the other’s legs.

Bouncing:

MATERIAL: Balls of various sizes, ranging from footballs or basketballs down to tennis balls, or even down to a squash ball.

OBJECTIVES:

To improve eye-hand coordination and ball skills. METHOD: Stage 1: Ball Bouncing. The child bounces the ball 3 times in a circle drawn on the ground, using his preferred hand. After this, try to get him to bounce the ball indefinitely in the circle (like a basketball player dribbling). Explain that more control is achieved by PUSHING the ball, rather than by SLAPPING it. Stage 2: Ball Bouncing, Right, Left, Both, Alternating. The child bounces the ball, and counts each bounce. Then repeat with the non-preferred hand, both hands together, and then alternating hands (right, then left, then right, etc). This last innovation introduces motor planning. Stage 3: Ball Bouncing with Changed Posture: Strong Body Imagery can be added by bouncing while walking, running, sitting, hopping and kneeling. Stage 4: Bouncing Two Balls. Bilateral integration, or integrating 2 halves of the body, and thereby the 2 halves of the brain, is a more difficult task. Bouncing 2 balls together can train this skill, and often the child will lose control of the preferred hand as he attempts to

Ball Skills-Rolling & Bouncing


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coordinate the two hands. The first stage is bouncing them together, but you can move on to bouncing the hands ALTERNATELY! Stage 5: Body Bounce. This activity is difficult. The child sits with legs outstretched so that he is able to bounce the ball in the circle, with his legs to the left side of the circle. Bounce the ball 5 times. Then, move the right leg so that the legs are apart (either side of the circle), and bounce the ball 5 times. Next, move the left leg over to the right, so both legs are to the right of the circle, and bounce 5 times. Continue, but try reducing the number of bounces in each position. Stage 6: Ball Bouncing and Visualization. This involves doing all of the above steps WITH THE CHILD’S EYES CLOSED. It is essential that you have a smooth floor, and a high quality ball to do this.


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MATERIAL:

Coloured markers to place on the floor.

OBJECTIVES: This games teaches space, and improves form perception and retention. The basic

principle is to remember the lines drawn on a grid, and transpose them onto the floor.

METHOD:

1. Basic Flight Plan

1. Place to following coloured markers onto

the floor in this pattern…

Green

Blue Blue

Blue Blue

Blue Blue

Red

2. Show the child a card with the appropriate pattern on it. Tell them

that this is their “flight plan”, and they have to remember it, and “fly” from the red airport to their destination according to the flight plan.

3. If the children are not familiar with air travel, you can change the scenario to a delivery truck delivering goods.

4. See below for suggested flight plans...

Flight Plan


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Here’s some suggested flight plans…

2. Flying Blind:

Similar to the above, but this time we are trying to involve visual

memory. The child looks at the card, then is blindfolded, and must fly the flight plan from memory. Try using raised tiles as the bases. Use a drum

beat to indicate when they have gone the wrong way.

3. Distance Estimate:

Same as in 1. Flight Plan, but the child must estimate the number or heel-to-toe steps each leg will take, and even the entire trip.

4. Driven Flight Plan:

This involves 2 children, or the child and an assistant. The first looks at a

flight plan card, while the other positions himself on the Red starting base, blindfolded. The first child must then beat the drum to direct the second

child through the pattern, beating it more times if he is off course, and slowing it right down when he is on course. Try this several times so that they learn to trust one another. You can also do this with reversed

signals,


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MATERIAL: The Dancing Chart (provided)

OBJECTIVES:

This activity enhances: Gross Motor development Coordination

Coding

LESSON: 1. Place the Dancing Chart on the wall in front of the child.

2. Clap a beat in the background and ask the child to act out the various dancing steps shown in the chart. They may change position every, say 4

beats.

3. Change the timing of the clapping, making sure they can do the task both for a slow beat and also a fast beat.

4. Add a recorded song in the background, especially one with a strong beat (such as a rock or pop song). The child must act out the dancing for

every 4 beats.

5. Next, try to get them to act out the dancing chart for EVERY 2 BEATS!

VARIATION:

The next step is designing a chart where, rather than dancing figures, we use symbols, where each symbol represents a dance position. Thus the children

have to interpret the code before they implement the action.

Dancing Chart-Coding


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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Auditory Span

5 min

Balance Board

5 min

Ball Skills Rolling &

Bouncing

5 min

Flight Plan basic

5 min

Dancing Chart

5 min

Learning @ Lightspeed Record Sheet – Level 3


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Learning @

Lightspeed

Level 4

Therapy Manual

By Darin Browne (B.Optom)


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MATERIAL: Chalkboard and chalk, Work sheets, Pencil

OBJECTIVES:

This activity enhances: Visual recognition, hand-and-eye coordination, scanning techniques, motor skill, concentration, Peripheral Vision

LESSON:

1. Present the first chart to the child and demonstrate the technique for capturing a mosquito detailed below. A mosquito is captured by

circling it three times in one continuous movement, without stopping or removing the pencil from the paper, until all the mosquitoes are circled. It is absolutely essential the 2 things happen...

5. The pencil is never taken from the page.

6. The pencil is in continuous motion, and does not stop

until the while task is complete. The child may slow down and do the task slower, but must not stop to look ahead for the next mosquito.

2. Time the child and keep a record of how long it takes to complete the task. Get them to try improving their time each day

3. Introduce the second chart, which has more mosquitoes to capture.

4. Now, this is where you can step it up a gear…Introduce the next chart, where the mosquitoes are numbered, and the child has o capture

them IN SEQUENCE. This is a much harder task, and they will slow down or stop moving while scanning ahead for the next number. But the same

rules apply: they must not remove their pencil fom the page or stop moving. Motion must be continuous.

VARIATION:

5.Capture the mosquitoes with the

non-preferred hand.

2. Add in other objects, i.e.

butterflies, that must NOT be captured.

Capture The Mosquitoes


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PURPOSE: To develop rapid and accurate shifts in

focusing between near and far areas while

processing information.

YOU WILL NEED: (Letter Chart provided), a book, two pieces of cardboard

METHOD:

1.Place the letter chart far enough across the

room so that the letters on it are just readable, at

around 3 meters.

2.The book should be propped up on a table at reading level.

3.The child is to hold the two cards, one in each hand.

4. Ask the child to cover their left eye and to read the first three letters on

the top line of the chart with their right eye.

5. Then cover the right eye, uncovering the left and read the first

sentence or line of the book with the left eye.

6. Continue repeating steps 4 and 5 until the chart is finished.

7. Repeat using the right eye for distance and the left eye for the near.

VARIATIONS:

3. Next, try hold the book closer to the child's eyes, so they have to

use more focus to see it.

4. You can also add a rhythm or beat, so they must read the letters or

words from their book in time with the beat.

5. Try it with 2 eyes, while the child holds the book while balancing on

the balance board, or standing on one foot. Do they lose their

balance as the task becomes harder?

Chart To Book


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Letter Chart

2 4 6 8 10

1 C N S O H T K U Z L X A U Y T B P G O S 3 N S P X F A R L D G B D G R C K E P M A 5 A P N E O M K B F C R D V S A P X O T E 7 T R F X B O V S C I

F W H T E M B K A P 9 Y B A K O X R L Z E V P N F T D E C H O

@ Lightspeed, Palmwoods Q 4555


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Body Rolls

OBJECTIVES:

This activity enhances: Spatial awareness, listening and motor development

LESSON: 5. The child is asked to lie down on the floor with his hands at his side or

extended straight above his head. 6. The child, guided by the parent rolls across the floor to his right or left.

The child maintains a rigid body posture by not bending his body. Once

the child can do this easily with a smooth motion, the teacher proceeds to the next action.

7. The parent stands about 8 feet away from the child. The child then rolls his/her body to the parent's feet. This activity is repeated a few times until the child learns to control his body. Parent stands at various

positions in the room so that the child learns rotate his/her body in right and left directions. When the child can do this well, proceed to the next

step. 8. This time the child visually focus on the parent’s right foot as he/she

makes the body roll. The child maintains his/her visual focus on the foot

by twisting his/her head and following the target with his eyes. He/she ends it by contacting his/her head at the foot of the parent.

9. The child rolls their body to contact his shoulder to the parent’s foot. MATERIAL:

Colored paper stickers or children’s "tattoo" transfers.

Have the child affix a sticker or tattoo to the back of each hand and knees, labeled R for right and L for left. Ask the child to assume the creeping position, with his hands seven inches in front of his knees, and his hands and knees each

about twelve inches apart.

Body Rolls and Creeping


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Creeping Procedure 1:

4. The child moves both hands forward simultaneously, looking at them as he does so, and calling out "hands."

5. The child looks at his knees, and with his weight resting on his hands,

moves his knees forward together, calling out "knees." 6. The child creeps the length of the room (12-16 feet, if possible), calling

out "hands, knees, hands, knees," etc., as he moves the appropriate limbs. Watch to see that he observes his hands and knees as he calls them, that his arms and legs move simultaneously, rhythmically and

smoothly.

Procedure 2: 3. Ask the child to assume a creeping position with his left hand and left

knee approximately seven inches in front of his right hand and right knee,

respectively. In this position his left hand will be about fourteen inches ahead of his right knee.

4. Looking at the target on his right hand, the child moves his right hand and right leg forward simultaneously about fourteen inches, calling out the word "right" as he does so.

5. The child shifts his eyes to the target on his left hand and calls out the word "left" as he moves his left hand and left leg forward simultaneously.

6. The child creeps the length of the room (twelve to sixteen feet, if possible)

calling out "right, left, right, left" etc., as he moves each side of his body.

Upon reaching the end of the room, he reverses direction and returns to

his starting point in the same manner.


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OBJECTIVES: This activity enhances: visualisation, creativity and the ability to translate visual-sound symbols back into their original sounds. LESSON: PHASE 1– STORY DRAWING l. Child is to draw a story, idea or message in picture form so others can understand the message to be conveyed. 2. Assistant is to read the drawing. The child should not tell what it means in advance. 3. When the message does not get across the child should attempt to add to the

drawing to make the meaning clearer. PHASE 2 - PICTOGRAPHIC DRAWING 1. Draw picture messages in a left-to-right sequence using consistent and self-generated picture symbols to represent each word. 2. Have child keep a record sheet of his picture symbols so that he may use them consistently at subsequent sessions. 3. Home assistant draws picture messages with blanks to be filled in by the child, and draws messages for child to decode.

PHASE 3 - SYLLABIC DRAWING 1. Draw messages in a left-to-right direction using consistent and self-generated picture symbols to represent each syllable sound, where possible.

2. Parent draws messages with blanks to be filled in by the child, and draws

messages for the child to decode.

Picture Program


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Examples of Pictographic Drawing

1. "A boy hits a ball over a fence."

3. "She loves to jump rope."

4. "I would love a watch."

"Hear him talk."


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Examples of SYLLABIC DRAWING


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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Capture The

Mosquitoes

5 min

Chart To Book

5 min

Body Rolls and

Creeping

5 min

Picture Program

5 min

Learning @ Lightspeed Record Sheet – Level 4

Documents

Learning @ Lightspeed€¦ · 7. This Rule is essential… HAVE FUN! I have included some advice later on how to deal with difficult children and get them to do their therapies, but