This is for anyone who's child has some sight. Elena's eye doctor told me about light therapy which one of his colleagues does. One of his patients was a blind women in her 50's. She had a tiny amount of sight. Everyday for 30-60 minutes he had her hold a flashing light right next to her eyes. Every 10 minutes or so she'd switch which eye she held the light in front of. After months of this, she began to gain some sight. She now sees some light.The doctor told me about the first time she went outside, after gaining some sight. She got scared because she'd never seen the sun before. She had never seen light. Her vision is nowhere near normal but some sight is better than no sight.
The thinking behind this is that by constantly having that light near the eyes it kind of re-teaches the optic part of the brain how to see. I don't know if this works with every blind person or just those with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (like Elena) but it's probably worth a try.
Elena
Monday, March 14, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Getting 'em Moving
I got a comment asking about Elena's physical delays when she was little (rolling over, sitting up, etc) so I thought making a new blog entry would be better than writing a really long comment back. So....lets get moving!
Elena started seeing a physical therapist around 6 months old because of her delays. The therapist said that she could physically roll over but was scared to do so. Imagine if you couldn't see what was next to you. Would you want to roll over? You could be rolling off the face of the Earth for all you know! The therapist,Ben, (who's amazing by the way, in case you live in Utah) told me some exercises to do with her at home. It's basically making her roll a lot so she'll get used to it.
One of the exercises he had her lay down either on her back or stomach. I took one arm and put it straight up by the head, against the ear. Then roll. Make sure to tell him/her everything you are doing. ("I'm lifting your arm." "Time to roll over" etc) Verbally encouraging him/her will make him/her want to do it again. You might feel awkward, I did, but make a really big fuss about it. Clap your hands, say "YAY!", tickle the tummy, make a funny rolling song etc. Whatever your baby likes and sees as positive. For me, clapping and shouting Yay usually works for me. I'm currently potty training and she goes nuts when I clap and shout. She even has a potty song that we only sing when she goes potty. She loves music so this is great for her. I don't have to use treats or gifts as encouragement. As always, though, every child is different so just find what works for you. Ben had me do another exercise that was similar but I can't remember it.
Sitting up: To help her strengthen her stomach muscles for sitting, I bought a nursing pillow that had a strap on it that would allow her to partially sit up without sliding down. It worked ok. She didn't like it very much. There was also a couple exercises Ben gave me to help her learn to sit up. As with most of this stuff, a lot is just practice, practice, practice. I can't remember all of the exercises but I do remember he said to teach her to put her weight on her elbow and then hand while sitting up. Ask a pediatric physical therapist in your area and he can help. I wish I was more help. Medicaid pays for physical therapy as long as you have the therapist write that it's medically necessary.
For standing, while holding something, it's a good time for play. Sit on the floor or couch and have her hold your knees. Sing songs, move her hips with your hands, talk, read books. This is also a good thing to teach her/him to stand without holding anything. Just have her hold toys or books while reading and standing. Sing and have her clap. This helps them gain confidence and you are right there to hold if they get nervous. Eventually, you can gradually step back a little so that he/she has to step forward to get the toy, book, etc.
Elena was delayed by at least 3 months (often more) in all her physical milestones. Mentally she seems to be about 6 months behind, in most things. She didn't start walking independently until about 2 months after her second birthday. A lot of how quickly they get the hang of walking, sitting, etc has to do with how often you practice. As soon as Elena could walk, while holding hands, we would go on almost daily walks.
SO....to summarize what I spent a looong blog to say... practice, practice, practice. Hope that helped. :)
Elena started seeing a physical therapist around 6 months old because of her delays. The therapist said that she could physically roll over but was scared to do so. Imagine if you couldn't see what was next to you. Would you want to roll over? You could be rolling off the face of the Earth for all you know! The therapist,Ben, (who's amazing by the way, in case you live in Utah) told me some exercises to do with her at home. It's basically making her roll a lot so she'll get used to it.
One of the exercises he had her lay down either on her back or stomach. I took one arm and put it straight up by the head, against the ear. Then roll. Make sure to tell him/her everything you are doing. ("I'm lifting your arm." "Time to roll over" etc) Verbally encouraging him/her will make him/her want to do it again. You might feel awkward, I did, but make a really big fuss about it. Clap your hands, say "YAY!", tickle the tummy, make a funny rolling song etc. Whatever your baby likes and sees as positive. For me, clapping and shouting Yay usually works for me. I'm currently potty training and she goes nuts when I clap and shout. She even has a potty song that we only sing when she goes potty. She loves music so this is great for her. I don't have to use treats or gifts as encouragement. As always, though, every child is different so just find what works for you. Ben had me do another exercise that was similar but I can't remember it.
Sitting up: To help her strengthen her stomach muscles for sitting, I bought a nursing pillow that had a strap on it that would allow her to partially sit up without sliding down. It worked ok. She didn't like it very much. There was also a couple exercises Ben gave me to help her learn to sit up. As with most of this stuff, a lot is just practice, practice, practice. I can't remember all of the exercises but I do remember he said to teach her to put her weight on her elbow and then hand while sitting up. Ask a pediatric physical therapist in your area and he can help. I wish I was more help. Medicaid pays for physical therapy as long as you have the therapist write that it's medically necessary.
For standing, while holding something, it's a good time for play. Sit on the floor or couch and have her hold your knees. Sing songs, move her hips with your hands, talk, read books. This is also a good thing to teach her/him to stand without holding anything. Just have her hold toys or books while reading and standing. Sing and have her clap. This helps them gain confidence and you are right there to hold if they get nervous. Eventually, you can gradually step back a little so that he/she has to step forward to get the toy, book, etc.
Elena was delayed by at least 3 months (often more) in all her physical milestones. Mentally she seems to be about 6 months behind, in most things. She didn't start walking independently until about 2 months after her second birthday. A lot of how quickly they get the hang of walking, sitting, etc has to do with how often you practice. As soon as Elena could walk, while holding hands, we would go on almost daily walks.
SO....to summarize what I spent a looong blog to say... practice, practice, practice. Hope that helped. :)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Hello Again
So life has been insane lately. I am going through a divorce which has taken a lot of my time and obviously not put me in the mood to write. Plus school is keeping me busy. Just trying to focus on Elena right now. Elena is two and a half now and amazes me every day. I still find it hard to believe that's it's been that long already. She is growing so fast and doing so many wonderful things.
Her biggest accomplishment has got to be to be that she started walking. It happened right around Halloween.
I was so excited. All the therapists and parents were right, she just decided to start walking, just like that. I couldn't believe my eyes! I have some video on my phone that I will post if I ever figure out how to get it off the phone. She now loves going on walks and going up and down stairs. She goes through little phases of wanting to hold my hand while walking and not wanting to hold my hand. Elena has also started standing by herself without support. It's so cool to see. She's also going through phases, though, of not wanting to. I guess that's just how kids are. She's started talking a lot more and I wonder now if she even needs a speech therapist anymore. She's FINALLY pronouncing her P's, B's and sometimes her M's. It's so cute to little to her talk. You can understand most of what she says and she says it with that cute baby voice that makes you just laugh. Can you tell I like how she talks? lol. She sounds more and more grown up every day.
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