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Vision Therapy Lessons Learned at Dance Class

6/21/2019

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Picture
Thank you to COVD for this piece. 
COVD Link: https://covdblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/vision-therapy-lessons-learned-at-dance-class/


Last spring I developed a friendship with the mother of one of my daughter’s best friends. At the time, she was organizing a book club and I was just brazen enough to invite myself to the next club meeting. It didn’t take long before I learned that my new friend was an optometrist, as was her husband. Both Faith and her husband studied optometry at the Illinois College of Optometry. They were not practicing vision therapy doctors, but often referred to VT ODs in the area.

I believe it was during our third book club meeting that Faith mentioned she was signing up to take belly dancing lessons during the fall. Once again, I chimed in “I have always wanted to take belly dancing lessons”. The next thing I knew, I was driving 30 miles out of my way every Wednesday in order to learn this ancient and beautiful (and often humbling) art. I surprised myself, but stuck with the program and was almost ready for our recital when it arrived last weekend.
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A large theater was reserved for our performance as well as the 100-150 youters who were to dance in what is normally reserved as a childhood rite of passage. On our way to the dressing room, Faith and I ran into a patient whose daughter was also a patient of hers. The mother smiled and touched Faith by the arm. “Dr. H.” she said. “Have you seen Chelsea? She is here and I have to tell you how thankful we are that you referred her to vision therapy. Faith and I stood in the hall way as she continued to share her story. “Chelsea used to get the worst headaches after only ten minutes of reading, now she is headache free and is on the honor roll at school. Even her dance teacher noticed a difference after about 6 weeks of therapy.” Faith was nearly brought to tears by the woman’s story. “Thank you, thank you”, she said. I know how powerful vision therapy can be for my patients, but I so seldom get to hear actual feedback.” Chelsea’s mom continued, “She is performing tonight in the second act and you won’t believe it, but she actually got a scholarship to Central (Michigan) for dance!”

Faith turned to me, “I want you to meet Ruth,” she said. “She is a vision therapist and helps change lives every day.” I immediately felt the emotional enormity of the situation, despite the fact that I was dressed in a bright silver leotard accented with purple jingle- wrap skirt and hot pink scarves. “You must love your job,” she said. “I do,” I replied. “There is nothing else I would rather do.”
Eventually, we were forced to leave Chelsea’s mom and rejoin the rest of the middle-aged belly dancers that were about to follow up a group of 2nd grade tap dancers performing a dance to the classic hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”.
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Two days later I was seated at our weekly staff meeting and I mentioned our encounter to my doctor and fellow therapists. In the past we had discussed the professional importance of following up with those who recommend our services to their patients and clients, but we had never fully realized the empathetic reasons for reaching out to them. Those who refer to us are not only sharing their faith in our services professionally, they are also emotionally invested in the well-being of their patients. At that moment, we developed a plan that would seek to improve upon our efforts in reporting back to those who refer to us. Not only would we show the pre and post data that objectively demonstrates improvements in the patient’s ocular-motor efficiency, but we would also (with permission) include copies of the success letters our patients and their caregivers have written. It is this subjective narrative that we hope in the future will touch the hearts and minds of those who put their trust in our hands.

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Motivation is Key to VT!

6/11/2019

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Picture
Thank you to COVD for this piece. 
COVD Link: https://covdblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/motivation-is-key-to-vt/

Today’s guest blogger is Katey Hajos MS. Katey has been a vision therapist and vision therapy instructor for over 10 years. Her passion is motivating the hard to motivate patient. Katey shares a few of her techniques designed to create a drive to change from within.
Let’s face it; we all struggle with motivation this time of year. We all start with the greatest intentions, but after a few weeks we start the inevitable backslide into complacency. Our students are coming back to therapy after weeks off from school and therapy (never mind all the home assignments they DID NOT do over the break) and we have a lot of making up to do! I find that the best motivation comes from within, prizes and physical rewards can be effective, but they are not a long-term solution. Here are some simple tips for keeping your student motivated throughout the entire year:
  1. Talk to Them!
This seems simple, but our students often feel that adults really don’t care what they have to say. Ask them about their day, their pets, and their hobbies and revisit these topics every week. By learning about their interests, you can tailor their program to their needs. Everyone wants to feel special and cared for and this little bit of effort will help them open up and even look forward to their weekly time. Demonstrating that you care will add a personal touch that will open up your student to want to do well for you.
  1. Let Them Run the Show!
Obviously, we plan the sessions as needed, but why not let them pick the order of the session.  With some of my more difficult students, I have a general game plan set, but several options of how we can accomplish the tasks. Need to work on saccades? Have several types of columns to choose from and let them pick the sheet to practice. Are letters not exciting enough? Give them shapes, numbers, or even two pencils to accomplish the same procedure.
  1. Make it Fun!
This is one of my favorite methods with those high-energy students, just keep them moving and keep the challenge up. Turn the activities into a game to keep them encouraged and challenged. Hart Chart too boring? Would you rather stand on the Bosu Ball, balance board, or how about jumping on the trampoline? How fast can you read this chart? How many can you get done in 2 minutes? Now beat your time/score! Remember to add time for misses or “crashes”.
  1. Pass it On!
I always hear, “How does he work for you? Because he always fights me at home.” Parents can struggle with the student when working through their therapy program. Remember they have been through a lot to get to the point they are now. They have battled their student and schoolwork for a long time and this feels no different to them. Let the student demonstrate the home assignments to the parent and remind the parent that the student is the one in control of the program; it is up to them to get the work done. Children love the one on one attention they don’t always get from the busy parent, remind them to make the therapy time their special one on one time to talk about their day. Most important tell the parent that it is OK to have fun with the assignments

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551 5th Ave, 2nd Floor
​New York, NY 10176

What Our Clients Are Saying

"Our daughter is a very good student who used to breeze through all her assignments except those requiring extensive reading. Long history or science assignments caused her great anxiety and took a long, long time to accomplish. Since she had Vision Therapy, she has been handling her reading packets easily and best of all happily. She has easily reduced her homework time to an hour! Similarly, she is a good athlete a gymnast and a swimmer who could never make any team sport requiring hand-eye coordination. She now feels comfortable pitching, and catching, and making baskets. Finally, she no longer gets car sick. Vision Therapy is the greatest." (read more...)

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Phone: 212-265-4609
E-Mail: midtownvdc@gmail.com

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