This video is over a year old, but it might be helpful to other parents wanting to compare voice quality with another KS child.
Demi was 6yo in Kindergarten.
Tell me what you think!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Esophoria and Kabuki
I guess my reprieve is over for now. Earlier this year, I was thinking how nice it's been that we haven't been dealing with any "issues," other than the ongoing ones - twice weekly therapy and night homework struggles.
I can't remember now what prompted me, but I decided to act on a referral from last July and made an appointment with a vision specialist. For a long time, Demi had been doing odd things that made you wonder what she was seeing: she can't write "on" a line, she orients shapes/letters in strange ways sometimes, she practically puts her head on the table to do her work, and more.
This past Monday, we visited a doctor specializing in visual perception issues. Before making the appointment, I talked to the referring doctor who briefly mentioned esophoria. I don't recall him mentioning that before. The specialist, Dr. Sharon Berger, wholeheartedly confirmed a diagnosis for Demi of esophoria.
I found a description to esophoria online:
"Esophoria: Another eye coordination problem is termed esophoria, which is a tendency for the eyes to turn inwards. The educational implication of this particular problem is that a child with esophoria sees things smaller than what they actually are. In order to see an object properly, it is necessary to make the object larger. The only means at the disposal of the child to make it larger is to bring it closer. Eventually, the child is observed with his head buried in a book and still not achieving."
I couldn't believe how accurately that explanation described Demi! She has ALWAYS, from the time she could sit at a table and look at something, had her face right on the table! She always puts things very close to her face. She still like looking at little character figures, but she puts them right up to her face. After this explanation, I'm amazed she can read as well as she can. Her weakness is math.
Thankfully, the LEA at school pushed to get her large print materials for the CRCT, just on the hunch that it might help her. I'm SO glad she had them, given this new information. (We won't get the results of the testing for another few weeks.) Her IEP is coming up next Monday, so large print materials for next year will definitely be on the agenda. The problem will be figuring out whether she'll be in first grade or second grade.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c0658499-a963-4165-93ab-6652f624db71)
I can't remember now what prompted me, but I decided to act on a referral from last July and made an appointment with a vision specialist. For a long time, Demi had been doing odd things that made you wonder what she was seeing: she can't write "on" a line, she orients shapes/letters in strange ways sometimes, she practically puts her head on the table to do her work, and more.
This past Monday, we visited a doctor specializing in visual perception issues. Before making the appointment, I talked to the referring doctor who briefly mentioned esophoria. I don't recall him mentioning that before. The specialist, Dr. Sharon Berger, wholeheartedly confirmed a diagnosis for Demi of esophoria.
I found a description to esophoria online:
"Esophoria: Another eye coordination problem is termed esophoria, which is a tendency for the eyes to turn inwards. The educational implication of this particular problem is that a child with esophoria sees things smaller than what they actually are. In order to see an object properly, it is necessary to make the object larger. The only means at the disposal of the child to make it larger is to bring it closer. Eventually, the child is observed with his head buried in a book and still not achieving."
I couldn't believe how accurately that explanation described Demi! She has ALWAYS, from the time she could sit at a table and look at something, had her face right on the table! She always puts things very close to her face. She still like looking at little character figures, but she puts them right up to her face. After this explanation, I'm amazed she can read as well as she can. Her weakness is math.
Thankfully, the LEA at school pushed to get her large print materials for the CRCT, just on the hunch that it might help her. I'm SO glad she had them, given this new information. (We won't get the results of the testing for another few weeks.) Her IEP is coming up next Monday, so large print materials for next year will definitely be on the agenda. The problem will be figuring out whether she'll be in first grade or second grade.
Monday, April 20, 2009
First Grade Retention Part 2
Ok, four weeks later and I'm in a different place now. Her actual IEP is next week, but I don't have to give them a final answer on the retention yet. Just last Friday, I spoke to the mother of a first grader who was having trouble reading. So much trouble that she elected to remove the child from school in order to provide the copious one-on-one time that she needed to learn to read. Her plan is to revisit kindergarten and all of first grade over four months. So far, she has been making good progress. She's doing 21 days of curriculum each day.
After that conversation, I started thinking that maybe we could do the same thing over the summer to catch Demi up in math. Would it really be possible to revisit weak areas from kindergarten, review the first half of first grade, and push through the last half of first grade so that she has a firm grasp on all the concepts of first grade? A decided maybe.
Additional issues we'll be dealing with this summer: juggling vitamins/meds for attention and vision therapy to repair binocular vision. A full plate, no doubt, but not impossible.
In order to judge the effectiveness of attention meds, I would have to be working with her in an educational setting. "Summer School" would assist me in making better judgments about those meds. Same goes for vision therapy. With a structured schedule for school, I would have to incorporate 10-15 minutes each day for vision therapy and also be better able to judge whether the therapy is making any difference.
Challenge: She resists my efforts to teach her or work with her. She immediately starts negotiating whenever I say it's time for homework. It's a frustrating experience for both of us. How will I overcome that attitude? I suppose the answer is to "make it fun," but I seem to be incapable of doing that. I believe I was cheated on the creativity gene.
Suggestions?
After that conversation, I started thinking that maybe we could do the same thing over the summer to catch Demi up in math. Would it really be possible to revisit weak areas from kindergarten, review the first half of first grade, and push through the last half of first grade so that she has a firm grasp on all the concepts of first grade? A decided maybe.
Additional issues we'll be dealing with this summer: juggling vitamins/meds for attention and vision therapy to repair binocular vision. A full plate, no doubt, but not impossible.
In order to judge the effectiveness of attention meds, I would have to be working with her in an educational setting. "Summer School" would assist me in making better judgments about those meds. Same goes for vision therapy. With a structured schedule for school, I would have to incorporate 10-15 minutes each day for vision therapy and also be better able to judge whether the therapy is making any difference.
Challenge: She resists my efforts to teach her or work with her. She immediately starts negotiating whenever I say it's time for homework. It's a frustrating experience for both of us. How will I overcome that attitude? I suppose the answer is to "make it fun," but I seem to be incapable of doing that. I believe I was cheated on the creativity gene.
Suggestions?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)