The Big Eye Appointment

Last week, Rugrat had an appointment at a special eye clinic called New View. They are specialists in low vision and particularly in helping with day to day functioning. For children, they help parents get help with schooling and other government programs too when it is needed.

I was a little concerned about how well it would go because of her fear with eye doctors. The fact that it was supposed to last 3 hours didn't make me happy either.

I started talking to her about it two days before the appointment just to get her used to the idea that she would go. We even tried assuring her it wouldn't be as bad because they probably wouldn't need to do a pressure (glaucoma test) on her eyes.

She was quietly nervous all the way there. And as we sat to wait for the doctor, a few tears slipped out despite the fact that I had asked the receptionist about doing the pressure and was told it wasn't necessary.

Once the doctor called us in, Rugrat immediately asked, "No pressure?" And she asked several more times. When she finally decided the lady wasn't lying, she relaxed and even had fun.

For the first time, she even did the 'is this one better -- or that one?' thing so that her current eyeglass prescription was confirmed as correct. And we now know exactly what power her eyes are. Surprisingly, they are better than Hubby's. Hopefully, they will correct as well as his do, too, as she gets older.

She also saw an Orientation and Mobility Trainer. That was interesting. He basically checked to make sure she wasn't in any danger of falling or banging into things because she couldn't see them. I could have probably told them to skip that part. I'm fairly certain the only reason the doctor wanted her to see him was to check that she had depth perception.

For the main test, we went for a long walk around the building and parking lot so he could see that she handled curbs, inclines, pot holes, etc. just fine.

He did comment that he noticed she looked at him (in front of her) from the side a lot. While I hadn't noticed her doing that specifically, I wasn't surprised by it and told him so. With nystagmus, there is a thing called 'null point' where the person tends to look to one side or other so that they can focus. I don't specifically see her do that but it may just be something I don't notice because I am used to her behaviors now too. He had wanted to point it out so that he was sure I knew about it.

After the O and M Trainer, we saw the final person -- a Low Vision Occupational Therapist. She was actually the one I was most curious to hear from. Her job is to make recommendations about helping with Rugrat's everyday life. The doctor had explained that it could be something as simple as putting milk in a dark colored cup so that the contrast made it easy to see.

She played some games with Rugrat and tested some things. She even played a little catch with a bouncy ball. The occupational therapist said (and I am quoting) "she's doing fine." As far as she could see, Rugrat was perfectly okay and didn't really need anything. No recommendations at this time!

She did show us, at the request of the doctor, a dome magnifier. It's a little 3-inch circular thing that you place over something you want to read and it magnifies it four times so that it is easier to see. The OT said that it might be good to get one for her to handle and play with in case she needed one later (school book print tends to get smaller with later grades) so that Rugrat would be used to it.

I think we might get one. Sometimes it is hard for me to distinguish 'a' from 'o' in some of her stuff so I know it probably is for her as well. There's no reason to unnecessarily strain her eyes when something so simple could help. I've let her use her little magnifying glass (from Science) a few times in Phonics since and she really gets a kick out of it. I don't know that it helps much at all. Often she'll look around it to read. But she likes to hold it nonetheless.

All the people there were very nice. As we did our walking test, we unwittingly walked into a few offices. The last one was a lady whom we hadn't met nor had any reason to but she immediately turned and called Rugrat by name. It's that kind of place.

They all knew who was coming in and why even if they weren't seeing that person specifically. They were all patient with Rugrat and none of them pushed or probed without letting her know what was going on. They all even answered her never ending questions without irritation.

Probably one of the best compliments this place could have gotten though came as we pulled out of the parking lot when Rugrat told me: "I had fun, mama."

Pretty high praise indeed!

Responsibilities and Rewards

Last week was our fall break. We never had a fall break when I was in school. We had Thanksgiving break but never one before that.

That's not to say that I don't look forward to sleeping in and having a chance to do what I want all day.

Not that I got to sleep in or do whatever I wanted.

Dude had the responsibility of shopping for his troop's camping trip that weekend. So we got that done on Thursday morning.

That afternoon, after some lunch, we had to make a trip to Orange Leaf.

When we first began schooling with Rugrat, she had a hard time with listening and behaving well during our lessons. We usually had it good about the first hour in the morning and then the first hour in the afternoon.

After that, boredom set in or just plain stubbornness and she didn't want to do it. So she would start in being a general pain in the rear -- either outright refusing to answer me or not cooperating.

So, I introduced the jar. It sits next to a little bucket of 'pebbles' (filled from a bag of floral stones I got from the store -- shiny ones of course). When she completes a lesson in a satisfactory way, she gets to add a pebble to the jar with the goal of a special treat when she fills it. I've given her a bonus one here and there for doing an extra-good job at listening and I've taken one away for acting just plain ugly too.

The first couple of weeks were a almost a toss-up. She earned several and she lost several. But it seems to have done the trick. While there have been times more recently that she did not earn her pebble for being difficult, I can't remember when I last took one out of the jar. And even the times when she doesn't earn one have gotten fewer and fewer.

Last Thursday was her first reward for filling it -- a trip to Orange Leaf. She wanted to go there after Dude suggested it several weeks ago as a reward. I would have sucked it up and gone to lunch at McDonald's (can there be a better place to eat in her opinion -- I think not) or taken her someplace else. But Orange Leaf was what she wanted.

And, hey, I get my employee discount so I didn't complain.

***********************

Friday was another eye doctor appointment. I forgot to 'talk it up' though. That meant there was some crying and resistance when it came to the pressure check but even then it was soooo much better than usual. She eventually settled down and let him do it.

Other positives were that she actually sat in the chair by herself for most of the exam. That was definitely a first.

She also managed to identify some of the pictures on the wall. She usually just says "I don't know." Refusing to cooperate is something we will be working at breaking her from for some time I think.

And, as usual, she hopped right down when it was over to give the doctor a hug, letting him know all was forgiven.