Vision Therapy Week 2

Week one down and I was feeling pretty good about it. We met with Dr. G and she had some new exercises for Liam as well as wanting to continue some of the ones we did the first week.  This week we jumped for 30 minutes a day to about an hour. I did not track the progress with the blocks. I continued this as play time for fun. She did not say to continue charting, but to just do it if we had free time.

She wants Liam to continue tracking letters on the wall one eye at a time. This time however we spaced them 2 inches apart instead of one.  The beginning part of the week his results were:

• Right eye it took 1 minute and 51 seconds with 7 errors
• Right eye it took 1 minute 18 seconds with 5 errors. 

• Left eye it took 1 minute 46 seconds with 5 errors
• Left eye took 1 minute 30 seconds with 3 errors.

By the last day of the week his results were this:

• Right eye it took 1 minute 17 seconds with 3 errors
• Right eye it took 1 minute 22 seconds with 2 errors
• Right eye it took 1 minute 11 seconds with 1 error

• Left eye it took 1 minute 11 seconds with 3 errors
• Left eye it took 1 minute 10 seconds with 2 errors
• Left eye it took 57 seconds with zero errors

I was so excited to see these results at the end of the week. Liam was so proud of himself that he got zero wrong with his left eye.  I think it was the first thing he said to Dr. G when he saw her.

The second exercise was a new one. It was called Visual Motor exercise which was timed or used a Metronome. For those who don’t know what a Metronome is you can look it up here. You don't have to buy one, you can get it as an application on your phone :)

The first Visual Motor exercise was with lines. It was a sheet a paper that had straight lines with a line at the right or left side of the line or a line in the middle. For this one Liam had to use his right or left hand and hit the table depending on which side the line was on. He had to use both hands when it was in the middle.  The paper was so confusing with so many lines that we started with the page being covered and only one at a time being visible. See picture below.

I would time him and tally up his errors for this one. The results from the beginning of the week to the end were HUGE!

I covered whole page except one. Went one by one

• First time it took 2 minutes and 30 seconds with 7 errors
• Second time it took him 2 minutes and 13 seconds with 6 errors

Last day of the week:

I did not cover page and pointed to each row

• First time he did it in 1 minute and 19 seconds with 6 errors
• Second time he did it in 1 minute and 9 seconds with 3 errors
• Last one he did it in 1 minute and 3 seconds with 2 errors.

To go from the whole page covered to uncovering it and just pointing to the beginning of each row was amazing. He even noticed how much he had improved.  We were both so happy.

The next exercise was similar but it was a paper with a line then it had a circle on the top, bottom or middle of line. He would have to say “Top, Bottom, Middle” to the beat of the Metronome.

Results:

First day: bmp (beats per minute)

• 45 bpm he had 4 errors
• 50 bpm he had 4 errors
• 50 bpm he had 3 errors

Last day:

• 64 bpm he had 1 error
• 65 bpm he had 2 errors
• 65 bmp he had 1 error

The last exercise was called the Brock String.This is a picture of Liam learning the Brock String with Dr. G

 This exercise helps him with 3-D and forces the eyes to work together. This one was by far our hardest. Liam had a TON of tears. He would get a headache and nauseous from this one. This one you have a string and it has three beads on it (green, yellow, red) and you have to put the string up to your nose and focus on the beads. Liam had to look at the first bead (green) and try to see it as one bead with two strings. This was super hard for him. He often saw two beads one string. The goal is to get the bead as close to your nose with both eyes focusing on it and keep it as 1 bead with 2 stings. We had a lot of trouble with this one. He also had to jump and go from the green bead to the yellow and then to the red and tell me how many beads he saw and how many strings. I was super confused about how to do this therapy with him. I think I did it wrong for the first 5 days. I ended up emailing Dr. G and she explained it better. We changed a few things up and it was a little easier. It’s kind of hard to explain his results because we did not do it right for many days but at the end of the week we were able to get the green bead from 44 cm to 20 cm from his nose. We are going to continue this one next week and maybe with more help from Dr. G I will be able to explain it better. 

A good tip for parents is to let your kids take a break. When Liam could not take it anymore I would let him run around the kitchen. This was especially fun because we have a no running in the kitchen rule. So he got to get energy out and break a family rule. You have to do what you have to do to get this therapy done. Good thing the starburst are still working too!

Week 1 Vision Therapy

Liam learning how to read the chart for his first therapy session. He was not thrilled about the pink eye patch. We changed that though and he was a lot happier. 

Liam and I were anxious to find out what Vision Therapy was going to look like for him. Every person’s therapy is unique to them. Liam’s therapy schedule looks completely different from our friend Alli because of his age, and eye issues. They have similar things that they needed to work on, but they tested at different levels. Each week we will meet with Dr. G and either get new therapy exercises or build on the ones he already is doing. My advice to parents is to buy a notebook and take good notes. Watch how the doctor administers the therapy. Listen to their cues and what they help the child with and what they let them struggle with. I also recommend taking video or pictures if it’s not distracting. A lot of the time I would refer to them to administer the therapy better.  Ask questions if you have them. It’s a lot to take in and you want to do the therapy correctly when you get home. You are the key to your child’s success.  After our appointment with Dr. G we went to the store and Liam got to pick our any candy he wanted (within reason of course). I told him that when he completed his therapy everyday he would get a piece as a reward. He was super excited about this especially, because candy does not exist in our house. Because of his Ulcerative Colitis we have to be careful with how much sugar he gets. He chose starburst which was perfect. It made him feel like he was getting something kind of big and it last a little bit because of all the chewing he has to do.

Okay so on to our first week. Dr. G started us off slowly. All together the exercises totaled 30 minutes a day.  The first exercise we had to do was one where Liam had to track letters on the wall one eye at a time. I would time him for this and tally up his errors. The beginning part of the week it was a big struggle for him. The letters were spaced 1 inch apart and displayed in two rows and he stood 6 feet back.  The first day his results were: Right eye took 2 minutes 23 seconds with 5 errors and his left eye was 2 minutes and 35 seconds with 6 errors. By the end of the week his results were: Right eye 2 minutes 2 seconds with 3 errors. His Left eye was 1 minute and 19 seconds with 2 errors.  I was really pleased with the results and I was excited to hear if we get to move the letters 2 inches apart.

The next exercise we did that week was a 3D exercise. He had to wear red/green glasses and I look at two circles and track them as I moved them further and closer apart. This one was hard for Liam. 3D seems to be a big struggle for him. I am not really sure there were big results from this exercise. I think it was a little hard for him.

The last exercise we did that week was blocks. You may be thinking blocks? Yes, something as simple as blocks was part of our therapy. Liam has never really liked playing with blocks. This was by far his favorite therapy so far. I would have him sort the blocks and time him. The first day he was able to do it in 1 minute 42 seconds with 0 errors, and by the end of the week he did it in 59 seconds with 1 error.  The other exercise we did with the blocks was having him duplicate patterns. This part was fun because I could have his sister be a part of it. She wanted to feel included so she would build a pattern and he would try to build the same one. At the beginning of the week his results looked like this:

1.     4 blocks missed one that was vertical
2.     4 blocks missed one that was horizontal
3.     5 blocks he did it perfect.

At the end of the week it looked like this:

1.      5 blocks zero errors
2.      6 blocks 1 error. Placement error
3.      6 blocks with 1 error. He connected one block that should not have been

So as you can see he improved from the beginning of the week to the end. Dr. G was very happy with his results when I emailed them to him.  The 3-D one she said was obviously difficult for him and so she said we would be changing that one up and trying something else for week 2. 

Over all I really feel Liam did great. Its a lot to ask him to go to school for four hours then come home and do more. But he was excited and did a good job listening. I found that if I let him choose which order to to the exercises it went a lot smoother. It gave him a sense of control. I kept it really positive and stayed upbeat with him. When he needed a break I would give it to him. 

Warning signs I did not see

Looking back now there were so many signs to Liam having vision problems. He does not fit in the typical mold, but whats new.

Liam was a transitional kindergartner in 2012-2013.  He had a great teacher and learned a lot. Because he was a TK I did not push academics with him. I knew he was going to repeat so I did not see the need to push him. At the end of the year I got his report card and it showed that he still missed some letters in the alphabet and was not blending words. I was a little surprised, because the teacher he had is incredible. I decided to work with him over the summer so that he would have a jump start. After a month and half I let it go, because it wasn't clicking. He still knew some high frequency words from school, but would guess a lot. For example if he saw the word "Tree" he would say it was "the". At the time I did not know that he was just seeing the T and the E. So to him it was "the". This is a tracking issue. It was hard on my husband to understand him having a tracking issue. He said to me "this kid can catch and hit a ball, he does not have a tracking issue". I had to explain to him that there are different kinds of tracking issues.

When he was little like 3 years old we took him to his first 3-D movie, because his sister begged to go. Liam wore the glasses for a total of 2 minutes and cried. He kept saying "no glasses". I just thought he was too little and it scared him. When he was around 5 years we took him to another one and he did not cry, but refused to wear the glasses. When the Vision Test revealed he had a hard time seeing 3-D, I had an AHA moment. Liam does not like the Toy Story ride at Disneyland. He does not like to wear the 3-D glasses during the ride. It was starting to all make sense now.


When he started Kindergarten this year he was coming home with headaches. I thought it was because of the medication he was on for U.C. Then he started saying he could not see little words. The day that changed everything was when the kids and I were at the skating rink with our friend Jenny and her girls. I started to tell her about Liam's headaches and him saying he can't see little words. She asked if she could take him into the party room at the rink and test his tracking. I said "sure". One thing I noticed outside the window was that he told her he could not see the chart she was holding up. She kept bringing it closer to him until he could see it. Then she had him do an exercise and he did just okay. Then she asked him to follow her finger with just his eyes until she touched his nose. He lost track of her finger.Then she asked him to follow her finger while she made it go in a big circle. Again he loss track of it. We talked for a bit while the kids skated.  I said " I should just call and have him evaluated". At the time I just thought this kid needs glasses. Jenny on the other hand thought this kid needs VT. I took everyone home and we were sitting in her drive way and I said" Its 4:30 do you think the office is open?' Jenny said "were calling right now to find out". I made the appointment right then and there and that's when our journey started.

After we got the results of Liam's VT testing, Dr. Griffith put down some suggestions of activities to have Liam start. She wanted us to encourage   building blocks, puzzles, and similar highly spatial/visual manipulatives. When I read that on the report I was shocked, because those were activities I have never been able to get him to do. Again another AHA moment. 

Where I shop

Many people ask me in daily conversations where I do my shopping. Many said it would be helpful if I posted on my blog, so here it is:

Costco: 

Monthly shopping- 

• Frozen Organic Chicken Breasts
• Fresh Organic Chicken thighs and drumsticks
• Organic Ground Beef (Costco told me it was grass fed)
• Grass Fed Organic Steak
• Sometimes they will carry frozen ground turkey. I always checking to see if they have brought it back. If not then I buy ground turkey from Foster Farms.
• Organic brown eggs- 3 of there 18 count 
• Organic fruit (this is seasonal)
• Coconut sugar
• Coconut oil
• Avocado oil
• Chia seeds
• Annie's fruit snacks
• Fruit leathers
• Frozen fruit for smoothies
• Nitrate free salami
• Organic vegetables:  salad mix
• Nitrate free Hot dogs
• Dark Chocolate Chips
• Lara Bars
• Honeyville Almond Meal...They finally are selling it and I don't have to get online anymore
• Organic Olive Oil

Trader Joes:

Weekly Shopping Depending on my weekly menu-

• Nitrate free bacon- but mostly I get this at Target now
• Nitrate free Hot dogs if Costco is out
• Olive oil potato chips (treat for my kids on occasion)
• Coconut milk
• Almond Milk
• Coconut yogurt
• Raw organic nuts (cashews, almonds, pistachios, pecans, sunflower seeds)
• Organic Romaine
• Organic salad mixes (kale, spinach, leafy greens)
• Organic Carrots, Celery, Broccoli, Cauliflower,Sugar Snap Peas, Green Beans, Asparagus, Onions, Garlic, Avocado ,Tomatoes, Zucchini, Cucumber, Bell Peppers etc....
• Bananas
• Spaghetti Squash
• Artichokes
• Organic Fruit (Apples, Grapes, Pears, Plums, Peaches, Nectarines, Strawberries, Black Berries,   Raspberries, Kiwi, Pineapple etc...)
• Chicken breakfast sausage
• Italian Sausage
• Organic Marinara
• Pasta noodles- gluten free treat for my kiddos
• Frozen Fruit
• Lara Bars
• Kind Bars
• Organic Ketchup
• Organic Mustard
• Artichoke Hearts in a jar
• Hummus
• Olive oil
• Sunflower Oil
• Grape Seed Oil
• TJ's barbecue sauce because it does not have corn in it
• Odds and ends depending on week like spices and such.

Target:

• Hormel Nitrate Free Turkey and Ham
• Applegate products: Bacon and Salami and Hot Dogs- its nitrate free and uncured
• Van's Gluten Free Waffles- in frozen section if we are having a cheat
• Fruit Leathers
• Kind and Luna Bars- in health food section near the protein powders

Almond Flour:

I order it in bulk for all my baking at Honeyville. The link is below

Honeyville http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/

Vision Therapy

In a few weeks I will be documenting Liam's Vision Therapy. We had him tested a few weeks ago and got all the results. He started his therapy Thursday September 19th, 2013. I need some time to process this new journey in our lives. As soon as I do I will share it with everyone. Wish us luck!

9 months on Apriso

Yesterday we went to Liam's GI doctor for a check up. It has been 9 months since Liam started taking Apriso. Lots of things have changed. We no longer have to break the capsule apart and get him to swallow the medicine in one big gulp with juice. He has learned how to swallow the pills. He has also not had any huge flare ups. He has had the occasional stomach pains followed with a day or two of diarrhea but then he gets back to normal. We are learning that certain foods will cause him great pain. He cannot eat any french fries from restaurants. Its not the potato that is the problem but the oil they fry it in. I often will bring fruit and some veggies with us when we go out to eat. We order him a protein like hamburger without the bun, grilled chicken, ribs, or steak to go along with the food I brought.

He has developed a dry cough. Its going on 4 months, but she said we need to just ride it out. I asked if it could be a side effect from the Apriso. She at first said " no I do not believe its from the medicine". But then later said "well I suppose anything can happen from taking a medicine everyday, but its a low percentage." I wonder if it could be a sign of Acid Reflux, but the benefits out way the cough. It also could just be something new he is dealing with since people with Autoimmune diseases often deal with more than just the initial disease itself. So for now we will ride it out and hope his body fights it.

She was very happy with his weight gain and growth. She said he has finally caught up from all the weight he loss over the years. He has also had a huge growth spurt. This says that he is absorbing nutrients and is becoming healthy. Fingers cross this just continues.

We are going to run a few labs and make sure everything looks good. Our goal is for continual good health and flare up free. If we can maintain he will go in for a scope during the Summer of 2014. This made Mike and I very happy. We have a follow up appointment in 3-4 months as long as he continues to do well on the Apriso. So far this mama is happy that her boy is doing so well.

Typical School Lunch

This post isn't just what Liam eats, but what we eat as a family for lunch. Liam has a hard time digesting raw vegetables so for him we modify. I will give examples of when we modify.

Protein:

• Turkey roll up: Turkey (nitrate free) rolled up with pickles, cucumber or  cherry tomatoes for Liam Savy my daughter will put mayo and mustard on the turkey then roll up either a pickle, bell pepper, cucumber, or avocado.  Sometimes for Savy we wrap the meat in Lettuce. Liam cannot eat any lettuce so he stick with just the meat

• Nitrate free Salami
• Nitrate free Ham
• Nitrate free Bacon
• Chicken legs
• Homemade Chicken Fingers
• Salad with veggies and left over meat (Savy eats this but Liam can't have salad)
• Steak pieces left over from dinner
• Hummus with carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and cauliflower. If you notice she is not a fan of tomatoes. Liam does not eat Hummus. He doesn't like it. I often wonder if it upsets his tummy since he has never liked it.
• Jerky

Fruit:

summer/spring

•  watermelon
•  strawberries
•  nectarines
•  peaches
•  grapes
• pineapple 
• pears
• plums
• kiwis
• berries

Fall / Winter :

• apple slices
• orange slices
• frozen or fresh pineapple
• grapes if good
• kiwi
• Packaged Dole mandarins or pineapple in a container that is in its own juices. I don't buy the ones with syrup in them.  

Veggies:

• Carrots- Liam can eat two baby carrots
• Cucumber slices- Liam can eat as long as no skin
• Snap Peas- Liam can eat a couple raw but I blanch them so he can have more
• Small Bell Peppers or Sliced- Liam does okay with these as long as its not a lot
• Cherry Tomatoes- Liam loves these
• Pickles
• Celery- Liam cannot eat Celery

Extras:

• Fruit leathers
• Bunny snacks
• Applesauce Pouches
• Fruit and Veggie Pouches
• Dried Cranberries
• Raisins
• Trail Mix: Raw almonds, cashews, sunflowers, and pistachios 
• Bars: Homemade, KIND, and LARA 
• Kettle in Olive Oil Potato Chips
• Dried Fruit
• Plantains
• Coconut Yogurt
• Jello

If you need more ideas ask away.