When Tyler was little we created his world. We learned what worked for him and what didn't. Loud busy places didn't work for him.
Fast paced busy places didn't work.
Screaming kids- No WAY!
Over stimulation- NOPE!
To much to see- nope again
Quiet, talked about movements worked. Talking about what we were doing, where we were going, slow touching of things that were unfamiliar.
And then we grew up. Glasses were offered and we gladly accepted. We had honestly thought once he figured he was missing out on a WHOLE other world he would be HAPPY to wear them. Well we thought wrong. He didn't like them. He would wear them in a therapy session and DONE.
Then he went to school. He wears them for school and when he gets home he is all done. He doesn't need them. His world just got smaller and comfortable.
As we have gotten to the point where he is more independent and is walking on his own we have found his vision to now be hindering what we do.
Example: We get out of the car and walk toward a store. There is a curb. Most of us see the curb and know we need to take a step up. He doesn't seem to see it. Dallas and I have learned to tell him " big step" and we make that transition just fine.
Sometimes going from outside to inside he can't tell how the door goes. He can't tell if he should step up or if it is safe. When I don't talk him through the door he will bend down and feel the ground. Stand up and go.
I never thought of his vision as the real "problem" in our little mess. But as he has started talking I realize that he knows what a moon is from a book but cant' see a moon. He knows what a rainbow is and can point a million times in a book but he cant' see one.
Fireworks- same concept. The loud noise scares him because he can't see where it is coming from.
He has never seen so many things but wants to do it all.
2 comments:
It's time to consider white cane training for Ty. If he learns how to use a cane, even to bump things he'd know they are around and to step up or around them. Talk to an Orientation and Mobility specialist. Most PT's and teachers don't understand O&M; contact your local blind association or school's Intermediate Unit.
I knew a student at Weber State who was blind. He had been blind all his life so he had learned to adapt his life to fit his lifestyle. I remember talking with him one day as we were waiting for choir practice to begin. We were talking about how he understands abstract things. He explained to him what "purple" meant to him, and other colors. I realized that he had a better understanding of colors than I did. I just saw a color, but he knew what it meant. To him, purple meant majesty, honor and glory. I had simply never thought of that. His other senses had learned to compensate for what he was missing. He didn't have even the vision that Tyler has because he had never seen anything, but he could explain everything. He was a great example to me.
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