Click here to read about last week’s appointment.
How Did the Last Week Go?
The last week went really well. I didn’t go crazy with diet changes, but did make an effort to increase my fruit and veggie intake and I did notice a difference. I still had a few days where I felt dizzy and nauseous, but not so much as last week.
“The Shape of the Sky” is my new favorite book. I will be writing a whole post dedicated to its awesomeness, but in the last week I have learned SO much! Dr. Cook is a genius. I love reading about his techniques because it is easier to solidify my understanding when I can see, reread, and then try his approach.
I will share just one gold nugget that really helped this week. With many activities in vision therapy I find myself looking at a ring or circle and trying to see it float either in front of or behind the page. I have written about how this is a constant struggle for me. My brain doesn’t want to believe that it is floating.
Dr. Cook gave several techniques that I have tried, but one unique tip that made a huge difference.
While looking at the Gem or blue/red circles (depending on the activity) hold a pen to your nose. Slowly move the pen from your nose towards the Gem. Be aware that the pen is double while it is at your nose, but as you move towards the Gem it will go single. Once it goes single, you’ve arrived at where the ring is floating because that is where your vision is engaged. Trace the circle until your brain believes that it is there.
I was able to double or triple the depth I was seeing with the activity in the book using this technique, and I hate to give a spoiler, but it made a huge difference at my appointment too!
My week was obsessively reading, studying, learning and sharing everything from “The Shape of the Sky.” It was expensive, but worth every penny!
I tried my idea with the Brock String and Gem combination on my back door and it worked okay. I still need more practice on both the Gem and the Brock String before things start moving super well with combining them though.
I was able to seem the gem floating around the first bead in each direction depending on whether I did base in or base out, but I wasn’t able to see the “X” of the brock string at all. There was just too much going on visually. I think I have a brilliant set up, but I am going to wait to try it again for another month or so after I have a chance to get more efficient with both the gem and the Brock String.
The progress pics are looking more like regress pics this week. It might have to do with the full moon or the lack of sleep or the 1 ½ hours I spent studying “The Shape of the Sky” last night. All I know is that I haven’t seen a relaxed, up close progress picture this bad in at least 5 months. It was a little shocking to see at first. I was able to straighten it out pretty easily still, but it has been tired all day.
How Did the Appointment Go?
Virtual Reality- Optics Trainer
This was the same as usual. I put on his oculus go headset and he controlled the Optics Trainer app from his laptop while I played the games. He adjusted my prescription while I tried to pop balloons, click stars and identify which birds were closest to me.
He keeps making it harder to see the depth which makes it harder to beat my high scores. haha It’s like adding weight to my bicep curls every week. But my eyes and brain keep rising to the occasion and adjusting to the “heavier weight” each week.
VTS4
Today I worked with the “stereopsis ring.” I’ve noticed in the past that when the ring is being moved from base in to base out or visa versa, it appears to be moving side to side instead of forward and back. Today I realized that it moves more diagonally. So to the left and back or to the right and forward. This means that my left eye is still dominating, but we are getting some input from my right eye as well. Sounds like progress to me.
Once the shake feature is turned on, the ring centers more and appears to move forward and back so I know it is possible. I just need to keep practicing with the program so that I will eventually be able to do it consistently in real life.
I did really well on Multiple Choice Vergence again and improved scores for both base in and base out. I believe Dr. Dan did 3 minutes timers and I was able to get to 18 on base out and 36 on base in!
I felt like my eyes were so relaxed and just happy while I was doing base in (it was going behind the screen). Usually my brain starts to hurt and my eyes burn, but they just felt good, like they were getting a little massage. It was a very interesting sensation and I’m anxious to experience it again.
Gem
Today I looked at the Gem in one of these fancy vectograph viewers. I felt like I had so much success with it today! I told Dr. Dan about all of the amazing things I learned from the book, especially the concepts that resonated with me at the beginning of the appointment.
He then coached me on remembering and using those concepts. It worked so well. I can’t remember to do all the things in the moment and that is what is so great about working with a pro! I love that he isn’t stuck on the idea that only his way will work. He is willing to take whatever works for me and run with it.
As I remembered to think about the space between my left and right eye and the space between my nose and the vectograph and the space everywhere, the gem stayed out front floating. It wasn’t coming in and out as much and stayed put more. When I used the pen trick from Dr. Cook I was amazed when I started tracing the circle and it was about halfway between me and the vectograph and it was way smaller. I always struggle with SILO (small in, large out) but today was the first time I really grasped that concept.
It was exciting. All of these new ideas are going to take so much practice to make them automatic, but I love having something to practice.
Pencil Pushups
We finished up with pencil push-ups. It’s the same exercise that I’ve seen all along, but now Dr. Dan taught me how to apply what I’m learning from my reading to that simple exercise. Turns out, it isn’t so simple after all.
You’re not just looking at the pencil. You’re looking a pencil inside of a volume of space. You have to look for the space and see all the places that it fills. See how it moves and flows with the movement of the pencil.
I’m exited to spend some time diving into old exercises with new ideas and techniques this week!
Homework
- AmblyoPlay – 15 minutes each day on the AmblyoPlay app. Focus on looking soft and creatively adjusting exercises to engage peripheral.
- Pencil Pushups- Focus on all the new techniques that I’ve learned from “The Shape of the Sky;” focus on the space between my two eyes, the space between my eyes and the pencil and the space around the pencil.
- Gem with Brock String- Use a window to combine the gem with the brockstring. Work on Base In and Base Out and seeing the Z-axis!
- Virtual Reality- Spend time on the Optics Trainer app using peripheral.
Click here to read about my next appointment.