Click here to read about last week’s appointment.
How did the Last Week Go?
The last week was pretty great. I was able to do my exercises officially a few times and then I got some unofficial stereopsis practice while we were camping over the weekend.
I warmed up with the thumb-pinky rock and then I went into the woods for a “stereopsis walk” as I dubbed it. I walked VERY slowly and tried to keep my peripheral open and both eyes engaged to notice the trees in all their glory.
It was awesome. I am able to see in stereo on command more and I LOVE experiencing the world in that way. The trees seem so magical and expansive. Just endless branches and leaves.
With stereopsis the edges of each leaf are much sharper and defined and the tree itself occupies a larger space. With little spaces between the leaves.
I tried to see the whole forest instead of just individual trees and tried to picture myself in it and part of it instead of just an observer. This part is more challenging for sure and I will have to keep working on “seeing big.”
I’ve decided that with all the summer happenings I need to incorporate my vision therapy into everything I do which means trying to use both eyes full time. I forget and it is hard to maintain, but I am able to hold it for longer and I think it is making a difference.
How did the Appointment Go?
Distant Gaze (right eye view, forced both eyes, relaxed view)
Today we spent most of the time on VTS4 and made a lot of progress so I was really happy with the appointment. About 90% of the appointment was spent on a balance board, which makes everything harder and more effective. I feel like I am gaining so much more control of my vision and it feels so good to see the results!
The binasal occlusion last week was awful! I felt like my right eye was completely suppressed by the time I came to my appointment. It was like it was just too hard to see so it completely quit. Dr. Dan took the tape off of the right side and it has already made a big difference for me!
Binovi Touch Board
We spent a long time on the touch board, which used to see so pointless to me, but it is awesome if I work on engaging both eyes and especially trying to see the whole board at once; seeing it as a “gestalt” as Dr. David Cook would say.
I could feel my eyes working and it was amazing to see that I was able to go more quickly when I was fully engaging both eyes. Two eyes are better than one.
VTS4
We started with the normal stereopsis ring on VTS4 and things were normal. I can see more depth and I’m starting to get hints of SILO (small in, large out) which is a crazy new concept for my brain.
So much of how I see depth is based on the size of an object. If it is large, it’s close, if it is small, it’s far. Most brains can use stereopsis to determine the location of objects, but without it I had to use size and shadows.
This presents a problem in some of the different vision therapy exercises because the opposite is true, when objects are close, they are small and when they are far, they are large. It is a very challenging concept for me and brain fights against it.
I am finally getting it though. Not all the time, but I will feel my eyes ultra-engage and then I can see that it is smaller and closer to me. It feels like an illusion though and hasn’t reached a tangible level. It’s almost as if I can sense it, but not see it. When I feel my brain go into that mode I just sit with it and allow myself to live in no-man’s land for a few seconds. It’s almost as if my brain is looking at it and deciding what to think before allowing me to actually see it.
I was able to get into that zone several times so we kept working on VTS4 for the majority of my appointment.
Stereo Mirror
We had a few minutes left and Dr. Dan had me work with the stereo mirror and talk about what I was seeing. Everything looks like it is on the left side and I can feel that my left eye dominates the right.
He suggested trying to focus with my right eye and slowly bring in the left. I tried it this morning (the next day) and it was working pretty well.
He gave me my homework and out the door I went. The fastest hour of the week is always during vision therapy!
Homework
- Stereo Mirror- Engage both eyes as you look into the stereo mirror and try to get the images to combine and be directly in front rather than just in front of the left eye. This week work on seeing out of the right eye and bringing in the left instead of the opposite.
- Thumb-Pinky Rock- Try shifting vision gradually from the pinky to thumb and back. Try using a string, rubberband or piece of tape to accomplish this.
- Virtual Reality- Optics Trainer, pay close attention to how things look and feel right after I remove the headset. Does everything seem more open? What is the “shape of the sky” now?
- Gem Vectograph- Use Dr. Cook’s 3 techniques to see the vectogram take on greater depth and notice SILO.
- Wear Binasal Occlusion glasses for at least half of every day, and especially during exercises.