Wednesday November 16, 2005

Wednesday November 16, 2005 Zack got to sleep in a little later this morning because he had his 2nd vision screening at 9:00. After he showered I told him I wanted to try to remove the stitch in his head that has been bugging him. I had called the neurosurgery office and spoke to the nurse and she said I could just take tweezers and pull it out. My first attempt was not so good. His hair has gotten a lot longer so since the stitch was black it was hard to tell it apart from his hair. He would feel for it with his finger and then I pulled out a chuck of hair (not a good thing since he wants to grow it back so badly). He hollered and his head was bleeding a little so he said I was done. I convinced him to give it one more try so we got a flashlight. He held the light on it so I could see precisely where he pointed and with a quick yank I removed a stitch about a 1 ½” long. We put a little Vitamin E on his head and he was so happy to finally have it out. On the way to the eye doctor we talk about the concert in Nashville and he asked if his buddy Rick is really going to go (he is away at Western). He decides to call him and they talk about how they are going to dance at the concert and have sooooo much fun. When we arrived at Vision First they told me that Zack would be in the screening room with a therapist and there was no room for me. They told me they had a video tape for me to watch on what vision therapy does. Vision is the comprehension and processing of information. It is totally brain and different from sight. We think largely in visual images. Failure of the brain to process visual information in the normal way causes you to struggle with every activity. 80% of what we learn in the classroom is visual. Cognitively the brain processes 3 million bits of information every millisecond and 2 million of those are visual. Vision is the dominant system of the brain and consists of eye teaming, tracking, focusing and eye movement. The video talked about the plasticity of the brain (changes in the brain) and how changes in behavior can modify the brain. Visual pathways can be modified with vision training. Vision is a learned skill and 90% of visual perception problems can be corrected with vision therapy. Vision therapy teaches a person what their eyes are doing wrong (which causes the perception problem) so that it can be corrected. After his screening the therapist told me briefly that Zack’s biggest problem is “eye movement”. A normal fixation should be 96 per 100 words. Currently Zack’s is 356 which mean all his energy is focused on just trying to stay on the line he is reading. He can read but it’s extremely hard and very tiring for him. It would be like trying to read while someone jiggled the paper around. We scheduled our consultation visit with Dr. Weinberg who will evaluate the screenings and come up with a therapy plan. After watching the video I am excited about starting vision therapy (at one point I was brought to tears and had to stop the tape) and have great hopes it will enable Zack to get back to school. We walk out the door after nearly 2 hours of testing and Zack stops me on the sidewalk. He gives me a big hug and says, “Mom I’ll give you 5 bucks if you let me go home and go back to bed!” I start laughing and tell him he has to go to therapy. As soon as he arrives at Frazier East he has cognition therapy with Megan and has to read some more. In occupational therapy with Scott he took a drivers performance test to increase his deficit awareness and sustained attention. He was worn out when Donna picked him up for me today. I spoke at Highland Baptist Church youth group. It was a more casual setting than I have done in the past which took a lot of pressure off. I was hoping to make it through without shedding a tear but …it still gets me. There were about 15 teenagers, mostly girls, who were very attentive (the pictures can be somewhat shocking). I was able to share a lot more information after the speech and they were able to ask questions. At least tonight they more fully understand the importance of their choices and why God put their parents as authority over them. They have asked me to come back and speak to the middle school group and parents which I hope to do after the first of the year. When I arrive home Zack was still at church in his youth group meeting. After he returns he plays pool with Andrew, Dani and Tiffany. As soon as they leave he jumps in bed but minutes later Ashley, Maddy and Macy drop by to bring him a UofL pennant. The ever gracious host he gets back out of bed (it’s only 9:30) but the girls know he is tired and weren’t planning on staying anyway. They visit for 10 minutes and he is asleep before they reach the end of our street. I am so thankful that his friends continue to visit, support and encourage him. I am glad we can provide a safe haven where they feel comfortable and I have enjoyed getting to know then better myself. Scott laughs at how he use to not like anyone to come over and now he has a houseful of teenagers all the time. Zack has changed but we have changed a lot too. We have grown from this experience and learned to be more accommodating. I am even learning patience (not one of my virtues). Most of all we have learned to trust God…to wait on His timing…to listen for His whisper. It is such a comforting thought to know that all of this is in His hands and believe that His plan is perfect. Please pray that vision therapy will be the key to Zack’s progress in reading. Pray that through the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays that all of Zack’s friends away at college will have an opportunity to visit him. They are surely to be amazed at how far he has come since they went off to school. Help their visit show them just how much they have to be thankful for, mainly how awesome is our God! Pray that I will have other opportunities to speak to teenagers. Pray for complete recovery.
“Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim your name O Lord. O praise the greatness of my God! You are the rock, your words are perfect and all your ways are just.” Deut 321