little four eyes

As a self-proclaimed expert patching parent, I have decided to assess the patches in our stash and share with you the ones that we are no longer using. The first 2 up for grabs are for patching either eye.  The lime green has sparkles and is made of felt (fit great when she was 2 and 3), the stripped on is made of a softer non scratchy fabric (it is a little too big and not girly enough for a 4 year old girl with oval glasses).  The next 2 are for  the left eye and are both made of felt (my daughter didn’t like them as much and said they are scratchy)  The pink one is for a smaller child (maybe 1 or 2) and the purple would be more for a 3 /4 girl.  All 4 are very similar in size, my pictures don’t really show you that well.   I also have multiple Ortopad sticky patches for girls (under 3 years old).   All these patches described are already in individual envelopes waiting for a name and an adress to be sent to.  Please only ask for 1!  (ajre nchin@yahoo.com (without the space)) I will update the post as the patches are spoken for.  Sorry only US residents and there is no guarantee that the postal system will safely deliver them to you =)

Dr. Nate (of Bright Eyes News) and reader Amber both just let me know that COVD (that’s the College of Optometrists in Vision Development) is sponsoring a 30 minute web interview with neurobiologist Dr. Susan Barry entitled “School Crossings: A Neurobiologist’s View of How Our System Fails Children With Vision Problems.”    The free web interview is targeted at parents and educators and will be Thursday, August 26, at 9 pm EDT.  The interview will be recorded, but I don’t yet know whether or how it will be made available for people who are unable to attend the actual interview.  As soon as I know more, I’ll update.

From the facebook event:

Hear Dr. Susan Barry answer questions about difficult school experiences that resulted from her vision problems; how, for example, she was mislabeled as a low aptitude student and assigned to a special problems class, and what her mother did to help her child succeed. And more….. including what you can do to help your child succeed!”

Dr. Barry is the author of the book, “Fixing My Gaze” which talks about her experience growing up with strabismus, and never achieving stereoscopic vision until she started vision therapy as an adult.  The book is fascinating and her background as a neurobiologist is clear, as she explains the vision system in a very engaging and understandable matter (you can read my full review of her book).  I’m certain that the web interview will be very interesting as well.

More details: “seating is limited to the first 1,000 people to respond.  To register for this free event, go to:  www.joinawebinar.com and enter the webinar ID number, which is 547-423-251, your email address, etc.  Just follow the instructions from there.”  Again, as soon as I know more about the availability of a recorded session, I’ll let people know.

I’m terribly sorry for falling so far behind on the photo gallery updates.  I’ve just added 7 new photos (of 8 beautiful children in glasses) to the page.  If you have sent me a picture of your child and I missed it, please re-send it (ann@shinypebble.com), and I will add it.   Check out the new pictures!

A reader, Sue, just learned that her son has aniridia and nystagmus.  Aniridia is a lack of iris, which is associated with low vision and other vision issues.  She would love to connect with any other parents of children with aniridia, or anyone who has dealt with this.  Please leave a comment, or email me (ann@shinypebble.com) and I will put you in touch with Sue.

I read a review of the new book, Fancy Nancy Spectacular Spectacles by Jane O’Connor on Amblyopia Kids a few weeks ago.  Based on that review, and Zoe’s love of her Fancy Nancy shoes, I figured I should get a copy for her.  We got the book on Friday, and we’ve read it at least once every day since then.

For those that haven’t seen any other Fancy Nancy books (there’s quite a few of them now), the Fancy Nancy character is a young girl who loves all things fancy, and that includes accessories, clothing, and even words.

In the story of Spectacular Spectacles, Nancy’s friend Bree gets glasses because “in school, her eyes hurt a lot.”  Unlike a lot of kids’ books about glasses that focus on the difficulties that go along with getting glasses, this book focuses on how much Fancy Nancy loves her friend’s glasses, and how much she’d like to have some, too.  They are after all, lavender, glittery, and come with a silver case and a silk hankie to clean them.  It was quite nice to read a book where the character who wears the glasses doesn’t encounter any taunting or teasing, and the glasses are portrayed as something wonderful.  I also loved that there is a scene where the character Bree explains to her class about her trip to the eye doctor and getting glasses.  I think that our kids in glasses need to be able to talk about what those glasses mean, and Bree’s explanation is quite charming:

Bree had to read a chart with lots of letters on it.  The letters went from big to tiny.  “Glasses are like magic.  I can read tiny stuff now,” she says.  “Nothing looks blurry!”

When I first read Spectacular Spectacles (before reading it with Zoe – the book arrived while she was napping), I worried that Zoe would not relate much to the book.  The main character isn’t the one getting glasses, and I don’t think Zoe even remembers getting glasses.  But Zoe enjoyed it from the first time we read it, and has asked for it every night since then.  Even more exciting for me, is that the last few nights, she’s stopped me in the middle of the book to talk more about her glasses.  Before this, Zoe had never spoken much about her glasses or trips to the eye doctor, but now she’s starting talking about her most recent eye doctor trip, how the shapes on the chart were blurry, and that the “glasses place thought she needed new lenses for her glasses and now things aren’t blurry.”  It feels like this book helped give her the words to explain what she had experienced.

Fancy Nancy Spectacular Spectacles is an I Can Read book, listed as a beginning level reader.  Zoe is not yet reading, so I can’t comment on how easy it is for early readers to read, but it does have short, simple sentences.  The book does feature several long “fancy” words, which are listed at the back of the book.  I liked how those words, such as “spectacular” and “becoming” are used and explained in the story as well.

The illustrations are beautiful, and I found myself getting a bit jealous of Bree’s beautiful glasses.  I would absolutely recommend this book, especially for young girls who might be worried about their friends’ reactions to getting glasses.

If you are looking for a way to strengthen hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, take time this weekend to do some beading with your child!  I started beading with LARGE wooden beads when Elly was 2 and she has slowly worked her way up to pony bead size.  It takes a lot of concentration and she can only work for short periods of time (5-6 min) before needing a break – but she is now able to make a bracelet on her own – YEAH!!!!  Noodles on pipe cleaners or shoe laces are an inexpensive alternative if you don’t have beads at home!