Tim Howard- How does he do it?

Tim Howard: goalie for the U.S. Men’s World Cup Soccer Team. In this week's game, he made the most recorded saves in a World Cup Match.

How does he do this? In order for someone like a goalie to block a ball from going into the net, the goalie’s eyes need to work together to converge and focus on one object (the ball).  Having our eyes work together to see a single image is very important especially for learning and everyday life.   You use your eyes everyday to read, throw/hit a ball or look at an object nearby.

If you notice that your child has trouble focusing their eyes, there are simple everyday activities that you and your child could do to improve eye focus and it doesn’t even feel like work! Tossing an object at a target is one of the best training procedures for developing hand/eye coordination and the ability to locate objects in space.

·         Roll a ball back and forth.

·         Throw a ball or bean bags back and forth.

·         Throw a ball into a target like a bucket.

Notice that all these activities are hands on and do not involve technology.  It is important to play with actual toys in real space to improve your eye teaming ability.  This is essential for the development in a young child. Who knows, maybe one day your child will end up playing goalie for the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team making more saves than Tim Howard.

Happy 2014

Duke is happy it is the New Year too!

Happy New Year!

I would like to start the first blog of the New Year by taking the time and share the top 5 most popular blog posts in 2013.

1. Workin' the Vestibular System
2. Wii Fit
3. Family Game Night
4. Work That Peripheral Vision
5. Treatment Tools

I really enjoyed those blogs, they were very interactive. I'm looking forward to doing more blogs like that this year.

All these blogs have one main thing in common: they involve a lot of hands on activities. If you know me, I am all about hands-on activities! We are becoming a generation where our children's "hands-on" activities are on an iPad.

When children are very young, their visual systems are still developing. Developing children need to interact with objects in real space. It’s how they develop depth perception, eye teaming, tracking and other visual skills.

I am going to say it again- developing children need to interact with objects in real space! Not on a flat screen. Here is an article I found this past December, have been wanting to share. The article is called, "Generation of iPad children who cannot hold a pencil:Playing with touch-screen devices means youngsters are struggling to learn basic motor skills."

I want this generation to be the best, and we as parents need to do whatever we can to keep our children active and creative. Interact with the world! I promise there is a lot to learn.

Vision Therapy Masking Tape Games

Happy September! Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

When you walk into our therapy room, you will always notice all the tape on the carpet. Here's another fun Vision Therapy game, with a little help from masking tape. It's easy, cheap, and effective!

Whose child is still reversing their b, d, p, q's? Here is a fun thing you can do:

Have your child stand in the middle and call out the letter you want them to hop to! FUN!

If you remember I blogged about balance and I used masking tape for the balance beam. Check it out here: Workin' the Vestibular System

For more ideas, visit What to Expect with a blog post titled "Indoor Family Activities- Just Add Masking Tape." These games work on a perceptual skills, balance, peripheral vision, and eye-hand coordination. That sounds like fun Vision Therapy to me!

Try these games out! I promise it will bring you lots of fun and it's easy clean up! Enjoy!