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Mom Invents Singsong DVD To Help Son

Mom Invents Singsong DVD To Help Son's Lazy Eye: "Joshua Harmsen needs an eye patch to save the vision in one eye, but five years ago the 2-year-old wouldn't wear it for more than 30 seconds."

Great Story - The Humbling Honor of Raising a Child With Special Needs

Here is a great story that I found: http://seminoleheights.patch.com/articles/the-humbling-honor-of-raising-a-child-with-special-needs-6

Missing Out On 3-D Magic

People with impaired binocular vision from crossed or lazy eyes can't appreciate the new standard in 3-D technology

Four-year-old Isabelle Wurmser had high expectations for the next hour and a half of her life as she nestled into a large, upholstered seat at a multiplex theatre, her skinny legs dangling off the edge.
She'd strapped a large pair of theatre-issued 3-D glasses on top of her prescription pair and was all set to see Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs at a theatre in Jersey Shore, N.J. Her parents had shelled out an extra $3 so she could see the mammoths and sabre-toothed squirrel coming right at her.
But after the film finished, Isabelle felt ripped off. While the rest of the audience had marvelled over the 3-D effects, she hadn't seen a single one. Admittedly, the venture had been a crapshoot from the start: Isabelle is legally blind in one eye.
“She has very bad depth perception,” says her mother, MaryTara Wurmser. “She's always running into walls, tripping and falling.”
Ms. Wurmser was hesitant about taking Isabelle to the film, but the hype around RealD – the new standard in 3-D technology – gave her hope that her daughter might be able to see what the rest of the family did. In the end, all Isabelle saw was two dimensions.

In the recent weeks after the release of James Cameron's blockbuster Avatar in 3-D, others like Isabelle with impaired binocular vision have flooded online discussion boards, asking if those who have seen the film picked up on the added effects.
“I have a lazy eye ...I've noticed these RealD glasses are a lot different from 3D glasses of old...Which I come to think offers me some sense of hope in watching Avatar in 3D,” wrote one user at rottentomatoes.com.
“Can a person that suffers from amblyopia (also known as lazy eye) see a 3D movie?” inquired another on Yahoo! Answers.
When filmmakers began integrating RealD into their films a few years ago (the first with wide release was Chicken Little in 2005), developers boasted that it was a major improvement on the old standard. The most popular version at the time was anaglyph, in which two projectors are used to screen a film – one shows parts in red and the other in blue, and the viewer wears a pair of red-and-blue glasses to get the 3-D experience.
Anaglyph 3-D was criticized for causing headaches among viewers – even those with perfect vision. Keeping the two projectors perfectly aligned was virtually impossible, explains Rick Heineman, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based RealD.
The new technology uses one projector, and glasses with polarized lenses that cut blur and allow viewers to tilt their heads without losing image clarity.

But despite the improvements, Mr. Heineman says, the technology unfortunately can't reach a universal audience.
“There are still people [who] due to physiological differences aren't able to experience 3-D. ... That would be regardless of 3-D technology,” he says.
Those with impaired binocular vision (an estimated 3 per cent of the population) will likely see the film as 2-D from behind their fancy specs, says Duncan Anderson, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia.
The two most common conditions that interrupt binocular vision are strabismus (crossed eyes or wandering eye) and amblyopia (lazy eye). Both are brain-based rather than eye-based, and develop during childhood.
Isabelle suffers from the latter. As her brain was developing, it chose to receive more visual input from one eye than the other, creating one dominant eye and one lazy one. She wears a patch over her dominant eye for a few hours a day to force the other to get stronger, but it's still weak.
There was a glimmer of hope for Ms. Wurmser when, during the preview for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Isabelle asked her: “Was that meatball flying at my head?” But as soon as Ice Age began, everything she saw was limited to two dimensions.
Ms. Wurmser took Isabelle to see Pixar's Up in 3-D a few months later, but halfway through the film the four-year-old took the special glasses off in frustration.

“After the movie she said, ‘Why was the movie so blurry?' ” Ms. Wurmser says. “You have to pay extra (for 3-D) and you don't even get to keep the glasses! I have a hard time justifying it when she can't see it.”
Dr. Anderson says that if one eye is only 20 per cent weaker than the other, those with amblyopia might be able to experience 3-D effects, but otherwise the chances are very slim. “I would tell them to go to the regular version. It will be certainly as good as or maybe better than the [3-D] one.”

Taken from Monday's Globe & Mail
Dakshana Bascaramurty

"The Eye Patch Kids" DVD Up For Auction

I've put two DVD's up for auction on Prevent Blindness America because it's for a good cause. You can go to the link below to bid. Good luck.

http://www.cmarket.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=89334406

InfantSEE Offers Free Eye Exam For babies Up To Their First Birthday

Every once in awhile, the optometrist will spot a lazy eye or some other, more serious ailment. Those are the reasons the baby eye exams are given for free, through the national program called InfantSEE. Read More.. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/mar/09/infantsee-offers-free-eye-exam-babies-their-first-/?partner=yahoo_headlines

Amblyopia, or lazy eye, is treatable

Found this story today and thought it was a keeper.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.hs.expert26jan26,0,3193137.story?track=rss

NPR Story - Learning To See In Stereo.

I wanted to post this story that I read on NPR. It was very good. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99083752

"Glasses, eye patches look more friendly to kids" our CNN Interview

Last week I did a phone interview with Elizabeth Landau who is the Associate Producer for CNN and wanted to post the link to it on my blog.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/06/10/childrens.vision/index.html

Amblyopia

I wanted to post the definition of what Amblyopia is for parents when their child is first diagnosed.


CLICK HERE FOR AMBLYOPIA

and this is the one on Prevent Blindness America
Click Here

Prevent Blindness is a great website for parents

Video Games Tackle Lazy Eye

I just found this article and thought it was interesting. It's about how playing video games can help kids with Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ARTICLE

Tips For Getting An Eye Patch Off Your Child

Sometimes patching isn't the hardest thing for the child, instead it's getting the sticky patch off at the end of the day. So I wanted to post a few tips on getting an eye patch off without taking the skin off as well.

1- About and hour before you take off the patch rub a little vaseline around the outer rim of the patch to help it loosen up.

2- You can also put your child in the bathtub or shower with the patch still on and let them bathe and the steam will start to loosen it up and then take a warm washcloth and put it over the patch for a few minutes and that will help.

Or you can start with the vaseline and then do the washcloth also.

I have found from all of my years on support groups reading that this is the most successful way.

Prevent Blindness America's Support Group For Parents

I wanted to tell everyone about a great support group on Prevent Blindness America's website. You can go to the website Prevent Blindness America or just go directly to the forum By Clicking Here

It is a really great way to know that you are not alone in your struggle with patching a child.

Have A Patching Party In Your Child's Classroom

When your child has to wear an eye patch during school hours the best way to do that is to confront it head on. Go into the classroom yourself and talk to the children about why your child is patching. Let them ask you questions about why the patch is needed and how it will help to strengthen your child's eye so that they will understand.

Then when that part is over hand out a plain sticky patch to each child in the classroom and have them decorate it for your child. (Make sure they wash their hands first.) By having each child do this then they will feel like they are part of your child's recovery process. Then bring them home and each day have your child wear a different patch to school that one of the classmates decorated. You can also bring a box of little toys/candy and each day that your child comes in with a patch on let the child who decorated that patch have one from the box. It's a really cute way to get the whole class involved. Then if someday they end up having to wear an eye patch they will already know what to do. I hope this helps.

Optometrists Network (Great Website)

I wanted to post this link to a great website for parents looking for information about Amblyopia.

(CLICK HERE TO VIEW)

Dannielynn Birkhead's Strabismus

I just heard about Dannielynn Birkhead's diagnosis of Strabismus and I am very glad that they caught it at such an early age. I hope that Larry (her father) does everything that he needs to do to get her to patch. I'm sure that she has a very good eye doctor. This might really bring awareness for other parents who have children with vision problems to not feel so isolated. I hope she makes a complete recovery. Good luck Dannielynn!


To View The Article Just Click The Link Below

http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/01/57250/index.html#

Our News Channel 8 TV Story

About 2 months ago I was contacted to do an interview for our Channel 8 News in Tampa. It was really exciting to do this and to help promote awareness about children's vision problems that might go undetected. You can find the link to the interview on the right side of this page where it says News Channel 8 TV Interview. Enjoy.

Thanks Marinella!!

A Parents Instinct About Vision Problems With Their Children

I have read so may stories about how parents think that something is wrong with their child's vision and yet wait to find out. Either their pediatrician says to just play the waiting game or they doubt their parental instinct that something could be wrong. Well even though I am not a doctor, my advice to you would be to find out. If you think something might be wrong then you might be right. That doesn't mean that it isn't fixable, because usually it can be. You have to find out though. Don't let anyone make you self doubt your parental instincts. I believe that as a mother to my two children that I tend to be the mother bear and that is what makes me know when something is wrong and want to fix it. Please don't doubt your feelings because remember that you know your child better than anyone else.

Our Story Of Amblyopia

I am a mother of a child who has Amblyopia (or commonly referred to as a Lazy Eye). Since he was diagnosed 5 years ago I have found so many useful websites with so much information that I wanted to start my own blog just to help parents when their child is first diagnosed with Amblyopia or any other vision disorder.

You have to find a doctor that you like and feel comfortable with. Preferably a Pediatric Ophthalmologist or Pediatric Optometrist that you feel is going to do everything possible for your child. If you find a doctor that you think doesn't really care...get another one. If the doctor doesn't think he/she can help your child, chances are they won't.

Don't be afraid to get another opinion. Especially if they are suggesting surgery. You want to make sure that everything is being done for your child that needs to be. We went to four different Pediatric Ophthalmologists to find one that we liked the best and that worked well with our son. It makes all the difference in the world! Don't be afraid to ask questions and not be rushed through your appointment. If you feel rushed then that's not a good sign. They should take the time to talk and explain everything to you so that you and your child know what to do to make the recovery successful.