September 9, 2021 - One decade... be present.

It’s been a decade since I got sick. I didn’t know then, that night, that my life was dramatically changed. I’ve done therapies, and they’ve...

February 1st 2017 Vision Therapy; how to progress...

I saw my Developmental Optometrist, Dr. Margolis, recently for what he calls Progress Reports.  He asked a lot of questions, and got a good sense of what was going on with me.  He is, I should add, a terrific doctor.  I wanted to share a few things that I got out of my consult.  Sometimes I think of my progress like a toddler learning to walk.  Stumbling sometimes, holding on when needed, but every little step matters.

Basic positive gains - Dr. M. said he thought I handled the actual exam better than in the past, which he thought was a positive, as do I.  I still needed breaks, but that's OK.  He also said my midline and body mapping were better. 

Motivation - I told him that home therapy can feel tedious, even though I completely understand how important it is to actually do.  We talked about ideas to help me feel motivated about my home therapy - make it feel more meaningful.  How to integrate it into my day, and said he'd talk with Ann (my VT) about this. 

Positions - Dr. M. and I talked about doing home therapy lying down - something Joyce (My OT who does Feldenkrais) has also talked about.  Lying down takes away the compensatory habits of sitting and standing.  I don't just mean conscious habits, but rather ingrained, neural muscular habits.   Lying down also means I'm not dealing with the element of balance/multi-tasking required for sitting or standing.  I'm thinking more about this, will talk with Ann and Joyce, and see where I go with it. 

Less is more - Dr. M. briefly used a yellow filter lens, and noted that it made a difference for a spatial activity, commenting that because I'm sensitive, even a small amount of something can make a difference.  I also realized that since a small amount can make a difference, AND allows me to pay more attention to what's happening, I actually sometimes get more out of doing less.  Obviously building up to doing more of something is a goal, but I think that part comes naturally.

Goals - he asked me what my goals were, and I said it was hard to choose, but that I'd go with being more social, and doing more with my flute.  My initial thought was "how on earth can I choose?".  But music and social life continue to be really, really important to me.  There are other things that I want - i.e. reading - but technology doesn't help with socializing or music as it does with reading.  So thinking back on what I said, those goals definitely top the list. 

Pacing - Dr. Margolis reminded me of the basic rule, which is that if I need to recover for a few minutes, that's acceptable.  In fact, I can expect that any home therapy will require SOME recovery time.  He didn't specifically say this, but I think if I need no recovery time, I'm not challenging myself. However, needing an extensive - say half an hour or more - recovery time is not good.  That means I've pushed too much, and probably feel lousy.  The strange thing is that for me at least, there isn't sort of in between - it's either "wow, I really over did it, and now I have to chill for way longer than I want and this sucks," or after a few minutes, I can move on. 


He commented that "if you change nothing, nothing changes." Simple but true.  Once I learn something through VT (or Feldenkrais - FT - for that matter), I want to stick with it.  It's hard to on purpose make myself feel uncomfortable, given that I still feel disequilibrium every day.  Making myself feel that way, or feel dizzy in order to make progress sucks.  But I understand that I have to tolerate some symptoms.  That is, unfortunately, the nature of my rehab.  So I have to make changes, because having nothing change isn't acceptable.

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2 Responses to February 1st 2017 Vision Therapy; how to progress...

  1. Very important post. I was there during the progress report with Dr. Margolis. From my perspective, Tamar reports very accurately what went on during this session. I didn't set a timer. But I think Dr. Margolis spent almost an hour with her. Very impressive listeners, both Tamar and Margolis.

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