Review of 45 Lazy Eye Exercises Book for Amblyopia
Written: Oct 05 '09 (Updated Oct 05 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great tips, easy to read, helpful ideas, good for parents!
Cons: I wish I'd had this when we were starting out of the patching gates.
The Bottom Line: A must have for parents of kids with Amblyopia
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| marytara's Full Review: Tammy Taylor - 45 Lazy Eye Exercises: Eye Patch Ex... |
My daughter has Amblyopia, which is the official term for what is commonly called Lazy Eye. The term Lazy Eye, however, is often misused to describe a lot of other eye conditions such as Ptosis (droopy eyelid) or Strabismus (misaligned eyes, or an eye turn). My daughter's eyes actually look physically "normal" - no turns, wandering, or floating -- as is the case with most kids who have Amblyopia which is why it is quite common for the condition to go undetected until it is too late. Amblyopia, with early detection, can often be corrected through: Corrective lenses (glasses or contacts), Occlusion (Patching), Atropine Drops, Vision Therapy and/or a combination of all of the above aformentioned activities. In my daughter's case, we do patching (occlusion) in conjuction with corrective lenses.
Tammie Taylor, the author of 45 Lazy Eye Exercises: Eye Patch Exercises To Improve Vision for Those Who Suffer From Amblyopia, is also a mother of a child with Amblyopia. She wrote the book to help other parents by sharing her tips and ideas for activities (exercises) that are visually challenging and helpful for kids like ours. The book is available in paperback for $15.95 and sold on Amazon. If you are knew to an Amblyopia diagnosis, put the book on your "must have" list.
This 70 page book is written in everyday language - easy to read and follow. I was able to read the book in a single sitting. As I read it I was filled with a lot of "a-ha" moments as I came across a new idea and nods of my head as many of the activities seemed common sense to me. As our pediatric ophthalmologist explained it, my daughter should be doing activities that are visually active, not passive - while she is patching. So, things like playing on a video game or doing a craft are good because they require "active looking", lots of focusing and are also good because they work on hand/eye coordination. This book has games you can play and suggestions for good toys/games to play. Even though as the title says - the book has 45 exercises, really the sky is the limit as many of the exercises can be modified or adapted. I got so many ideas from this book!
45 Lazy Eye Exercises is broken out by numbered "exercises" and most are geared for kids who are preschool/early elementary age. Some activities do require reading but many activities can be adapted for children who are pre-readers (like my daughter, who struggles with reading due to her visual deficit). There are also charts that you can copy from the back of the book to track exercises and log time.
In addition to the 45 exercises/activities for your child you'll find some basic information about Amblyopia and parent tips on how to maximize those eye appointment visits.
I recommend Tammie Taylor's book to parents of kids with amblyopia, whether you are newly diagnosed or (like me) feeling like you are doing the same things over and over and looking for some fresh ideas to keep patch time moving forward. If my daughter is having fun those patch hours fly by!
I also would suggest this book for teachers with kids in their class who are patching. Last year my daughter's pre-k teacher actually asked me for a list of activities she could do to help my daughter while patching in the class. If I'd known about this book at the time, I would have suggested she read it and give her a copy.
Related Reviews:
Amblyopia - Your Child Could Be Going Blind without you knowing it
The Patch
Eye Patch Kids DVD
In the effort of full disclosure, I will share that I did receive a review copy (e-book) from the author in order to share my honest review here and at amblyopiakids.com
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
marytara
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