Purpose: To develop rapid and accurate shifts in focusing (accommodation) between near and far targets while processing information.
Material: Calendar or Letter Charts (available here), a book, magazine, or below grade-level reading material. The letters should be very easy to see.
Procedure:
1. Place the letter chart/calendar on a wall far enough across the room so that the letters are just readable.
2. The reading material should be propped up on a table at a comfortable reading level. The book (reading material) should be positioned so that it is visually just below the target affixed to the wall. In other words, you should be able to look from the book to the wall targets with minimal movement of the eyes.
3. Child is to hold two cards (post cards, index cards, playing cards), one in each hand.
4. The home instructor tells the child to cover his left eye and read the first three letters on the top line of the wall chart with his right eye. Then uncover the left eye, cover the right eye – now read the first line of the book with the left eye.
5. Repeat Step 4 for a few lines.
6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5, but reverse eyes so that the left eye reads a few letters from the wall chart, and the right eye reads a line from the reading material.
7. The child should pay attention to try to NOT search for the targets (near and far) but to try to locate the appropriate targets quickly without searching.
8. Equal time should be spent training right and left eyes so that both eyes get equal time working with targets near and far.
9. Once the print is cleared at near and far distances fairly easily, gradually and in a stepwise fashion, move the near target/book to within 6 inches from the eyes. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 with the near target getting closer with each attempt, up to the minimum of 6 inches from the eyes.
10. Vary the letter chart instructions. For example, have the patient read the first four or five letters. If necessary, start with only two letters. Or have him read the last two, three or four letters of each line starting with the final letter and reading to the left, or starting wit the correct internal letter, reading to the right.
Aspects to emphasize:
1. Ability to keep place at near and on the letter chart.
2. Ability to clear ht fear and near print immediately with change of fixation.
3. Ability to sequence verbally two, three, four or five letters.
4. Ability to see letter groupings of two, three, four or five letters.
