Purpose: To help develop awareness of ocular positioning and movement without recourse to seeing and to pattern this awareness with proprioceptive, kinesthetic, and auditory information.
Materials: A clicker (cricket), balance board
Procedure:
1. Patient is to stand erect with good posture with eyes closed. Do not use balance board at first.
2. Home assistant is to snap fingers or mechanical clicker, while moving them in a circle close in front of patient. With eyes closed, patient is to follow the sound with his eyes.
3. Also, have patient hold his hand out in front of himself and move hand in circles. He is to follow the movement of his hand with his eyes closed.
4. A third method is to have patient move eyes in circular motion without use of hand or sound. He is to imagine he is following the path of an acrobatic fly.
5. Use all planes for pursuits, not just the frontal plane.
6. When progress in this skill warrants it, repeat it on the balance board.
Aspects to be emphasized:
1. The feeling of the eyes against the lids.
2. Patient occasionally opens his eyes to see if they are aimed correctly.
3. He is trying to make his eyes move smoothly and freely.
