Septum Training
Purpose: To establish improved eye movement and teming
Apparatus: 6″ x 4″ cardboard septum, with a piece of red tape on one side and green on the other side (supplied)
Method:
1. Patient is to hold the septum vertically centered between the two eyes.
2. Home assistant is to move a target (a pencil or some interesting target) from one side to the other in various directions and patterns.
3. If one eye does not follow the target smoothly, emphasize target movement before that eye, moving to extreme limits.
4. At the same time, the patient should be aware of both the red and the green tapes, without looking directly at them.
5. If only one tape is seen, the home assistant should tap the tape on the offending side while continuing to move the target from one eye to the other.
6. Next, hold the pencil vertically against the edge of the septum while the patient looks at the whole pencil length. Is patient aware of two septums, and that the tapes are now further apart, while seeing only one pencil?
7. Home assistant should now hold another pencil (of a different color) on midline about two feet further away from the patient than the first pencil.
8. When patient looks at the further pencil, it should be seen as single while two pencils should be seen at the edge of the septum and the two pieces of tape should also be seen.
9. Now he looks from the far pencil to the near pencil. The far pencil should now be seen as two.
10. He is to look back and forth from one to the other in time with a beat while noticing two of the non-fixated pencil and the two pieces of colored tape.
Aspects to be Emphasized:
1. Ability to follow target smoothly with each eye.
2. Simultaneous awareness of the red and green tapes.
3. Ability to see the non-fixated pencil double.
