STRATEGIES FOR VISION DIFFERENCES

VISUAL OVER RESPONDERS

Behaviors that you will see when a child is over responsive includes:

• Covers eyes in bright light.
• Squints in bright or busy environments OR behavior deteriorates.
• Avoids eye contact.
• Difficulty navigating changes in light. 
• Distracted by visual stimulation.

Usually, the behavior lasts a while because the neuro response is intense and long lasting. When you use the strategies, it may take some time before you see a change.

Try these strategies:

1. Modifications to the environment (environmental awareness)

• When a child cannot filter out the clutter and everything seems relevant, he cannot focus and be functional in the environment. I point out in the home all the things that I am seeing that are problematic for a child who is an over-responder and who needs environmental support. This part of the equation is adult management. Unfortunately, this is not instinctual for some adults, and they need to be encouraged. Furthermore, we are a society of "must haves" and the number of "things" is just overwhelming houses.  I have even offered to go after hours to help a parent manage an environment (a bedroom, a toy room, a kitchen table if the problem is feeding). 

(1) Figure out what toys the child no longer plays with (the infant toys) and pick them up or give them to Goodwill. 

(2) Take some of the toys and put them in boxes up and out of sight, Do a toy rotation. This month you get this box and next month you get the other box. This way, the child always feels like the toys are new. 

(3) I suggest addressing the clutter from an organization standpoint: 

      (A) The table at mealtime needs to be free of toys, clothes, and other items that will be distracting. 

      (B) If there is something in the room the child should not have, then put it somewhere they cannot see it because taking it away just provokes a fight. 

• Daycare environments can be very excessive in their drive to create a simulating environment. Address this if there is a behavior issue with children in the classroom. 
• Offer sunglasses if bright light bothers the child. For some children, wearing a cap with a bill to keep the glare down will be enough. 
• Don't force eye contact. I don't need to look at you to communicate. I can understand everything you are saying without eye contact, and I can respond without looking up from my desk. Is it optimal, NO, but if it is functional for the child and supports her sensory needs, then be flexible and go with it. 
• Offer warnings when there will be a change in lighting. "I'm going to turn the lights on now. Get ready." This gives the child a chance to cover eyes for protection if needed and to slowly filter their own light. 
• If the flickering of light through a car window is bothersome, try putting a tinted filter on the windows in the back seat where the child is sitting. 

Those of you who know me…know that I don’t have a problem with honesty. Sometimes brutal honesty. I am working on this. However, I am a visual over-responder. Clutter makes me crazy and so much so that I will change the location of sessions (go outside) or offer free help to change the environment for me and the child. Organization is a discipline. 

VISUAL UNDER-RESONDERS AND SEEKERS

Behaviors that you will see when a child is under responsive includes:

• Drawn to electronics because they are a consistent buffet of visual input.
• Stare or look for long periods at visual stimulation.
• Unbothered by a disorganized work- space.
• Cannot find objects in competing environments (drawers, floor, shelf, refrigerator, puzzle board).
• Finger flicking
• Fascination with spinning objects.
• End Range Fixing: (diverting the eyes, usually to the side holding them there for a moment. It is no different than the sensory stimulation a child would get from toe walking. It is simply offering intense input to a muscle, here it happens to be the eyes.)
• Difficulty with transitions.
• Fight/Flight Behavior
• Tantrums

Try these strategies:

AT A RESTAURANT

Limit your time in the restaurant. This is a plan for all over-responders in a restaurant no matter the sensory system affected. They are difficult places for little ones. Remember there is a ton of visual input here as well as auditory input. Try to sit in a booth somewhere in a corner so that the child can be positioned in a way that they are seeing "less". 

**Don’t take the child in starving. You are asking for a meltdown. 

1. If possible, call ahead and make sure you can get a table.  

2.When you sit down to order, offer the child a novel activity or fidget he/she has never seen. Take all the extra condiments and menus off the table. 

(** The key to keeping it novel is to make sure it is picked up and not in sight or allowed to use until special times)

3. After ordering, take the child out for a walk. It is common for restaurants to take about 15 minutes to prepare your food and have it out.

4. Develop a system to ensure the people at the table can let you know if it arrives early.

5. Go back inside to eat. 

6. No procrastination at the table. Eat and go. If you decide you want dessert, tell the waitress just before you are finished with the meal so she can have it ready and bring it out.

IN A GROCERY STORE:

**Again, don’t take the child in hungry, tired, or not feeling well. You are asking for a meltdown. I am not a proponent of using technology to babysit a child. Please do not mis-understand me. However, a grocery store can be very overwhelming for visual over-responders. Hell, I get over-stimulated in these environments.

We cannot change the environment in these places, and we have no idea what is around the next corner. Additionally, over arousal will likely occur due to the movement of people and buggies around the child. Give the child the iPad or phone to look at. It offers a focus point. It is probably a desired activity and over time try to start out without the device to see how long you can go without it. Maybe down 1 isle this month and 1-1/2 next month. Limit your time in the grocery store. Instead of shopping for 2 weeks, shop for one week (it takes less time).  Provide something that helps you get through without taking a hostage in the grocery store. 

AT DAYCARE:

CREATE A "SENSORY BREAK" AREA:

Humans between the ages of birth to about age 50 (LOL - my observation) may still be learning to regulate their emotions and calm themselves.  Offer a space for this to happen. **Do not call it "time out", that implies "badness". Call it a sensory break where they can go and be alone for a while to calm down. Make sure you can see the child, offer a soft pillow or blanket while they are there and perhaps a favorite toy. 

RIDING IN A CAR:

The visual stimulation of light flickering, things moving past the window at variable speeds may become over-whelming to the point of carsickness, this happens when the brain receives conflicting information from the inner ears, eyes, and nerves in the joints and muscles. 

BE OPEN TO ADAPTATION:  Something that is changed to be more suitable for an experience; often considers the individual needs, temperaments, and preferences of each child. In this case, it would be considering the environmental causes of sensory overload and modifying things to be more suitable for the child. 

1. Organize and de-clutter. 

• Not every toy needs to be in view all the time. Create storage bins and rotate toys to minimize visual distractions. This is something I even encourage in the home environment. 
• Use visual symbols, pictures, or words to identify where things go.
• Use visual reminders and schedules, but K-I-S-S it...Keep It Simple Sam!! Too much becomes over stimulating.
• Use boundary markers for things and self. (Example: If a child is expected to sit in specific spot on the floor, then put a carpet square in that specific location.)

2. Consider the color of the paint on the walls. 

• Bright colors will cause escalation in excitement while soft colors support a calmer sensory system. The best colors to support a calm and relaxed state include greens and blues because they remind us of nature. Other colors that can be fitting are light lavender and soft grey. 

3. Decoration on walls and floors. 

•  This is where I tend to see "too much". I understand that the environment needs to be stimulating, but there is a huge difference between having every inch of wall space covered and being stimulating. 

4.  Create an environment that "feels like home.

•  “The ideal, connected approach is not to simply fill classroom spaces. Rather it is to create an environment that is meaningful to the children,” write the authors of Rethinking the Classroom Landscape: Creating Environments That Connect Young Children, Families, and Communities (Duncan, S., Martin, J. & Kreth, R., 2016, p. 79). There are many ways you can add personal touches to your classroom:
• Soft furniture, such as a couch or large armchair
• Nontoxic plants
• Natural or soft lighting, through the use of windows or lamps
• Throw pillows, cushions, blankets
• Other decorative touches, such as area rugs or repurposed furniture
• Family photos of the children and staff
• Inexpensive frames to hang children’s artwork on the walls
• Neutral paint colors

5. Lighting is another issue that can be dis-regulating.  The BEST lighting is Natural Light. Next, would-be LED lighting and worst would be fluorescent lighting.

Symptoms of light sensitivity can include:

• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Sleepiness
• Eyestrain
• Fatigue
• Discomfort

Here are some suggestions to consider:

• Reduce overhead lighting whenever possible and use tabletop or desk lamps with full-spectrum light bulbs.
• Keep computer screens away from windows where glare can become a problem.
• If your flooring is tile or a reflective hard surface, consider an area rug to reduce the effects of light reflection and glare.
• Explore inverting the colors on your computer display or adjusting for brightness.
• Color filters like Irlen products can be used over electronic screens and on paper to filter light.
• Fluorescent light filters for classrooms act like drapes or shades that swag under fluorescent light coverings to soften the effects of fluorescent light bulbs.