Reading Problems Resolved

Transcription

1 Lions Crane Reading Program Reading Problems Resolved By Allen and Virginia Crane Helping Today s Children Read Proficiently For A Better Tomorrow

2 . Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation Reading Problems Resolved By Allen and Virginia Crane Helping Today s Children Read Proficiently For A Better Tomorrow WE SERVE

3 LIONS CRANE READING PROGRAM FOUNDATION Reading Problems Resolved Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation PO Box 2846 Las Cruces, NM Phone ISBN st Printing September nd Printing December rd Printing January 2006 NOTE: The origin of the picture of the lions on the front cover is unknown. If it can be determined that there has been some copyright infringement by the use of this picture, please contact the Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation.

4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND 1 Factors That Can Adversely Impact Reading Proficiency 1 Vision Problems 1 Allergies 2 Environmental 3 Overview of LCRP 3 CHAPTER 2 VISION 5 Identifying Vision Problems 5 Lions Photo Eye Screening 6 School Optometrists 8 Lions Functional Vision Checklist 9 The Visagraph 11 Remediation 12 Visagraph Results 12 Visagraph Procedures 13 Improving Visagraph Results 13 CHAPTER 3 ALLERGIES 17 Allergy Symptoms Seen in Schools 17 Identifying Allergy Problems 18 Effects of Allergies 19 Addressing Allergies 20 Elimination & Rotation Diets 21 Allergy Testing 22 Air Filters 23 CHAPTER 4 VISION DEVELOPMENT 25 Convergence 26 Accommodation (Focusing) 28 Eye Movement 29 Desk Height 30 Modifying Vision Habits 30 Lions Copy Forms 31 Lions Templates 32 Teaching Distance 35 i ii Lions Spelling Words List 38 Distance Copying 38 Lions Rhythm Tape 38 Quick List Identification 39 Helping Students Succeed 39 Desk Height 39 Gross Motor Skills Training 39 Computer Phonics Programs 40 Computer Technology and Reading 40 Computer Utilization 42 Computer Software 42 Reading Fluency 43 Writing 45 The Teacher s Role 46 Service Club Sponsorship & Support 47 Program Costs 51 Summary 51 CHAPTER 6 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS 53 Vision 53 Auditory Processing & Allergies 53 Body Movement 56 Lions Templates 56 Throwback 56 Impress Reading 57 Orton-Gillingham Computer Programs 57 Fluency 58 School Orientation Program 58 CHAPTER 7 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING 61 Refractive Correction 62 Symptom Based Prescribing 63 Prescription of Added Lenses 64 Added Lenses 64 Prism 65 Symptoms Based Prescription Guidelines 66 Conclusion 67 CHAPTER 5 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 37 Identifying Students Who Need Immediate Help 37 Lions Functional Checklist 37 Lions Copy Forms 38 CHAPTER 8 FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS 69 Receptive IQ 69 Neurological Feedback 70 Prescription Glasses 70 Gross Motor Trampoline 70 School Lunches 70

5 Acoustic Enhancing 69 REFERENCES R-1 GLOSSARY G-1 INDEX APPENDIX I LCRP Recommended Programs I-1 APPENDIX II LCRP Development APPENDIX III Resources APPENDIX IV Forms II-1 III-1 IV-1 APPENDIX V Constructing A Brock String V-1

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7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements T here are so many we owe so much. Dr. Bruce Wick for writing the section on how to prescribe glasses. Dr. Doris Rapp s help with allergies. Bill Hubert s assistance with the gross motor program. Stan Taylor loaned us a Visagraph to do research. Bryson McCool for editing and publishing the book. The LCRP team gave suggestions, helped with research, edited, and helped with any problem that came up. The LCRP team consisted of Jim Jones, Bill Davis, Dr. George Mulholland, John and Marilyn Miller, Dr. Eldon and Billye Steelman, Dr. Anna Perez, Phil and Anna Marvel, Brenda Dunn, Debra Young, and Bob and Kitty Callender. Others who helped were: Jamie Jones, Tiffany Gomez, Amelia Pilcher, Angie Sullivan, Cherri Love, Rexann Jones, Connie Kallman, Joan Dickens, Dr. Rhonda Seidenwurm, Mike Montoya, Joyce Barela, Sharon Miller, Iris Wilson, Jose Carrillo, George Peru, Dr. Candelario Jauregui, Alan Ramirez, Scott Pearson, Jenny Crane, Ellen Virden, Lynn Burks, and Dr. Doug Householder. Others who made significant contributions were: Ray Pavia; Dr. Pam Padilla; Arlene Sonday; Dr. Rhonda Van Dran OD; Dr. John A. Thomas, OD; Dr. Mel Morgan; Dr. Roger Trudell, OD; Dr. Merissa Kruger, OD; Dr. Richard Canestrini, OD; Dr. Roger Dowis, OD; Dr. Renee Jacobs, OD; Dr. Mike English, OD; Michelle Boudreau; Dr. Michael Swickard; and Janet Jones.

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9 INTRODUCTION Introduction While the Cranes were working as elementary school counselors in Farmington, NM, first grade teacher Mrs. Winters would meet Allen Crane at the door every day demanding to know why Sheila could not learn to read. Allen kept telling her the child had failed the Bender Gestalt Perception test. Mrs. Winters would ask, What do we do about it? I don t know, was his reply. While reading everything he could get his hands on concerning the subject, Allen Crane learned that Dr. Howard Walton, an optometrist in Culver City, California, could correct vision perception problems. After flying to Culver City and talking with Dr. Walton one weekend, Allen Crane had an answer for Mrs. Winters the next Monday. Dr. Walton had told him about the importance of proper desk height and the perception and gross motor program developed by the Winter Haven Lions Club Foundation in Winter Haven, FL. Sheila s problems were corrected in six weeks, and she did learn to read. For 25 years, the Cranes continued to seek ways to help students become more efficient readers. In 1997 Allen Crane and his wife, Virginia, wrote Buzzards To Bluebirds because they thought they could help at least 70% of students in any classroom learn to read more proficiently. Since 1997, Allen and Virginia have fine-tuned the system and they now believe up to 100 percent of children can be helped to read, write, and think more proficiently, usually in one semester. They have given their program to the Lions Clubs of New Mexico, in the hope it will live forever under the Lions motto We Serve. Lions Clubs in New Mexico have adopted the Lions Crane Reading Program (LCRP) and established the Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation (LCRPF), a 501c3 organization, to conduct the business affairs of the program. In 2004, New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson, issued an executive proclamation that designated September 5-11 as LIONS VISION AWARENESS WEEK in the state of New Mexico with emphasis on LCRP. In July 2005, the Cranes were nominated for an award at the Lions International Convention in Hong Kong for the Lions Crane Reading Program being chosen as one of the top three Lions service projects in the world. With over 45,000 Lions

10 Clubs in 193 countries throughout the world, that is quite an honor. The Cranes, together with the Lions Clubs of New Mexico, envision the Lions Crane Reading Program to be a signature project that Lions Clubs all over the world can adopt in an effort to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, global illiteracy.

11 BACKGROUND Chapter 1 Background According to a recent report published by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, students in the United States rank 16 th out of the 19 major industrialized nations in the world in reading proficiency (i.e., the ability to understand, apply, and analyze challenging subject matter in a timely manner). Furthermore, New Mexico students rank near the bottom of those in the United States in reading proficiency. Even Massachusetts, the highest-ranking state, has less than half of its fourth graders scoring as proficient readers. Children exhibiting reading and learning difficulties in school are often labeled as learning disabled (LD), dyslexic, attention-deficit disordered (ADD), attention-deficit hyperactive disordered (ADHD), emotionally disturbed, etc. In addition, many times teachers and parents feel that most of these students, for whatever reason, simply are not working up to their potential. Since all children naturally want to learn, there are several questions that come to mind: First, are there some basic reasons why a child may have reading and learning problems? Second, if there are factors that adversely impact learning and reading, do we know what they are and what needs to be done to eliminate them? Third, once the basic reading and learning impediments have been addressed and removed, are there methods and procedures by which reading proficiency can be further improved? Factors That Can Adversely Impact Reading Proficiency There are several factors that can degrade a person s ability to read proficiently. Past experience has revealed it is better to address these problems while the students are involved with academic activities, if at all possible. Ironically, most problems can be well on their way to being fixed in one semester. 1 Vision Problems Eye problems should be taken seriously. Astigmatism distorts letters and can make reading difficult. Astigmatism may even affect individual and group mortality rates. While teaching in 1

12 BACKGROUND Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the authors compared two graduating classes 250 miles apart. The first group contained 51 Anglo students; the second group consisted of 37 Native American students. Thirteen years after graduation, over 50 percent of group two were dead, none of natural causes. However, no members of group one had died. Could astigmatism and poor eye-teaming figure prominently in this picture? The rate of astigmatism in Native Americans and Hispanics is five times that of the Anglo population. 2 In addition to the cultural issues that plague disadvantaged Native American and Hispanic communities, this struggle to overcome undiagnosed vision problems can create enormous psychological barriers. Could the high Hispanic dropout rate be related to high amounts of astigmatism that went undiagnosed in school vision screenings? This alone could explain the high dropout rate for Hispanics and is a big factor in New Mexico s poor reading scores. A third of all adults never read a book for pleasure after completing their formal education, whether it is high school or getting their Ph.D. These people are called aliterates. They can read but rarely do. Why don t they read? Visagraph documentation shows that many persons eyes are not working together, thus causing them to expend undue effort and energy just looking from word to word. These adults progressed as far in school as they did by putting in longer hours than their classmates with good vision skills. Their vision problems could have been remedied in kindergarten in a few weeks. However, it is never too late. It has become apparent to educators and other professionals working with adults that many of them have not developed good eye-teaming skills and efficient eye movements. Making the eyes focus on a single set of words is a very tiring process, causing the individual to work harder to comprehend. All their energy goes into keeping their eyes lined up to send just one set of words to the brain. Comprehension is poor, and it is often necessary for information to be reread many times. In addition, over half of the college graduates surveyed by the authors report they sub-vocalize or say every word they read in their minds. Most of them also report having to reread technical information many times to comprehend it. This leads to very slow, inefficient reading, as documented by the Visagraph. These adults are not experiencing decoding problems, but rather are having eye-teaming problems. Most of these same adults report not liking to drive at night. Although they are unaware of it, could it be their eyealignment problem causes them to expend considerable energy to see a single set of headlights? In high-traffic situations, this can be especially tiring and possibly dangerous. Desk height is critical for good eye teaming and coordination. A child should never look at letters or numbers closer than the distance from his/her knuckles to his/her elbow (Harmon Distance). 3 Looking closer than the Harmon Distance often causes myopia (near-sightedness) and poor readers. Allergies Allergies can cause intermittent hearing or auditory processing difficulties and confusion. 7, 8 Students with allergies will often have good days and bad days. Reversing letters (b for d), 3, 4, 5, 6, 2

13 BACKGROUND leaving out obvious sounds in words, and difficulties recalling information (spelling, math) are examples of what a student may do on a bad day. Dr. Doris Rapp s book, Is This Your Child s World, 6 provides an extensive discussion of what effect allergies have on handwriting and behavior. Environmental TV, the best baby sitter ever invented, compounds vision problems and retards brain activity by slowing the learning process for many students. 4 While watching TV, the staring eyes do not have to aim, move, or change focus, which are the necessary vision skills for academic success. In addition, while watching TV, not only is the child in a dormant state with no movement for long periods of time, but the child s brain is hibernating, preventing the child from going through the normal developmental stages. By the time students graduate from high school, many have watched on the average of 15,000 hours of television, as compared to having been in school for only 12,000 hours. Overview of the Lions Crane Reading Program The Lions Crane Reading Program (LCRP) is an integrated program that combines both highly successful programs and the latest computer technology to improve reading and writing proficiency. LCRP addresses the alarming trend that so many students in the United States, and especially in New Mexico, cannot read proficiently. LCRP starts where the child or adult is with respect to current reading skills and proceeds from there. While labeling is not necessary, LCRP has proven to work equally well with dyslexics, learning disabled, and other students with learning and reading problems as well as gifted students. LCRP is 95% to 98% successful at any grade level when fully implemented. If an individual child is having reading problems, the first step is to provide a detailed and comprehensive eye examination using LCRP standards. Once it has been determined that the individual s eyes are functioning optimally, either with or without glasses, the individual s reading proficiency is enhanced through the use of Lions Templates, gross motor training, computer assisted phonics, and computer reading fluency enhancement programs. The Program also addresses other more subtle factors contributing to poor reading proficiency, such as the height of the individual s school desk. The success of the LCRP is based on thirty (30) years of effort and documented research by Allen and Virginia Crane. LCRP incorporates numerous programs which are referred to (but not described) throughout this publication, namely: Lexia Learning Systems; My Reading Coach; Step Up To Writing; 6+1 Trait; Fluent Reading Trainer or Reading Plus; Bal-A-Vis-X; Boost-Up; and Brain Gym. Appendix I provides a brief description of each of these programs. 3

14 BACKGROUND In summary, there are basically six steps to the LCRP and schools can integrate each as time and money allow: 1. Eye examinations at the school. 2. Desk height as low as possible. 3. Lions Templates used to get the child s eyes ready to read and write. 4. Gross-motor training (body movement) to program the brain. 5. Computer programs to teach reading skills. 6. Programs to teach writing skills (we learn to talk first, read next, and then write). 4

15 VISION Chapter 2 Vision With 80 percent of learning processed through the eyes, the eyes must be functioning properly before putting a student under academic stress. This is especially true considering most children spend hours and hours watching television from an early age and necessary vision skills do not develop. Observers going into any classroom in any school will see several students reading too close to their work, using a finger as a guide, or tilting their head. These are all symptoms of vision stress. Each of these students should be referred to an optometrist or ophthalmologist, according to the 1991 Colorado Guidelines for Vision Screening, as approved in 1991 by the Colorado School Nurses Association, the Colorado Optometric Association, the Colorado Ophthalmology Association, and the Colorado State Department of Education. 4 Identifying Vision Problems School nurses try to do an excellent job of visual screening of large numbers of students. However, the tools they use are not refined enough to identify the vision problems that interfere with learning. 9,10 Even when the Snellen test is given by optometrists and pediatric ophthalmologists, a third of the students with severe problems are missed. 11 Unfortunately, when the school nurse or vision specialist says a child has 20/20 or 20/30 acuity, parents assume the child has all the vision skills needed for success in school. Using the Snellen Chart, 20/20 eyesight simply means that from a distance of 20 feet a child can see letters that are 3/8 of an inch high. 12 Most parents take their children to an optometrist or ophthalmologist only when the school nurse makes a referral. Regardless of what schools say or write in the notes to parents, parents believe schools are doing a complete eye exam. Students who are not referred to an eye doctor are inadvertently led to believe they have all the vision skills necessary for school success. 9 School eye screenings are not complete vision exams and they miss about 34 5

16 VISION percent of students in dire need of glasses and about 60 percent of students needing vision 11, 13, 14 skill development. Optometrists and many ophthalmologists recommend that every child have a yearly eye exam. Recent research shows that when vision screenings include retinoscopy given by an optometrist or ophthalmologist and an examination of eye movement and eye-teaming skills, about 85 percent of students fail some part of the screening. 12, 15, 16, 17, 18 If 85 percent fail some part of the screening, why do schools screen? Research shows that when the nurse refers students, 40 to 67 percent of the time it takes years to get an appointment even when the exam and glasses are free. 9, 11 Ironically, many school dropouts have never had an eye exam. With the No Child Left Behind initiative and legislators demanding that every student read proficiently by the third grade, schools cannot afford to waste time. Schools need an optometrist to do eye exams and fit glasses at school. Every child should have a yearly eye exam. 13 Note that Medicaid usually pays for a yearly eye exam and glasses for those who qualify. Lions Children s Photo Eye Screening Another of the signature projects of Lions Clubs throughout New Mexico is the Photo Eye Screening of young children. The Photo Eye Screening Camera (illustrated on Page 7) uses a special type of Polaroid instant film and the Medical Technology, Inc., patented technology to identify six childhood eye disorders (shown below), which can lead to amblyopia, the #1 cause of monocular blindness in children. Normal Hyperopia Farsightedness Normal Strabismus Eye Misalignment Anisometropia One eye sees a larger image 6

17 VISION Myopia Near Sightedness Astigmatism An irregular eye shape causing a distortion in vision. Media Opacity - Cataracts Photo Eye Screening Camera 7

18 VISION Since most children do not get their first vision test until after they enter elementary school, a vision screening at an early age can help head off the potentially devastating effects of these six eye disorders. More specifically, it is estimated that currently one in twenty youngsters will have one of these eye disorders but only one in four will be checked in time to do something about it. Once the picture of a child's eyes has been taken, the resulting photo is sent to the Ophthalmic Imaging Center at Vanderbilt University where it is evaluated. The evaluation results are then sent back to the respective Lions Club. If the results show there are problems, the parents of the child are notified that they should take him/her to an eye doctor for testing. Parents are told during the screening that if they hear nothing back, they are to assume the results of their child's eye screening showed there were no problems. The screening process costs the Lions Clubs $5-$6 per child which includes the price of the film, equipment, photo evaluation, and handling/postage. Initial price of the camera is approximately $6000. The Photo Eye Screening is ideal for children from a few months old to age four because in this screening, they are passive and are not required to respond to any questions. States are now beginning to require an eye exam before a child enters kindergarten. School Optometrists Schools hire a speech therapist for students with articulation problems. They hire occupational therapists for students with motor problems. Since 80% of learning is through the eyes, schools need to hire school optometrists for students whose acuity and eye teaming problems interfere with learning. When a student does not make significant gains in his/her reading rate each week while working on fluency, the school optometrist should be able to tell if there is a vision problem and recommend solutions. Approximately eighty-five percent of all students report symptoms such as double vision, headaches, and words seeming to wiggle. Severe symptoms needing immediate attention are reported by 20 to 30 percent of all students. About the same percentage of students wearing glasses as those without glasses report these symptoms. The school optometrist can advise and direct programs to eliminate vision symptoms and develop students visual efficiency. 13 In addition, when students fail to make significant gains, especially in reading, the school optometrist can help teachers modify students programs. Another advantage of having a school optometrist is schools can require LCRP standards be used for prescribing glasses to students. Prescribing glasses for acuity and performance helps children learn. Recent research shows that proper prescriptions allow for easier eye-teaming and focusing, resulting in better readers. 19 8

19 VISION In New Mexico, the NM Lions Eye Foundation loans their mobile eye screening unit to Lions Clubs which in turn can be used by school optometrists. Lion Clubs have also been loaning stands to schools for optometrists phoropters as they often prefer to use their own equipment. A stand costs less than $2000 and can be purchased from USAscopes (210 E. Park Ave., Pharr, TX PH: ). Medicaid can help by furnishing an optometrist to test students who qualify. Half the students in New Mexico qualify. NM Lions Eye Foundation Mobile Eye Screening Unit A Phoropter Stand When large quantities of glasses are purchased by a school district, opticians will often come to the school, let students select their frames, and come back to fit the glasses at a bargain price. Glasses purchased in quantity should cost between $20 and $40 per pair. These glasses should be kept at school so they are always available and do not get lost or broken. If parents want glasses for home use, they can purchase an extra set. Lions Functional Vision Checklist The Lions Functional Vision Checklist (LFVC) has proven extremely useful in helping students, parents, teachers, and vision specialists communicate about how a child s eyes are working together. Many students think seeing double, seeing words wiggle or float, and getting a headache every time they read is normal. After all, the school nurse has probably told the student he/she has 20/20 acuity. Among several thousand students who have completed the LFVC, percentages of students reporting problems remains nearly constant from school to school and from classroom to classroom. 20, 21, 22 A copy of the LFVC suitable for reproduction can be found in Appendix IV on page IV-4. 9

20 VISION If the Symptom Severity score is greater than 20, the student is at high risk for not being successful academically, not reading for pleasure, not passing state required achievement tests, dropping out of school, not going to college, and not being able to perform at true potential. Lion s Functional Vision Checklist Developed by Allen and Virginia Crane The Lion s Functional Vision Checklist should be filled out by the student with parent or teacher assistance as needed. The Lion s Functional Vision Checklist is designed to get schools, students, parents, and vision specialists talking the same language. Everyone sees differently. All vision is learned. Name Grade Date Teacher School Glasses yes no Please assign a value between 0 and 4 for each symptom. 0=never or non-existent, 1=seldom, 2=occasionally, 3=frequently, 4=always 1. I get a headache when I do close work I use a finger or marker to keep my place when I read I can comfortably read for 2 hours or more 1 hour 30 minutes 15 minutes 4. I see double, or cover or close an eye while I read Words move, wiggle, float or jump when I read I get dizzy or sick when I do near work I tilt my head when I read or when I am talking to people I get close to the page when I read or write I lose my place while reading I am slow in copying from the chalkboard I skip words or lines while reading I have trouble understanding what I read I read small words backwards (was-saw) I get tired or sleepy while reading My eyes get tired, itchy, watery or burn when I read Print in a book looks blurry I guess at words Read for pleasure? Always Frequently Occasionally Never 19. Spelling when writing is? Excellent Good Fair Poor The Symptom Severity score is arrived at by adding each column (1=seldom, 2=occasionally, 3=frequently, 4=always) and totaling them. #Symptoms Severity of Symptoms Vision development activities can help all students, as well as adults. 11, 13, 23, 24, 25 Any student who has severe symptoms noted on his/her LFVC such as headaches, seeing double, getting 10

21 VISION dizzy, etc., should be the first to have an eye exam. If glasses do not correct the problem, the only alternative is vision skill development. The eyes are interfering with each other and are not working as a team. A description of vision skill development activities that can be done in the classroom during lunch count and roll call or while waiting to go to another class can be found in Chapter 4. The school optometrist should direct the students visual development program. The Visagraph The Visagraph consists of four infrared sensors in a pair of goggles connected to a PC. It records eye movement as a student reads, documenting the student s visual efficiency. The Visagraph is extremely useful when a school is considering retention or labeling a child for special education. It works to motivate older students to use computer programs or to wear their glasses. The Visagraph is also quite helpful in evaluating the effectiveness of programs used to teach reading. When the authors wrote Buzzards to Bluebirds, they stated they could help improve the reading skills of 70 percent of the students in any classroom with in-school training methods. Using the Visagraph to diagnose visual efficiency problems, they have continued to improve their system. As a result, the Lions Crane Reading Program now helps between 95 and 98 percent of all students. A child using the Visagraph. Volunteers, aides, or teachers can operate the Visagraph. In three minutes, a teacher knows if a student is ready for kindergarten, middle school, high school or college. Nearly any age person can be tested using the Visagraph. The Visagraph norms were established based on the scores of more than 12,000 students. It is known how many fixations, regressions, and words per minute reflect appropriate 11

22 VISION performance at every grade level. As a child s visual system improves, his reading shows fewer fixations and fewer regressions. Reading speed (words per minute) goes up. A Visagraph is not a required part of a good reading program or special education program. Students can be placed in programs and make great gains in reading without a Visagraph. While the Visagraph does not do any remediation, it is extremely useful in documenting, motivating, and evaluating individual student performance or the effectiveness of a program. Remediation Pre-and post-visagraph testing after an intervention documents what is helping the student. Students should have fewer Fixations, Regressions and Anomalies (eyes moving in different directions). Their Words per Minute and Cross Correlation (eye-teaming) should be better. Important components of successful programs the Cranes have evaluated include good visual targets at an appropriate distance (18 to 28 inches), vision skill development, moving target, glasses, and gross motor activities. Computer programs based on the multi-sensory Orton-Gillingham philosophy with a few large letters or words on a colored background allow children to practice good eye-teaming skills while learning academics. Children usually sit 18 to 28 inches from the screen, thus relieving the demand to converge their eyes at 10 to 12 inches. The Orton-Gillingham based programs used by the Cranes teach students to read most words. When students can do this, their next step is learning to read fluently with comprehension. Fluency training using a moving slot on a computer forces students to read and comprehend at an ever increasing rate. The goal is to break the voicing habit so the students can read faster than they talk. Most students Visagraph results improve. Improvement sometimes occurs on achievement tests before it shows up on the Visagraph test. If an individual s reading does not improve, different approaches are continually tried until the the right button (eye exam, gross motor, My Reading Coach, etc.) is punched for that student to succeed. A student who does not reach 200 words per minute by the end of second grade should have an eye exam using standards described by Dr. Bruce Wick (Chapter 7). Visagraph Results An example of Visagraph results is presented on Page 15. Following are definitions of the various measurements. Fixations refer to the number of eye stops while the eyes are moving to the right to read a story. There are between 70 and 100 words per Visagraph story. Regressions refer to the number of eye stops when the eyes are moving to the left while reading a story. Usually, the older the child, the fewer the Regressions. When stories are selected in which students know all the words (as the authors recommend), the number of Regressions shows how many times the child tried to get his eyes to aim at the same word. 12

23 VISION For example, 48 regressions means the student shifted his/her eyes 48 times trying to aim at the same words. When there are a lot of Regressions, comprehension is almost always poor. Directional Attack refers to the percentage of the time the student s eyes went to the left instead of continuing across the line to the right. Because stories are selected in which the child knows all the words, Directional Attack may indicate the percentage of time spent trying to aim both eyes at the same word. Simulation displays a ball bouncing under the words at which the student looked as he read the story. If the ball goes back and stops at a name, date, or fact, that is probably a reread. It will be obvious if the student is shifting his/her eyes back and forth trying to get them aimed at the same word. These students also regress a lot when reading numbers or drawing lines through Xs (Page 14). In these activities, students are not rereading for facts. They are getting their eyes aimed at the same number or X. Cross Correlation refers to how well the eyes are working together. A 1.0 is perfect. Orton- Gillingham phonics based computer programs and computer based fluency training together often improve Cross Correlation to a score better than 0.96 after thirty 30-minute sessions. As revealed on the Visagraph reading profile, if every sentence begins with a long fixation, it often means one eye is aiming lower than the other. The return sweep is the eye movement from the end of one line to the beginning of the next line. During this movement, there is no target to keep the eyes lined up and the student has to readjust his eyes to start the new line. If one eye is aiming lower, it takes a while for the eyes to make the adjustment. Visagraph Procedures A reading selection should be found that is appropriate for the student s reading level. The student reads the first two lines of the story aloud. If the student misses two or more words, a story one grade level lower is tried. The story is scanned for words the student may find difficult and the student is asked to say these words. When a selection has been found in which the student knows all the words, proceed to Visagraph. Place the goggles on the child, adjusting for comfort and alignment. Have the student read the story silently. At the end of the story, read the questions to the student, allowing him/her to look at the screen. If the comprehension level is below 70 percent, start again with a story at an easier grade level. Improving Visagraph Results One-on-one and small-group instruction, unless done at a reading distance of 18 inches or farther, does not improve Visagraph scores very quickly. Good, large targets at a distance, such as those provided by Lexia Learning Systems, Fluent Reading Trainer or Reading Plus, and My Reading Coach allow the eyes to aim easily and improve Visagraph scores. 13

24 VISION The Impress Reading process (which has the child and adult both reading words on the screen aloud) and a computer fluency program with a moving slot at 80 words per minute also help improve Visagraph scores. The specific scores which usually improve most are Cross Correlation, Anomalies, Reading Efficiency, Fixations, Regressions, and Words per Minute. When an excellent Visagraph score occurs from a child who has not used the computer program, it is very likely that the family does not have a TV or the child spends little time watching TV. In addition, the child probably has had the benefit of playing chess and other board games, marbles, and/or jacks, which help train the eyes to work together as a team at reading distance. O X X X X X X X X X X X X------X X X X X X----X----X X X X X X X------X X X X X X X-----X X X X X X X---X X X X X X X----X X X X X-----X X-----X X X X X X X This target was developed by the authors and it can be used for children who do not know their numbers. Children are asked to draw a continuous line through the Xs. Show them how to do it and let them practice several times. If a whole class is to be tested, let the class practice together several times. 14

25 VISION Example of Visagraph testing profile of a 4 th grade student after 22 forty-five minute sessions of vision skill development, Lexia, PAVE, and Guided Reading. The first reading selection (top graph) is second grade level while the second reading selection (bottom graph) is third grade level. The student went from 97 words per minute to 276 Words per Minute. Anomalies dropped from 28 to 0. Cross Correlation went from.917 to.977. Grade Level Efficiency went from 1.4 to The Visagraph indicates problems when the profile shows: Significant differences between the right and left eyes for Fixations, Regressions, Average Span of Recognition, and Average Duration of Fixation; Directional Attack Difficulty is greater than 5%; Comprehension Questions Correct is less than 70%; Grade Level Efficiency is less than actual school grade level; Cross Correlation is less than 0.96; total Anomalies (Fix/Regr/Both) score is greater than 6. The graph shows problems when there are more than three blinks (dotted lines) or when the right eye and left eye merge several times. Identified problems may be remedied by one or more of the following: computer reading programs such as Lexia Learning Systems, Fluent Reading Trainer or Reading Plus, and My Reading Coach; vision skill development activities; and glasses. 15

26 VISION Example of Visagraph testing results where the student s eyes are performing efficiently. Example of Visagraph testing results where the student s eyes are performing inefficiently. 16

27 ALLERGIES Chapter 3 Allergies C onditions other than vision acuity and eye teaming can impede learning. A major factor is allergies. 6, 7 Students with the most severe learning problems often have both vision problems and allergies. Academically, spelling tests, rhythm activities, and classroom achievement can reveal students whose performance may be impacted by allergies. Allergies plug the Eustachian tubes diminishing balance, rhythm, auditory processing (phonics), and also make it difficult to recall previously learned information. Allergy Symptoms Seen in Schools Allergies can affect any area of the body, especially the brain. 41 Allergies should be suspected if the student: 1. Reverses letters and/or leaves out obvious sounds in words; 5 2. Cannot do balance and coordination exercises such as Jumping Jacks and Rocking Chair; 3. Has pronounced good days and bad days. Performance in spelling, writing, math facts, history, and completion of assignments is inconsistent; and/or 4. Has trouble getting along with siblings and classmates. Active allergies seem to block the firing across synapses so the child cannot consistently retrieve information stored in the brain. Often, educators label students with allergies as attention-deficit hyperactive disordered, dyslexic, or learning disabled. 17

28 ALLERGIES Identifying Allergy Problems In The Classroom Lions Rhythm Tape Play the five minute Lions Rhythm Tape and note those students who have difficulty with the exercises. Do not chalk difficulties up as simply misbehavior. Children want to do well, but often cover up problems by clowning. Lions Spelling Words Test your class all at one time using the word list from the Lions Spelling Words at their actual grade level (e.g. 3 rd grade list for 3 rd graders). Sixth grade words can be used for high school students. Children do not practice the words ahead of time. Pronounce the twenty words in the manner of a spelling test using the words in sentences. A full-page copy of the Lions Spelling Words for reproducing can be found in Appendix IV. Lions Spelling Words Examine the students spelling. Students who leave out three or more obvious sounds while spelling the list (e.g. afer for after, uner for under, chid for child, dap for damp) probably have problems due to allergies or a hearing loss. 18

29 ALLERGIES Look for letter reversals (e.g., b for d, use of capital B or D, b for p, y for h). Reversals are a common sign of allergies. Students who spell everything phonetically but incorrectly tend to have a poor visual memory. Effects of Allergies The most extreme example of the effects of allergies on a child can be found in Fighting For Tony. 26 Tony s constant screaming was very stressful for his parents, one of whom was a nurse. Tony s team of experts examining his case consisted of a child development specialist, a speech and language therapist, a physical therapist, and a pediatrician. These experts diagnosed him for three years in a row as autistic and severely mentally retarded and reported it was doubtful Tony would ever talk. They asked the parents to consider placing Tony in an institution because someone would always have to take care of him. Tony turned out to have an IQ of 150. An undetected, severe allergy to milk had so affected his brain that he had been totally unable to progress through normal early-childhood development. Tony s problems were solved when his mother took him off all dairy products. His little sister then helped him to experience the developmental stages with her. Dr. Doris Rapp s book, Is This Your Child s World?, shows thirty pages of handwriting and drawing examples (see below). After Dr. Rapp gives the child an allergen, the pulse rate goes up, behavior and handwriting deteriorate, and reversals begin if the child is allergic to the substance. She gives the child an antidote, and the child returns to normal after treatment. Example of the reaction to a mold allergen. In her book Our Toxic World, Dr. Rapp says, Each person responds to allergies or chemical sensitivities in his/her own way though each follows an individualized, characteristic pattern. You can sometimes find answers that everyone else has missed for years by paying attention 19

30 ALLERGIES to when and why, you or someone you love, suddenly changes. 27 Dr. Rapp presents fast, inexpensive ways to identify and treat the source of a child s allergies or chemical sensitivities. Effects from a true food allergy typically show up in 15 minutes to an hour after the food is consumed. Some food reactions such as bed wetting, ear infections, and abdominal complaints may occur six to eighteen hours later. Example of the reaction to a food coloring allergen. Addressing Allergies Antihistamines frequently help solve allergy problems, making it possible for a child with allergies to do well in school. 5, 28 Although schools cannot pass out antihistamines, they can still help the child by providing good gross-motor programs, phonics-based computer programs, air filters in the classroom, and by helping parents understand the impact allergies can have on the learning process. Gross-motor activities (i.e., body movement) help to reprogram and organize the brain and may change the chemistry of the brain. Computer phonics programs allow students to hear phonics for the first time. Earphones help eliminate distracting outside noise, and volume control allows students to adjust the volume to fit their individual needs. Air filters improve the health of students. Schools and parents need to form a partnership in helping children who may have allergies. When and where does the child start having problems? Outside? Inside? Which room? After eating? After eating what? After smelling perfume? After sitting on carpet? Something touched? Something breathed? Good day? Bad day? Schools and parents can work together to solve the mystery. Parents of a child with allergies should have the child write in a journal each day and date the entry. The journal makes it obvious when allergies are interfering with learning -- for 20

31 ALLERGIES example, when the child has very poor handwriting, reverses letters and/or leaves out obvious sounds. Seeing this, the parent can take steps to remedy the problem before schoolwork suffers. Without this record, the child who has seemingly improved can slip back into an allergic reaction without anyone becoming aware of it. Often the first hint the parent has of a recurrence of problems is a poor report card and a lost semester. A good reference library for parents will help provide insights into allergy causes and treatments and should include: Dr. Rapp s books, Is This Your Child s World? and Our Toxic World; Bell s The ADD and ADHD Diet; Oski s Don t Drink Your Milk; Crook s Solving The Puzzle Of Your Hard To Raise Child; and the Crane s Reading Problems Resolved. Elimination and Rotation Diets Dr. Doris Rapp and Dr. William G. Crook have devised excellent elimination diets. Parents cut out a number of foods for a couple of weeks and then add them back one at a time. Dr. Crook reports that, when his patients diagnosed with ADHD use the elimination diet before the first appointment, three-fourths of families can determine what is causing a child s hyperactivity. Foods and substances identified by Dr. Crook that may need to be eliminated are: milk, eggs, sugar, tea, peas, wheat, coffee, beans, peanuts, Kool-aid, corn, chocolate, soft drinks, processed foods, and food coloring and dyes. According to Dr. Rapp, It really is possible for you (the parent), alone, to turn your (child s) health around and find answers everyone else has missed, but always discuss everything with your doctor. The best and easiest form of treatment is usually avoidance. The Multiple Food Elimination Diet enables you to easily detect multiple food problems. It is in two parts. During Part I you eliminate several major allergenic foods for about one week. During Part II you add each of these foods back into your diet providing it is normally or routinely eaten. If you suspect a single food causes your own or your child s problem, the Single Food Elimination Diet can be tried. Merely stop eating that one frequently eaten or favorite single food in every form, for five to seven days. Don t be alarmed if your symptoms (such as headaches, fatigue, or muscle aches) become worse during the first few days on the diet. This is common; and these withdrawal symptoms mean that your body craves a food to which you are sensitive. When you do not eat it, you feel ill. After five to seven days (or sooner, if the symptoms have disappeared before that) eat one single food that has been avoided so you can see exactly what that food does to you. If a true food sensitivity exists, your symptoms should recur within 15 minutes to an 21

32 ALLERGIES hour after eating a normal-sized portion of a single food that has not been ingested in any form for about five days. Do this on an empty stomach. This means nothing has been eaten for the previous four or more hours. There is one other helpful diet called The Rotation Diet. This is also diagnostic but it is mainly used as a treatment diet for those who have multiple food allergies and cannot afford or simply do not want food allergy extract treatment. The diet enables you to eat different groups of foods (fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, etc.) every day for four days and then you repeat this cycle over and over again. It enables you to spot a food sensitivity very quickly so you know when you must stop eating a certain food. This is the diagnostic part. In time, many mild and moderate food reactions will stop because food allergies can unquestionably diminish or disappear if certain problem foods are not ingested more often than every four days. This is the treatment part. Initially, for some foods, it might not be possible to eat them more often than every eight or 12 days, sometimes even longer. 27 Often a child is allergic to the foods they crave most. Make a list of the child s five favorite foods. If they all contain milk or if they all contain wheat, you have a clue. Eliminate all five foods for one week and then add them back one at a time. Watch for a reaction. The child may have withdrawal symptoms and actually be worse the first two or three days without those foods before showing improvement. With this method it may take as little as one week to identify the child s allergy. 27 With a doctor s referral, parents can get personal advice on how best to do the rotation diet for their child by calling Sally Rockwell, PhD, phone Website: Dr. Rapp says it is well worth doing. Allergy Testing Many things besides food can cause allergies, including molds, dust, pets, and odors such as perfume. An interesting article by Dr. P. Brock Williams about ImmunoCap Laboratory appeared in the September 2001 issue of Readers Digest. From one blood draw, ImmunoCap can tell you what your child is allergic to and to what degree. To evaluate the accuracy of these labs, Dr. Williams sent known blood samples to six diagnostic blood labs. ImmunoCap came back right each time. The authors advise if a child has severe learning problems, depression, or autism (or other labeled conditions), the child should undergo an allergy test by ImmunoCap. 22

33 ALLERGIES Air Filters The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that air inside a house or school is often two to five times as polluted as the air outside. In addition, portable buildings (which many schools use) are purported to have significantly more pollutants than regular buildings. Studies show that indoor air pollution can cause or contribute to a variety of health problems including asthma, allergies, nausea, influenza, and chronic respiratory diseases. Some of the educational problems these pollutants can cause include letter reversals, poor auditory processing, good days and bad days in spelling or math, and chronic absenteeism. Air filters in the classroom should raise academic performance and attendance while decreasing illness, behavior problems, and hyperactivity. The air filter might be placed in a room at home or at school (or both) in which the child spends a lot of time or experiences the most symptoms. Air filters often clean up the air in a classroom in thirty minutes. Studies have shown that over half of students have food allergies, air (breathing) allergies, or both. The authors have recently begun investigating air filters and found that Navy submarines use an air filtering system with three different types of filters: a pre-filter, an HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter, and a carbon filter. The pre-filter removes large particles before the air enters the primary filtering system. Pollen, mold, and some bacteria particles that are 0.3 microns in diameter or larger are captured during this stage. The carbon filter effectively reduces noxious chemicals, gases, and odors such as those from cooking and pets. Note that activated carbon is the material used in US Army gas masks. Three of the companies recommended by experts are Allerair, Atmosphere, and IQ Air. Allerair has a website, on which they describe their program for schools to earn air filters. 23

34 ALLERGIES 24

35 VISION DEVELOPMENT.Chapter 4 Vision Development E very student should have a complete eye exam using LCRP Standards before being expected to read and write. If the student requires glasses for performance, glasses will help the student s eyes work together as a team which will often prevent the need to do vision skill development -- especially if reading is taught at a distance first and then on a computer. Teaching reading on a computer places less stress on the student s vision system. Sitting at a distance of 18 to 28 inches from a monitor is much easier on the visual system than holding a book at 10 to 14 inches. Students cope with vision stress symptoms in various ways. Some, even when wearing glasses, may find that they always get headaches or can only read for a short time without resting their eyes. These students may become average or good students by rereading their assignments several times and studying hard, long hours to get good grades. Some students become distracted by other things going on in the classroom as they look away to rest their eyes. These children may end up in trouble and are often labeled. When a minimum of vision-development activities was carried out and desk height was adjusted, one school showed a tremendous improvement in behavior, with 90 percent fewer referrals to the principal s office and fair gains in reading ability. 29 Training to develop the vision skills necessary for academic success and to eliminate symptoms can usually be achieved easily and inexpensively. 2 When students receive this training, many more may pass achievement tests mandated at state and federal levels, stay in school, be symptom-free, and start reading for 20, 21 pleasure. Most students need to do vision-development activities for only four or five weeks. 22 These activities can be done while attendance is being taken or while waiting to go to the next class. The activities are designed for schools and will suffice for the majority of students. Behavioral optometrists have thousands of vision-development activities and can fine-tune the vision system to a much higher degree. For help in finding an optometrist in your area for students needing in depth remediation, contact the Optometric Extension Program (a non profit organization that trains behavioral optometrists) at

36 VISION DEVELOPMENT Convergence To read efficiently, a student must aim his/her eyes inward (converge them) to see the same letters with both eyes and must be able to hold this position for a prolonged period of time. A student must practice this skill frequently until success is achieved. To test for convergence, have the student look at a pencil eraser three feet from his/her nose on eye level. Say, How many erasers do you see? If the answer is two, move the eraser farther from the student s nose. If only one eraser is seen, move the eraser slowly toward the nose. When the child reports seeing double, or when one eye stops following the eraser, record the distance of the eraser from his/her nose. This distance is the student s near point of convergence. Repeat this activity four times in a session. The student should be able to follow the pencil eraser to within about three inches of his/her nose all four times without his/her eyes watering or needing to be rubbed. If the student reports seeing double at 15 inches and holds a book at 10 inches, he/she will always see double while reading unless he/she learns to shut off the vision in one eye. Such students are often labeled as having amblyopia or lazy eye. The teacher tests the student s near point of convergence. To help a student develop convergence, show the student how to hold a pencil at arm s length and bring it slowly toward his/her nose while looking at the eraser. When the eraser appears to double, he/she should push the pencil back out until only one eraser is seen. Continue for three minutes trying to keep the eraser single while bringing it closer and closer to the nose. When a single eraser can be easily seen three inches from the nose, the student should count slowly to 10 while keeping a single image. When students can do this, they should be able to read much longer with better comprehension and have fewer vision stress symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, or seeing double. The activity should be timed and progress charted. The Brock String is also used to train the eyes to converge and diverge accurately. The Brock String is a string about three feet long with two beads on it. A popsicle stick is tied on the 26

37 VISION DEVELOPMENT ends of the string to make it easy to hold properly and to keep the strings untangled when stored. The Brock String can be used one-on-one or as a group activity. This activity must be done with both eyes open. The student holds the end of a Brock String on the bridge of his/her nose with the teacher holding the other end. Students begin with their closest bead slightly past their near point of convergence, as found in the pencil eraser exercise previously discussed. The student looks from the near bead to the far bead several times. If any student cannot see two strings, that student should receive individual attention. The string is wiggled and the student covers and uncovers one eye and then the other eye several times quickly until two strings are observed. If, after several attempts, the student does not see two strings, the training should be stopped. Either the student is suppressing the vision in one eye or the eyes are already aimed too far inward. The school optometrist can help these students. Pairs of students can also use the Brock String. Each student holds a stick and operates the bead closest to him/her. The stick is held on the nose, right between the eyes. The student looks back and forth from one bead to the other. He/she should always see two continuous strings. Wherever he/she looks, a single image should be seen. On both sides of that point, the two strings should be seen. Each student moves the near bead progressively closer to his/her nose. When the student looks at a bead, he/she should see two strings crossing or meeting at that bead. The goal is to see the two strings cross at the near bead for a count of 10 when the near bead is three inches away and, at the same time, to see a double image of the far bead. The student should see two strings forming a long V with two close beads. Result of looking at the far bead. Result of looking at the near bead. A teacher or aide can help two to six students do the Brock String activity at the same time. Each student holds the end of a Brock String on the bridge of his/her nose. The teacher or aide holds the other end of each string. The teacher says, "Look at the close bead---far bead-- -close bead---far bead--"and so on. Watch as they converge and diverge their eyes (aim in and out.) The child is requested to look at the far bead and asked, What do you see? The desired answer is two strings meeting in a "V" at the far bead. They should see one far bead 27

38 VISION DEVELOPMENT and two closer beads. The strings should look continuous with no gaps. Each student moves his/her close bead toward his/her nose as convergence becomes easier. The activity should be timed and progress charted. Students using the Brock String in different configurations. The Brock String exercise tells you if the students are using both eyes and if they can converge their eyes at a point three inches away. If they cannot, they are at a high risk of developing headaches, seeing double, seeing words move, or only being able to read for 15 minutes or less at a time. They are also at risk of being labeled ADHD, emotionally disturbed, dyslexic, and/or learning disabled. The school optometrist can help these students through special programming. Directions to make a Brock String can be found in Appendix V. Accommodation (Focusing) When the eyes focus at a distance, the lenses inside the eyes become flat. When the eyes focus close up, the lenses assume an oval shape. Focusing can easily be tested using the Distance Copy Test. Have students copy spelling words or math problems from a chalkboard or overhead projector. Have them put their papers on the teacher s desk as they finish. The last students to finish probably have a focusing problem. Focusing can be easily trained while students are waiting in line to go to lunch or another class. The students are asked to first look at something close (like a letter on a pencil or a spot on their thumb) and then look at something across the room about 10 to 20 feet away (e.g., number 1 on a clock). This process should be repeated several times a day with each target being seen clearly. To work on academics and focusing at the same time, arrange the Dolch Words (or some other word list used by the school) in groups of three on a transparency and on a handout. The students are asked to read three words from the hard copy in their hands and then three words at a distance. The exercise is continued for 30 words. Using the students names works 28

39 VISION DEVELOPMENT well with kindergarten students as these are often the first words they learn to recognize. The activity should be timed and progress charted. Eye Movement Students with eye-movement problems tend to be very slow, choppy readers. They have to look at and process each word before going to the next. This cognitive demand creates a comprehension problem. The computer programs discussed in this book develop good eye movement for reading. When a student is using the recommended computer programs, the following activity should not be necessary. Students are tested individually. The teacher uses the training techniques described below with individual students and records the performance as good, fair or poor. The teacher demonstrates to the students how to make a Lazy Eight in the air with their pencil eraser at the speed of five seconds for each Lazy Eight and a pattern 16 inches wide. The students are asked to stand and practice. The teacher should ensure they do not make Lazy Eights too small or go too fast. The students work in pairs standing about three feet apart. They take turns making the Lazy Eight about 16 inches from a partner s nose while the partner follows the pencil eraser with his eyes. When a student can follow the target smoothly, have him answer questions (e.g., count, say the alphabet, practice spelling words, or 2+2, 9x7+5=) while he watches the moving target. The student learns to move his/her eyes and think at the same time, a necessary skill for comprehension and academic success. Students can prepare study cards with the information the teacher wishes them to ask each other. Another variation of the Lazy Eight activity is for each student to hold his/her own thumb out at arm s length and move it in a lazy eight pattern while watching a spot on the thumb. The thumb should be at arm s length and the pattern 12 to 16 inches wide. Moving his/her own thumb gives more sensory input so the student knows where to look. When a student can follow his/her thumb smoothly, the student is asked to answer questions as above. If the student has difficulty with this activity, have him/her cover his/her left eye with the left hand and watch the right thumb do figure eights. The eyes and thumbs are then switched. When this is easy, the exercise is tried with both eyes. When eye movement while answering questions is always smooth, the activity can be discontinued. The activity should be timed and progress charted. 29

40 VISION DEVELOPMENT Desk Height Desks and tables should be as low as possible, or about waist high--not chest high--in order for children s eyes to develop good eye-teaming skills of aiming, moving and focusing. The proper distance from the eye to the book or writing paper is the distance from knuckles to elbow. 3 This is called the Harmon distance. To measure proper desk height, have the student place his/her thumbs under his chin. Elbows should just clear the top of the desk. Waist high desks promote good eye skills. To test this theory, hold this book about five inches below your chin and parallel to the floor, then try to read for 20 minutes. Now slant the book and hold it 14 to 16 inches from your eyes. Which one can you read with ease? It is easy to see what we are doing to more than 50 percent of elementary and middle school students as well as to short high school students. The proper distance from the eye to the book or writing paper is the distance from knuckles to elbow. What a child sees when the desk is too high. Proper desk height throughout a whole school could conceivably raise a school s achievement scores significantly by reducing visual stress and promoting good eye health and efficient vision. 30 The Kansas Optometric Association, in testing 10,000 three-year-olds in their See To Learn program, found only 5 percent to be myopic (i.e., near-sighted). By the second grade, 17 percent of this group were myopic. Improper desk height is thought to be a factor. Thus, proper desk height and reading instruction at a distance could prevent up to 12 percent of children from becoming myopic. Modifying Vision Habits Young children watch an enormous amount of television. While watching television six to ten feet away, children do not have to move, change focus, or converge their eyes. When they 30

41 VISION DEVELOPMENT begin school, they have to converge their eyes for prolonged periods of time. Since children haven t needed to converge their eyes to look at small details such as letters or numbers before, they may be lacking in these skills. Lions Copy Forms can be used to identify elementary school students needing help. Lions Templates are one of the best tools for getting children s eyes ready to read. In the meantime, reading can be taught at TV viewing distance by using flip charts, chalkboard, and overhead projectors. Research shows that reading and maturity alone will usually make slow improvements in eye skills over time. The process can be speeded up with the use of Lions Templates and performing other hand-eye coordination actions such as Bal-A-Vis-X activities and knitting. Lions Copy Forms Lions Copy Forms identify visual perception problems, which can interfere with academic success in school, in third grade and younger children. If problems are identified, these children may need template training. The Lions Copy Forms are shown in Appendix IV (pages IV-5 through IV-9) and may be reproduced. A child of three should be able to perceive and reproduce a circle accurately. A child of four should be able to perceive and reproduce a square. A child of seven should reproduce a diamond without difficulty. The reason for developing this skill is simple: Letters and numbers are made of various combinations of shapes in a variety of positions. It takes five minutes to test a whole class for visual perception problems and about 18 fifteenminute training sessions to remedy these problems using the template program developed by the Lions Club in Winter Haven, Florida, which conducted a 25-year research program with five PhDs developing and documenting this program. 31 Lions Copy Forms 31

42 VISION DEVELOPMENT The forms illustrated on Page 31 are quickly shown to the students, explaining that they are going to copy these four pictures. The students are asked to fold a piece of 8 ½ inches by 11 inches white paper first in half and then in half again. Next they are to unfold the paper and write their names and date at the top of the paper. Each one of the pictures is to be drawn in one of the four sections of the folded paper. The teacher then holds up each picture, one at a time, while the children copy each shape into one of the sections. The teacher collects the papers. The papers are reviewed to identify which students had problems and thus need help. Problems that may appear are distortion of shape, rotation, and/or integration. Lions Templates Lions Templates can be used with all students in pre-school to third grade and selectively after that. Students who have problems with the Lions Copy Forms, Lions Spelling Words, penmanship, and/or Lions Rhythm Tape should receive Lions Template training. The Lions Template activity is an excellent exercise to help students overcome adverse visual habits developed while watching television. The Templates help students learn to use their eyes at reading distance and develop eye-hand coordination and can be a major factor in improving a student s handwriting. Templates are especially effective because students do not have to worry about letters and numbers. Desk height must be correct, and children must sit up straight to gain maximum benefit from template activities. A small group or a whole class can be guided through this activity Template Activity One at one time. The template is placed on a sheet of paper with the circle in the upper left corner. Slant the template appropriately for left-handed or right-handed students. For very young children, tape the paper to the template and the template to the desk. With a pencil, students go around the inside of each figure, counter-clockwise 10 times. For kindergarten and younger children, five times around each shape is sufficient. Rhythm is an important part of this activity. Have the students count out loud with you. Start at the top of the circle. Say, Top, left, bottom, right, top, left, bottom, right, top, etc. For the remainder of the shapes, start in the upper left-hand corner and go counter-clockwise counting at each corner, 1,1,1,1, 2,2,2,2 and so on to 10, 10, 10, 10. When you say each number, pencils should be at a corner. Students must sit up straight and watch the end of their pencils. Next, students take the template off the paper. Count as before while children trace each shape five times counter clockwise using a light-colored crayon (anything except black). After completing this activity, students may color the figures or make faces in them. Date and save the first sample they complete to be compared with later efforts. 32

43 VISION DEVELOPMENT Lions Templates Students turn their paper over. The teacher or aide shows students Template Activity Two how to make stars, snowmen, rockets, robots, boxes, etc., using the templates. Students who need templates need guidance in this activity. Once they can do these designs, you can let their imaginations run wild. This activity corrects rotation and integration problems. Examples of designs made using Lions Templates 33

44 VISION DEVELOPMENT The video on Lions Copy Forms and Templates provides more information on these important tools. The LCRP Teacher Training CD and Lions Templates can be ordered from: LCRP, Box 2846, Las Cruces, NM Example of writing by a 1 st grader after seven months of LCRP training. 34

45 VISION DEVELOPMENT Teaching Distance Ideally, reading should initially be taught at a distance of six feet while eliciting 30 to 40 responses per minute. This reduces the stress on the visual system, allowing students to learn to aim, move, and focus their eyes correctly while they are learning to read. Many children are slightly farsighted but outgrow it by about the third grade. This means they can see fine at 10 feet, but the print appears blurry in the book held in their hands. Use of overhead projectors, Power Point presentations, Big Books (a series of books about two feet tall with one inch print), wall charts, flip charts, computers, and large print books prove useful in teaching reading at a distance. Teachers should write a list of words or sounds or a combination to be learned that day from the reading series used by the school. The teacher points to the word with a yardstick and asks what word or what sound. The teacher raises the yardstick, then touches the word again and all the students in the group or class say the word or sound. When everyone seems to know the words, the teacher can call on individual students. Group response requires everyone to pay attention. When a child does not know a sound, he can learn from the multi-sensory input of hearing and seeing the word without embarrassment. As the responses per minute increase (30 to 40 responses per minute is an ideal goal), so will learning. 35

46 VISION DEVELOPMENT 36

47 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Chapter 5 LCRP: Putting It All Together As parents and teachers, we are not expecting enough from students. By using proven research based programs and technology, anyone who can skip, hop, or catch a ball can be well on the way to reading and writing proficiently in one semester. LCRP s goal is for all children to read and write proficiently. All this can be done for a fraction of the cost of small group or one-on-one instruction. Identifying Students Who Need Immediate Help The screening process is primarily a thirty-minute class evaluation using: Lions Functional Vision Checklist Lions Copy Forms Lions Spelling Words List Distance Copying Lions Rhythm Tape Quick List Identification Lions Functional Vision Checklist Many students report symptoms of headaches, seeing double, getting dizzy, eyes burning, and/or blurry vision during and after reading. Research has shown that these symptoms are really a sign of some underlying problem, which if not remedied, will adversely impact the student s reading and hence, academic and vocational success. The Lions Crane Reading Program has shown that, if the problem is identified, most symptoms can be remedied at the school by the teacher assisted by a vision specialist. Many times, glasses and/or computer programs will correct the problem. If they do not, then vision skill development may be needed. 37

48 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER The Lions Functional Vision Checklist (Pages 9-11) helps identify functional visual problems as well as their severity. Ideally the checklist should be filled out at home and at school with the parents involved. Glasses, vision skill development, and/or computer programs will remedy many symptoms. Lions Copy Forms The Lions Copy Forms (Page 31) reveal those students who need visual perception training, which applies primarily to students in the early grades. Lions Template training usually requires 18 fifteen-minute sessions to remedy most visual perception problems found on the Lions Copy Forms test or the Visual Motor Integration (VMI) test given by many schools. Also use the Lions Templates with those students who do poorly on the Lions Words, have a hard time learning the alphabet, guess at words, have poor penmanship, and have trouble performing activities on the Lions Rhythm Tape. Lions Spelling Words List The Lions Spelling Words (Page 18) help identify students with not only possible visual memory problems, but also auditory processing problems caused by allergies. Proper use of the Lions Templates, gross motor activities, and Orton-Gillingham computer based programs will address these problems. Distance Copying Copying math problems or spelling words from the chalkboard and putting their papers on the teacher s desk as they finish identifies students with a focusing problem. The last students through probably have a focusing problem (Pages 28-29). Glasses and/or vision skill development will relieve focusing problems. Lions Rhythm Tape The Lions Rhythm Tape identifies students with balance, coordination, and auditory processing problems probably due to allergies and watching TV, which prevent children from going through the normal developmental stages. All students in grades K-5 can benefit from the Lions Rhythm Tape with special attention given to those students who need help. Students who can do the exercises well can take turns leading the activity. Participating students will benefit from the physical activity, which results in more oxygen to the brain. The Lions Rhythm Tape should be done for five minutes a day for about six weeks. This tape and Bal-A-Vis-X should improve balance, coordination, auditory processing, and in combination with Lions Templates, improve handwriting and remediate dyslexia. 38

49 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Quick List Identification Another quick way of identifying students who need special help is to make three lists: students with the poorest grades in a class; students who leave out obvious sounds or reverse letters on the 20 Lions Spelling Words; and clumsy students and those who cannot hop, skip or do jumping jacks. About 90 percent of the time, the same students will be on all three of the lists. The students on these lists probably have allergies. Most problems can be remedied or at least helped by using gross-motor programs (Lions Rhythm Tape and Bal-A-Vis-X) and a computer multi-sensory program such as My Reading Coach or Lexia Learning Systems. Many students really hear sounds for the first time when they put on headsets to cut outside noise and turn up the volume. Parents can help by eliminating the allergy, but schools cannot depend on parents. It is a plus to have a library section on allergies (Page 21) to educate parents and help them as much as possible. Helping Students Succeed Several items that can enhance the chances a student will succeed are: Desk Height Gross Motor Skills Training Computer Phonics Programs Desk Height The Kansas Optometric Association performed a test with 10,000 children, which revealed that 5% of three-year olds in the See To Learn Program suffered from near-sightedness (myopia). By the time the students reached second grade, 17% had developed myopia, much of which was caused by incorrect desk height. Children spend many hours in front of a television, which is normally six to ten feet away. During this time, their eyes do not move or change focus. However, when they start school, they are expected to look at small details at arm s length for prolonged periods of time and this is when many sight and resulting reading problems may occur (Page 30). Gross Motor Skills Training Gross motor-skill or brain training development correlates with reading and math skills. Body movement programs organize the brain by getting the whole brain working together and ready to receive information. 39

50 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Many students enter school with underdeveloped gross motor skills required for learning. Why? Today, TV and allergies play a big role in how much a child moves his body. Allergies can plug the Eustachian tube causing poor coordination and auditory processing problems. Children spend excessive hours watching TV and playing video games during which time little if any body movement occurs. Before TV and video games, much of a child s time was devoted to active play where all parts of the body and brain functioned as a team. Children may acquire a lot of information from television, but what they are not getting is sensory motor integration. This skill must be developed before they can achieve academic success. Getting rid of TV altogether is not an option, so schools must intervene to help students integrate their senses, their brains, and their bodies. Instead of dropping Physical Education as many schools are doing, schools must take on the purposeful task of developing grossmotor integration. Gross motor development programs do work and should be used for students of all ages. The Lions Crane Reading Program begins by helping students develop and improve gross motor skills. Schools use the Kephart Gross Motor Program, 32 Brain Gym, Boost Up, and Bal- A-Vis-X 33, which is the Cadillac of all sensory motor integration programs. As described earlier, the Lions Rhythm Tape is also an effective tool to improve gross motor skills. When the class looks like a chorus line and students movements are synchronized, the students should have improved their sensory motor integration and be ready to learn. Computer Phonics and Fluency Programs Automated multi-sensory phonics programs will require students to work 20 to 60 hours on computers. Teachers will notice a marked classroom improvement before the student completes the phonics program. Students should finish Level 3 of Lexia Primary Reading or Lesson 30 of My Reading Coach before attempting to read for fluency. Having a group of poor readers read aloud with a moving slot at the rate of 80 words per minute with an adult helps them get started. Students should see weekly gains on computer fluency programs, which should be used as long as words per minute and comprehension are improving. In some instances, second graders have been able to read 750 words per minute. Teachers should be sure to follow the guidelines for setting reading speed based on comprehension with students getting certificates at 150, 200, 250, 300 words per minute. Computer Technology and Reading Computer technology significantly increases the effectiveness of LCRP. Specific advantages that have been proven are discussed below. 40

51 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER The Visagraph does an excellent job of diagnosing reading problems. A bouncing ball shows exactly where the student looked to read a story. It can identify if the student is sounding out words or stopping on big words (revealing reading problems) or bouncing all over the page (revealing eye teaming problems). Computer reading programs can diagnose problems based on spelling and give lessons on just what is needed, thus allowing students to learn at a faster rate than with conventional, non-computerized methods. Computers always provide a consistent presentation, assuring tests taken are always the same while teacher administered tests can vary. While one on one or small group teaching is very expensive, computer drills are more efficient for a fraction of the cost. Computers furnish a larger target for eye aiming and focusing at a distance of 18 to 28 inches. Students don t have to converge (aim in) their eyes as far, making it easier on the student s visual system. After using computer programs, students have fewer fixations (eye stops), fewer regressions, shorter fixations, better cross correlations, and fewer anomalies. Computer programs improve eye-teaming skills while at the same time teaching academics. Computers don t get tired of giving the same instructions over and over and can evaluate every response from each student. Computer programs are teacher friendly as lesson plans are built into the program resulting in every student receiving exactly what they need. Computers are accountable. Educators know how much time students are using a program and how well they are succeeding on each activity. Administrators can see exactly how a school, class, or an individual student is doing on each program. With one on one or small group and whole class instruction, accountability is difficult. Earphones plugged into computers block outside noise and allow students to adjust volume. Students may realistically hear phonics for the first time, which may be especially true of students with allergies. Computers get more responses per minute from every student in the class than is possible for a teacher. If a student misses two or more parts on any activity, the computer can change the program automatically with the student repeating the activity until it is mastered before proceeding. Computer programs can alert the teacher when a student needs off-line instruction for a particular activity. Computers can tell a student (especially an older student or an adult), That s not quite right without shattering their ego. 41

52 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Computer Utilization The most efficient and effective use of computers is in a lab setting. Schools need a minimum of 25 computers for every 300 students, or the same number of computers as they have students in the largest class. If there is no space for a lab, each teacher needs enough computers to have at least one third (preferably one half) of the students on computers at one time to be effective. Most kindergarten students start with ten-minute computer sessions, three to five times a week. However, in two weeks they often can increase the session to 20 minutes. Students should be on computers 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Special education and Title I students benefit from an additional thirty minutes a day. Teachers must be thoroughly trained and must go into the lab daily with their students to assure coordination and carryover between lab and class. In addition to the teacher in the lab with her students, a full time lab specialist is needed who knows the programs and can also deal with any computer or earphone problems, schedule extra makeup sessions, etc. Teachers and aids can be trained in two to three days. Computer Software The Lions Crane Reading Program does not endorse any particular computer program but does strongly encourage using computer programs to help teach reading. An ideal computer lab design is one that meets the needs of all students (dyslexic, learning disabled, autistic, ADHD, etc., as well as gifted students). In a lab with 25 computers, twenty should be loaded with the appropriate levels of Fluent Reading Trainer or Reading Plus and Lexia Learning Systems and the other five computers, My Reading Coach. Ideally, all programs can be networked. Kindergarten students start with level 2 of Lexia Early Reading and can complete both levels in two to three months. After Lexia Early Reading, most children will be able to pass the Dibels (or any other) phonics test and will be ready for Lexia Primary Reading or My Reading Coach. After completing Lexia Primary Reading, they will be reading. First grade through third grade students are started on Lexia Primary Reading beginning with Level 1 and continuing through all levels. Fourth grade through high school students are started on Lexia Strategies for Older Students. Students begin with Level 1 to benefit from the eye movement training before the material becomes difficult. The Visagraph documents that Lexia does as much for eye teaming skills as for academics. Good students see only about a third of the program and complete Lexia in about three months. This is not much of an 42

53 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER investment of time out of twelve years to ensure both academic and vision skills. Students who struggle with any of the Lexia programs should be referred to the school optometrist. All students spend a few minutes daily on PAVE, a fluency program with a moving window showing three letters or numbers per line for twenty lines. Students watch for a letter or number and report how many times they saw it. Speeds start at 20 lines a minute and progress to 120 lines a minute. Students discontinue this activity when they are proficient. Students who cannot make progress should see the school optometrist. Students are directed to begin My Reading Coach when they are one of the lowest five readers in the class and/or if they leave out obvious sounds in words when spelling, have speech problems along with reading problems, reverse b-d, and cannot do jumping jacks. The school optometrist should check these students for vision problems. My Reading Coach begins with a placement test, which places the student in only the lessons needed. Students take four review tests, which cover all the skills from the beginning of the program to the point the student has reached. The student must have the skills in their long-term memory to pass. Most students completing My Reading Coach will be reading at a 10.5 grade level or their vocabulary level after 40 to 60 hours on the program. When one student finishes the program, another student is selected to take that student s place. The student who finishes then begins work on fluency. An alternative to this plan is for all students to be on My Reading Coach. LCRP does not endorse any particular computer software program but strongly encourages using computer programs to help teach reading. The Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation envisions new and more effective computer software will become available in the future and will be included in the program. Reading Fluency Everyone, including the National Reading Panel, is concerned with reading fluency. When taking a required state achievement test, the speed with which the student reads and comprehends is the only thing that really counts. Many programs teach phonics and phonics skills are necessary so that students can read any word. However, phonics skills are not tested on state achievement tests. Fluency and comprehension are the essential skills for passing state achievement tests yet fluency is not taught. The standard method of teaching fluency is for students to read a story many times, reading it faster and faster. This method seldom has students reading more than 150 words per minute. The most effective way to teach fluency is a moving slot on a computer forcing the student to read faster and faster. Students must break the voicing habit or they will never read faster 43

54 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER than they can talk. When you realize that most fourth graders trained in this way can learn to read 300 to 500 words per minute with good comprehension and that many first graders can read 200 words per minute, you begin to understand what a difference these computer programs can make in student achievement and academic progress. We can and should expect much more from our students. One goal for the Lions Crane Reading Program is to have all second graders reading 200 words per minute with good comprehension and writing well. The goal of 200 words per minute goal has been reached by many first graders. The LCRP is supplemental to any existing reading program. There is no need to label students as labeling wastes valuable time. Start where the student is and go. The LCRP is beneficial for gifted students as well as those students with learning problems. In addition, the program has been shown to work well with adults. While there will always be a Bell Curve, the whole curve can rise along with our expectations. We will always be able to improve the system. Research shows that sustained silent reading programs do not work with the bottom 25 percent of students. These students need reading instruction. The two groups that have the hardest time making Average Yearly Progress are the bottom students and the top group. With the Lions Crane Reading Program all students can make Average Yearly Progress. Valley View Elementary School in Las Cruces, New Mexico, was adopted by NM Lions. At Valley View, 94% of students are classified as economically disadvantaged and 12% are English learners. Valley View had 75 first grade students including 14 who were classified as not ready for first grade based on the Dibels test. After one semester using the LCRP, 73 of the 75 students were reading fluently. NM Lions also adopted Alamogordo High School. During the fall semester of 2004, great gains were made by the 53 special education students using the recommended computer programs. While three students did not make a year s growth in a semester, 13 showed one year gain, 18 gained two years, 14 gained three years, four gained four years, and one gained five years. In 2003, Central Elementary School in Santa Clara, NM, was on academic probation with only 28% of its fourth grade students reading proficiently. Central has a 93% Hispanic population and 100% of the students qualify as economically disadvantaged. The school made some adjustments in the delivery of reading instruction and integrated the Lions Crane Reading Program. In 2004, the fourth grade students improved to 46% proficient readers. This year, that score increased with the fourth grade students improving to 84% proficient readers. The third and fifth grade students were also assessed using the NMSBA and the school as a whole in grades three through fifth is at 76% reading proficient. Central 44

55 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Elementary is now ranking 37th out of approximately 447 elementary schools in NM in reading proficiency. LCRP works well for kindergarten through college. Instead of having to reread a story three or four times at a rate of 80 words per minute, students can read at 300 words per minute, one time with understanding, and write a good summary using correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Writing We learn to talk first, then to read, then to write. Writing is essential. It is not enough for students to just fill in the blanks. Students must be able to write sentences, paragraphs, and eventually other forms of writing such as stories or reports. By the end of first grade, students should be able to write two or three pages using correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Students can compete successfully in the regular classroom only when they can write well. Reading well and answering multiple-choice questions no longer are enough to pass state testing. New Mexico, for instance, requires students to write essays and explain in writing such things as how a story they read relates to something in their own lives or to explain how they got the answer to a math problem. Where should schools start? Six weeks of Lions Template and gross motor training will have most students ready to write. The principal should look at a sample of each student s writing every week. The principal responds every week. Teachers will want help. School staffs at this point should agree on a school-wide writing process to be practiced 30 minutes per day. It may include one of the following: Step Up To Writing, Six + 1 Trait, or the Bing, Bang, Bongo approach of essay writing. There are many excellent strategies for writing. Word Walls, long used by elementary teachers, is an excellent tool to help students write and also to help teach reading at a distance in kindergarten and the first three grades. Individual spelling dictionaries work well in the elementary grades and for students in special classes. These dictionaries can be teacher-made or purchased. Words that students use most often when writing are listed alphabetically, and spaces are provided for additional words. When the student needs a word that is not in the dictionary, the teacher adds it alphabetically. 45

56 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER The Teacher s Role The teacher training should include going through My Reading Coach as a student, which will model how to teach reading. There is no way to get through My Reading Coach and not learn to read or how to teach reading. It teaches all the rules. My Reading Coach tests each skill five times to be sure you can apply all the rules. The Cranes had a high school student go through My Reading Coach in thirteen hours and eleven minutes. In summer school, the student went from a disruptive student reading fourth grade level 125 words per minute to a quiet, polite A student reading 10.5-grade level at over 400 words per minute with good comprehension in sixteen days. She was on a computer three hours a day for 16 days. The desk height and computer height should be checked and adjusted the first day of school and several times during the year. Computers should be as low as possible. Monitors should never be placed on top of a computer. Taller students should be placed in the tall desks, shorter students in smaller desks. LCRP s thirty-minute screening informs teachers in what modality each student is working. Lions Templates can be done with all students in K 2 and selectively after that. It usually takes 18 fifteen-minute sessions to correct problems found on the Lions Copy Forms test. All students who do poorly on the Lions Spelling Words, Lions Rhythm Tape, and computer phonics programs should do the Lions Templates, which normally takes fifteen minutes a day for about six weeks to remedy most visual perception problems. Students not showing improvement need an eye exam at school. All students in grades K 5 will benefit from the Lions Rhythm Tape and/or Bal-A-Vis-X. Teachers should give special attention to those students who need help. Students who can already do the exercises well can take turns leading the activity and will benefit from the physical activity and oxygen to the brain. The Lions Rhythm Tape should be performed for five minutes a day for about six weeks resulting in the class looking like a chorus line. The computer phonics programs will require 20 to 60 hours on computers to complete. Students should continue the fluency program as long as words per minute and comprehension are improving. The teacher should follow the guidelines for setting reading speed based on comprehension. Working one-on-one or in small groups is very expensive, but is necessary at times. Teaching by using computer software is more efficient and cost effective than one-on-one or small group instruction. An effective plan is to let computers do what they can before applying one on one or small group instruction. The LCRP Foundation does not endorse any particular computer program, but does strongly encourage using Orton-Gillingham based phonics 46

57 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER computer programs to help teach reading. This type of instruction meets the National Reading Panel s recommendations. Teachers can teach the skill and computers furnish the drill. Computers can obtain and evaluate more responses per minute than a teacher, thus making computer programs more efficient. LCRP recommends a computer fluency program getting most students reading 200 to 300 words per minute with good comprehension by the end of second grade. Students should have a minimum of 90 minutes a week on computers. Thirty to forty-five minutes a day, five days a week, is preferred. Special Education and Title 1 students will benefit from an additional thirty minutes a day. We learn to talk first, read next, then to write. Writing is essential. All students must be able to legibly write sentences, paragraphs and stories or reports. By the end of first grade, students should be able to write and produce two to three written pages using capitals, punctuation, grammar, and correct spelling. Students can compete successfully in the regular classroom only when they can write well. There are many excellent strategies for writing. Word Walls, long used by elementary teachers, are excellent tools to help students write and also to help teach reading at a distance in kindergarten and the first three grades. Individual spelling dictionaries work well in the elementary grades and for students in special education classes. These dictionaries can be teacher-made or purchased. Words students most often use when writing are listed alphabetically and spaces are provided for additional words. When the student needs a word that is not in the dictionary, the teacher adds it alphabetically. Service Club Sponsorship and Support The Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation (LCRPF) is owned by the Lions Clubs of New Mexico. It is intended that every Lions Club in New Mexico will adopt the Lions Crane Reading Program as one of their signature Club community service projects. As the Program becomes extensively integrated into New Mexico schools and the state begins to improve its national reading proficiency rating, it is envisioned that Lions in other states will wish to adopt it. There is no reason why other service organizations should not become involved. There are six levels of involvement currently used by NM Lions Clubs. Level I Lions who wish to support the program are trained by the LCRP Foundation. Once trained, Lions initially interface with the school district administrative staff, principals, and PTA s and present an overview of the Program and its benefits. Copies of the Crane s book, Reading Problems Resolved, Program brochures, and the Lions Crane Reading Program Introductory Video should be provided. 47

58 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Level II Lions show schools the introductory video plus the training CD on desk height, templates, and gross motor activities. Lions should volunteer to help integrate any of the training activities. Gross motor activities may take place in the regular classroom or in a physical education class, or they may be as simple as an after school jump rope program. As an example, Lions could organize and support a citywide or statewide jump rope contest, giving awards to the top teams in the state. Remember body movement programs the brain. Level III Lions help the school arrange for an optometrist to do eye exams at the school. A phoroptor stand should be furnished by the LCRP Foundation for the optometrist s use. Lions should arrange for an optician to come to the school to provide and fit glasses. Lions Clubs can sponsor children whose parents cannot afford the glasses. Lions can purchase glasses in quantity for approximately $20 a pair (2005 price) from Sunland Optical, 1156 Barranca Dr., El Paso, TX ( ). Local opticians should be hired to fit and measure the glasses. They should also be contracted to come into the school regularly to straighten and fix broken glasses. Remember, every Medicaid student is entitled to a free eye exam every year or every two years depending on the state. Level IV For those Lions wishing to become closely involved with integrating the Lions Crane Reading Program into their local schools, the LCRP Foundation will provide training in the application of the Lions Templates, gross motor program activities, checking and adjusting the height of student s desks, and computer programs. Lions, acting as liaisons, will make weekly visits or calls to the schools to check on how the program is working and to determine if there are any problems. This program evaluation should take less than an hour a week per school. A Weekly/Monthly Report (shown on page 49) will be filled out and filed (can be made via the LCRP Foundation Chat Room or ), which provides a checklist that solicits information to determine if everything is being done properly. If there are problems with templates, gross motor, software, earphones, etc., the Lion contacts the LCRP Foundation to address the problems. After a month or so, the Lion checks to see if all children are improving. If some children are not improving, the LCRP Foundation uses various methods to find the cause(s) of why the student is not improving. First, an eye exam is performed at school to determine if there are vision problems. 48

59 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Weekly-monthly report Date: School: Grades: # in School: School Contact: Ph. #: Lion Club Contact: Ph. #: Who Served: At Risk Spec. Ed. Title I All Grade(s) Chair correct height? Feet on floor, thighs parallel to floor? For K-5: For K-12: Desk height as low as possible? Knees under desk? Need help to adjust height of desks? Computer tables as low (i.e., ) as possible? Need help to adjust height of computer tables? # of Computers? Number Working? Monitors Off Computers? Need Help to Repair or Set Up Computers? Lexia working properly? Lexia use per week (Min.)? Need help with Lexia? Reading Plus working properly? Reading Plus use per week (Min.)? Need help with Reading Plus? My Reading Coach working properly? My Reading Coach use per week (Min.)? Need help with My Reading Coach? # Earphones needed? Lions Templates available? Lions Templates use per week (Minutes)? Need help with Lions Templates? Gross Motor being done? Gross Motor per week (Minutes)? Need help with Gross Motor? Writing exercises (Min./week): Kindergarten (Minimum of 100 min./week)? Grades 1-12 (Minimum of 150 min/week)? Notes: 1) Lions Templates should be used for 18 fifteen minute sessions over six weeks; 2) The Gross Motor exercises should be performed a minimum of 25 minutes per week for six weeks in the spring and fall; 3) Monitors should be placed at the eye level of the student students should never have to look up at the monitor. 49

60 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Level V After-school and evening programs are a good place for Lions to get involved. No Child Left Behind requires schools not making adequate yearly progress to use some of their federal money to pay for tutoring fees for students not reading proficiently. In addition, there are several sources for grants for after-school programs. Lions helping schools run a computer lab after school will save schools money, let many parents get jobs (they will not have to pay baby sitters), and help more students read proficiently. Lions can conduct fundraisers to help pay for a teacher or aide to run the lab or to pay for glasses not covered by Medicaid. In the computer lab, very little computer knowledge is necessary. Rather, the Lion s job is to be a cheerleader for the students. Great job! needs to be a frequently used phrase in the Lion s vocabulary. Northern New Mexico Community College at Espanola had a very successful evening program where parents brought their children to the lab. Both parents and children worked on their own computer programs. This program was designed to get people off welfare. Most grant proposals written now include a parent involvement section. Level VI The Lions Club can sponsor a Health Fair that is geared towards children. Visagraphs can be used to test eye teaming, and Tympanograms and blood tests can be used to detect allergies. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine states that about 70 percent of students have some allergies. There are a lot of children Lions could be helping. ImmunoCap might be a good lab to contact for allergen testing. LCRP Expansion Strategies Lions who are involved with expanding the LCRP can organize an area workshop to be conducted by LCRP Board members or certified Lions for educators from local schools and other interested individuals. The LCRP Introductory Video and the Training CD on desk height, Lions Templates, gross motor activities, vision screening, computer programs, and writing can be presented. Educators who appear to be seriously interested can be provided a copy of the Crane s book, Reading Problems Resolved. How do Lions choose whom to invite to a workshop? Lions are a diversified lot and odds are they know a lot of folks. The school district superintendent and/or administrators, school principals, teachers, parents, or other individuals involved with education are important attendees for obvious reasons. The city mayor, city council members, newspaper reporters, local business people, etc., can be useful attendees if the word about LCRP is to get out in the community and financial support obtained. 50

61 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Individual schools should decide which LCRP activities to start with depending on their current situation, needs, and budget. Every activity raises the school s potential for higher academic status. Schools add activities as they can. Program Costs Financially, Lions can be involved to whatever extent they wish. The Lions Crane Reading Program is a very economical program to integrate. Title I and Special Education funds are often used to fund the computer programs. Computers can do a better job of providing the drill for students than teachers or aides for a fraction of the money. Medicaid covers those who qualify for eye exams. The Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation has a team of grant writers to help secure funding. There may be local businesses or organizations willing to donate computers (or donate money to buy computers) to Lions for school use. The LCRP Foundation is currently setting up computer-refurbishing centers. Local Lions can assist in purchasing Lion Templates, videos, and gross motor equipment. Adjustment of desk heights can be done by Lions at no cost to the school. Lexia Learning Systems and fluency training software currently cost about $10 per student. These programs can be used with every student. My Reading Coach, amortized over three years, costs about $40 per student after which it is free. After completing My Reading Coach, second-grade students through adults will be reading at their vocabulary level or 10.5-grade level in forty to sixty hours. At $3000 for the first computer and $2000 for each subsequent computer, My Reading Coach is a real bargain. It is truly another teacher in the classroom. When used to capacity, it can get 20 students a year reading at their vocabulary level or 10.5 grade level. Most middle school and high school special education classroom programs experience a much lower success rate, somewhere around 15 to 20 percent even with one-onone or small group instruction, which is very expensive. My Reading Coach publisher MINDPLAY guarantees to improve students reading comprehension scores from 10 to 30 percentile points with 50 hours of My Reading Coach instruction or your money back through a special agreement. Summary The Lions Crane Reading Program (LCRP) is based on more than 30 years of research on programs and activities that work and are economical. These approaches, which are supplemental to any reading program, move students at the bottom into the top group. 51

62 LCRP: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Using these techniques in combination helps all students achieve their full potential and make Average Yearly Progress. These programs start with the skills the child has and help students develop to their true potential without labeling. Every student works at his or her own pace and level. All the activities adhere to the guidelines of the National Reading Panel and the latest brain research, as reported by Sally Shaywitz in her book, Overcoming Dyslexia. Ms. Shaywitz is also a member of the National Reading Panel, an advisory body that makes recommendations to Congress on best reading practices. Schools often begin with a few elements of the LCRP and continue adding components as they can. The Lions Crane Reading Program, when used in its entirety including the computer phonics and fluency programs, will have most K-12 students writing beautifully and reading at grade level and between 200 and 500 words per minute with good comprehension. 52

63 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS Chapter 6 Guidelines For Parents Your child will be competing against children in other countries who started kindergarten at age 2½. In kindergarten, these students will have mastered addition and subtraction. They have had three years of kindergarten and forty-five minutes of homework every day. Homework increases as they get older. Their school year is longer. English is taught in nearly every country. With the mobile society of today s world, these students will be completing for scholarships in our universities and for CEO positions in our companies. We must improve our education and LCRP is one way to do it. Vision If a child does not read for pleasure, does not like to draw or color with crayons, has a hard time learning the alphabet, and/or can t catch a ball, get his/her eyes checked using the LCRP standards. Take a copy of Dr. Wick s section of this book (Chapter 7) to your doctor before the appointment and ask him/her to test and prescribe glasses to these standards. Ask the vision specialist about your child s near point of convergence. (It should be 3 to 4 inches.) If it is 10 to 15 inches, Pencil Push Ups (Page 26) and Brock String (Pages 26-27) will usually fix the problem in two to three weeks working ten minutes a day. This must be fixed before trying to have child read or write. Children with this problem see double when looking at a book and are three times more likely to be labeled ADHD than other children. Auditory Processing and Allergies A child can have allergies and not have a single medical sign. Academic signs of allergies are (may have one or all): Good days and bad days Reverses letters (b-d, writes B-D, h-y, m-w, n-u, etc.) Knows something (math or spelling) one day and not the next 53

64 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS Clumsy Louder than other children-may hurt your ears Hard to get along with-often in trouble Does not turn in assignments What Parents Can Do About Allergies Become informed by reading: Dr. Rapp s Is This Your Child s World? and Our Toxic World. Bell s The ADD and ADHD Diet Oski s Don t Drink Your Milk Crook s Solving The Puzzle Of Your Hard To Raise Child. Medical Solutions to Allergies Identifying Problem: Lions Performance-based Vision and Medical Checklist (Page IV-11) Elimination diet Blood testing (ImmunoCap) Medical Treatment: Avoidance (don t eat it, don t touch it, don t smell it.) Antihistamines Allergy treatment Academic Solutions to Allergies Gross motor program Bal-A-Vis-X Lions Rhythm Tape Orton-Gillingham multisensory computer program. Lexia ( 54

65 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS My Reading Coach ( Reading Fluency Fluent Reading Trainer or Reading Plus with a moving slot Air filters at home and school. Eliminating Allergy Problems The best way to stop allergies is to avoid the allergen. Don t eat it. Don t touch it. Don t smell it. First you need to identify what is causing the problem. When and where is it happening? At home or at school? Which room? Inside or outside? Is it something inhaled, eaten, or touched? Everything? Elimination diets are great tools for parents (Pages 21-22). The authors prefer the Five Favorite Foods Diet (Page 22). Make a list of the child s five favorite foods and eliminate them for a week. Then add them back one at a time and keep notes about behavior. Dairy products are the most common cause of allergy problems. Humans are the only mammals who do not wean their babies off of milk once the babies birth weight has tripled. Interestingly enough, many five year olds are lactose intolerant. Another favorite is cutting out all dairy products and wheat (gluten) for two weeks. Have the child take half a tablet of Benadryl morning and night for the same two weeks. Have him/her write in a journal each morning. Note behavior, handwriting, and grades. This usually provides you an indication of how well you can expect your child to function. Many students improve from D and F students to A and B students in a week s time. Information they have learned is stored in their brain but the filing system is not working. Giving antihistamines is another possibility. Antihistamines should be given under the directions of your doctor. Our experience shows antihistamines solve the problem about 60% of the time. Handwriting improves and there are no letter reversals. The child gets along better with everyone. Try it for two weeks to see if it helps. If antihistamines work but make the child sleepy, give a half or a fourth of a pill. If you choose to use antihistamines have the child write in a journal each day. Give antihistamines only when needed but have the child continue to write in the journal daily. This way you will know when your child needs to take the antihistamine once again and he/she will not slip back into old problems without you being aware of it. There are several chemical families of antihistamines. If one stops working, try one from another group. Few children have to take antihistamines full time. 55

66 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS Air filters emplaced at home and school can purify the air in a room in thirty minutes. Healthier air in classrooms should raise student attendance and academic performance by decreasing illness, behavioral problems, and hyperactivity. Body Movement Body movement gets the whole brain working together and eliminates most learning problems. Gross motor activities may develop additional synapses between brain cells or possibly change the chemistry in the brain. By crossing the mid-line (middle of the body) many times, you are forcing both sides of the brain to work together. Body movement gets the brain organized and ready to receive information. Bal-A-Vis-X and Lions Rhythm Tape are two easy, fun programs you can do at home. In Bal-A-Vis-X, keeping track of your three balls and your partner s three balls gets eyes, ears and body all working together as a team. Bal-A-Vis-X will remediate most auditory and visual dyslexia. Bal-A-Vis-X can be ordered from There are three Bal-A-Vis-X videos and a book showing how to teach juggling and ball bouncing. Be sure to do the activities with your child in a relaxed, fun, non-pressure way choosing appropriate activities and letting the child master each activity before going further, the child will gain self-confidence and most dyslexia and learning problems should be remediated. Bal-A-Vis-X gets the eyes and ears working together as a team and should raise IQ 20 to 40 points. Soccer, T ball, skating, swimming, gymnastics, dance, karate, fancy jump rope are all good gross motor activities. Lions Templates Lions Templates (Pages 32-33) are the best tools to wean children off TV and get their eyes ready to read and write at reading distance. Lions Templates get the eyes working together without requiring the child to look at letters and numbers. Lions Templates and gross motor programs help develop beautiful handwriting. Lions Templates require about 18 fifteenminute sessions at a desk or table about waist high to get excellent results. Lions Templates will help your child become aware of details. Use Lions Templates with your child if he/she spells poorly, guesses at words, writes illegibly, and/or has problems learning the alphabet. Throwback Difficulty catching a ball is an indication that the eyes are not working together. The Throwback (which can be purchased from WalMart or K-Mart for about $10) activity is good initial training for eye tracking and eye-hand coordination. Have your child sit two feet away from the net and throw a beanbag at a square. The beanbag will come back and hit the child. 56

67 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS Before long, the child will be catching it. Continue making the activity more difficult as your child improves (e.g., throw right-catch left, throw left-catch right, etc.). Then have the child do the activity while standing, first on both feet and then on one. Note that a beanbag can be made by putting beans in a sock and tying a knot in the open end and cutting off the surplus. For students who have a hard time learning the alphabet or learning to read, start with the Lions Templates and Throwback. Impress Reading In the first three grades, students usually read two to three stories a week. If your child is struggling, get copies of these stories and read them aloud together with your child before the class reads them. Sit with your arm around your child and both you and your child hold a corner of the book. Have your child point to each word while you both read aloud. The child s finger pointing to the words tells his/her eyes where to look. Do not sound out words. When the child does not know a word just keep reading, the child will hear you say the word, giving him/her both visual and auditory feedback. After reading the story you can talk about it. Uninterrupted reading helps your child understand what he/she is reading. This Impress Reading is a warm fuzzy time, which builds self-confidence as well as reading skills. Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Computer Programs The advantages of using computers for Orton-Gillingham multisensory instruction over hiring a tutor for one-on-one or small group instruction are: Works better, faster, and is less expensive. Training eyes while teaching academics. Volume control. Child may really hear phonics for the first time. Earphones cut out much of the outside noise. Excellent targets to train the eyes to work together. Child or adult doesn t mind computer saying, That s not quite right. Repetition of skills until they are mastered. Quality presentation each time. Schedule a consistent time for working on computer daily just as though it were a sports activity. Only then can computer programs succeed. Be sure your child does not have to look up to see the computer screen. 57

68 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS The computer program for home use costs between $120 to $200. The two computer phonics programs mentioned in this book are available from and from Fluency After completion of the Orton-Gillingham multisensory programs, your child should be able to read nearly any word he/she encounters. A child who has gone through My Reading Coach s 61 lessons should be reading and writing at grade level, even possibly at a 10.5 grade level, if she/he has a good vocabulary. Now is the time for your child to learn to read faster than he/she can talk. The best way to break the habit of voicing every word is with a moving slot on a computer. Words are exposed in the slot forcing the child to read faster and faster. Comprehension questions are asked at the end of the story, so you know if the story was read. If a parent will do this activity with the child, both will break the voicing habit. Parents, don t get behind. Your child will leave you in the dust! This program is available from School Orientation Program For New Students Students transfer from one school to another during the year often arriving weeks before their records. Schools must place the students in classes immediately without any idea of their knowledge or abilities. The solution lies in thinking outside the box creativity. The first day a new student comes to school, the RAPS test (the placements test for My Reading Coach) should be given in the computer lab. It takes anywhere from five to forty minutes depending on the student s skills and requires no supervision once the student has begun. Results are based on how well the student spells and are immediately available on screen and in a printout. The high scoring students should be placed in regular classes. Students who evidence problems should be scheduled for an Orientation Class for three to four weeks. Also, eye exams for these students should be scheduled. The Orientation Class consists of 40 to 50 hours on My Reading Coach computer program and physical development. My Reading Coach guarantees two to seven years gain in reading in 50 computer hours. Gains must be achieved as quickly as possible, thus the block of time for two to four weeks is ideal. At the conclusion of the program, most students will read at grade level or their vocabulary level. Working on computers is enjoyable for most students and students rarely display disruptive behavior. For the rare 58

69 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS student who has trouble working on a computer, an eye exam should be conducted as well as talking to the parent about a hearing test and allergy work up. Students should alternate between My Reading Coach (for only the lessons needed as indicated by the RAPS test) and the Bal-A-Vis-X program (which stresses balance, auditory, vision, and exercise) that forces both sides of the brain to work together. Body movement programs the brain to get ready to receive information. My Reading Coach will alert the teacher when the student needs offline help. The student can be placed in the regular class when reading at grade level occurs. During computer lab time, the student should continue using My Reading Coach and work on silent reading fluency. The student is also ready to work on writing. 59

70 GUIDELINES FOR PARENTS 60

71 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING Chapter 7 Symptom Based Prescribing By Bruce Wick, OD PhD College of Optometry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas Abstract for Parents and Teachers: A survey of optometrists and ophthalmologists was conducted in 1968 to find out the vision correction prescribing habits, which had been developed over the years. These standards (from untested wisdom) for putting glasses on patients were used in a study called the Orinda Study and are used by most eye doctors to prescribe glasses today. Recent research further refines the art of refraction for glasses. A combination or a varying level of several of the following can lead to major educational problems: nearsightedness; farsightedness; astigmatism (shape of the eye ball); focusing; and alignment error. To complicate matters, some students will be nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other and could have a different type of astigmatism in each eye. By correcting these minor problems, education is made easier. Note that this technical paper was written specifically for optometrists and ophthalmologists. Allen Crane Patients commonly present with uncorrected ametropia (refractive error or need for glasses). It is also frequent for these same patients to have a vergence (eye misalignment) or accommodative (focusing) disorder. For example Dwyer 1, who assessed the refraction, vergence, and accommodative status of nearly 150 consecutive patients, found that 39% presented with ametropia and nearly 80% of them also exhibited a vergence and/or accommodative disorder. These facts suggest that correction of a refractive error may be an important step in management of patients with vergence and/or accommodative anomalies who have a significant refractive error. Unfortunately, determination of what constitutes a significant refractive error is sometimes problematic. In clinical care the eye doctor anticipates that the patient with an esophoria (eye crossing) will achieve resolution of symptoms with refractive correction of hyperopia (farsightedness). Similarly, it is hoped that a myopic (nearsighted) correction will improve an exophoria (outward or wall-eyed turn), or at least not aggravate the vergence or accommodative status at near. Unfortunately, this may not occur. As a result, a common recommendation is for prescription of an "optimal correction" to restore clear retinal images. 2,3 Such 61

72 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING recommendations suggest slight under plus of patients with exophoria and maximum plus for patients with incompletely compensated esophoria, even including added plus lenses at near (bifocals). Refractive Correction The Orinda Study 4 is considered the gold standard for vision screening techniques. In this landmark study optometrists and ophthalmologists were surveyed to determine vision correction prescribing habits. The recommendations of the two vision care professions were then combined to determine the screening criteria used in the Orinda Study (Table 1). Because of the consensus achieved, the guidelines presented there are used by most clinicians for lens prescription as well. As a result, virtually all practitioners will agree with prescription of refractive correction when a person has ametropia greater than the Orinda Study standards. The Orinda Study advice listed above concerning prescription of distance refractive correction arose on the basis of untested clinical wisdom developed over many decades of practice. Dwyer and Wick 5 tested these hypotheses and reported improvement of binocular function that resulted one or more months after prescription of an initial spectacle correction for 143 non-strabismic patients who had a refractive error and either a vergence anomaly (28%), an accommodative anomaly (8%), or both (64%). Refractive correction was estimated objectively with an autorefractor and subjectively refined without cycloplegia. Most corrections were low to moderate in power, essentially following Orinda Study guidelines. Recovery of normal vergence and accommodative function varied according to refractive error type and vergence anomaly. The results of Dwyer and Wick suggest that improvement in acuity is not the only reason for prescription of a refractive correction. Prescription of even small corrections should be considered as these can dramatically improve vergence and accommodative function for many patients. TABLE 1. Orinda Study Prescription Guidelines Hyperopia >1.00D Astigmatism >0.75D Myopia >0.50D Anisometropia >0.75D Extending the Orinda Study guidelines to incorporate those of Dwyer and Wick yields the refractive correction recommendations listed in Table 2. This compilation takes into account the type of refractive error and the axis of the astigmatism. Combination of these two factors 62

73 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING improves the likelihood that the refractive correction will improve the patient s clinical findings. Symptoms Based Prescribing The Modified Refractive Prescription Guidelines listed above are based on a developed consensus of optometrists and ophthalmologists (Orinda Study) and the clinical research of Dwyer and Wick concerning improvement of clinical findings after prescriptions have been worn. Not accounted for in these guidelines is the fact that a large number of students are symptomatic. McKeon et al 6 and Crane 7 have independently developed questionnaires that attempt to quantify visual symptoms. TABLE 2. Modified Refractive Prescription Guidelines Spherical Hyperopia >1.00D Hyperopic Astigmatism >0.50D Hyperopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism Astigmatism (WTR) >0.75D Astigmatism (ATR) >0.50D Anisometropia >0.50D Spherical Myopia >0.50D Myopic Astigmatism >0.50D Myopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism The questionnaire of McKeon et al, known as the Vision Quality Scale (VQS), determines presence of symptoms by a 9-item quality of vision questionnaire. This questionnaire was developed as part of an NEI grant to analyze symptoms of patients with intermittent exotropia and validated by comparison to an established quality of life questionnaire. The vision symptoms addressed include headaches, eye strain, dry eyes, blurred vision, difficulties reading, and asthenopia. These symptoms are clinically associated with many accommodative and vergence dysfunctions such as convergence insufficiency or excess, divergence insufficiency or excess, and accommodative insufficiency, excess, or infacility. It is a criterion referenced test that has been used on several thousand subjects in research studies. Based on validation study results, patients scoring more than 84 are considered asymptomatic and those scoring less than 71 are considered symptomatic. Utilizing symptoms based questionnaires, it is reasonable to modify correction Modified Prescription Guidelines whenever a person is symptomatic based on the questionnaire results. In this view, the Guidelines would be followed in prescribing lenses in all cases. However, whenever there were symptoms at an appropriate level (e.g., <71 on the VQS) a smaller 63

74 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING power distance correction would be prescribed. The logic of this untested suggestion is that every attempt to relieve symptoms should be made, even when it might not be successful. Such a philosophy is consistent with the attempt in clinical practice to relieve a patient s symptoms with any correction that will not cause them harm. This philosophy leads to the recommendations in Table 3. TABLE 3. Symptom Based Refractive Prescription Guidelines Refractive Finding Asymptomatic (VQS >71) Symptomatic (VQS<71) Spherical Hyperopia >1.00D >0.75D Hyperopic Astigmatism >0.50D Hyperopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism >0.50D Hyperopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism Astigmatism (WTR) >0.75D >0.50D Astigmatism (ATR) >0.50D >0.50D Anisometropia >0.50D >0.50D Spherical Myopia >0.50D >0.50D Myopic Astigmatism >0.50D Myopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism >0.25D Myopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism Prescription of Added Lenses (Bifocals) and Prism After considering prescription of a distance correction it is often obvious that additional forms of optical correction might be required. For example, the eye doctor anticipates that the patient with a esophoria (eye crossing) that only occurs at near will achieve resolution of symptoms with prescription of a bifocal so that less focusing is required when the patient looks at near. Similarly, it is hoped that an accommodative (focusing difficulty) will also be relieved with a near bifocal. Additional correction in the form of prism is often important when the eyes misalign horizontally or vertically. Added Lenses Added lenses are often prescribed when the person has a near esophoria (eye crossing a near) and normal distance eye alignment. In this instance, a near addition of can be considered in almost all cases with confidence that it will give some or total relief of the symptoms. The logic behind this correction is based on the link between focusing and eye alignment known as the accommodative convergence to accommodation (AC/A) ratio. Table 4 lists possible ocular alignments at distance and near which lead to increasing magnitudes of AC/A ratios. The effect of a near bifocal addition of is then shown for 64

75 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING each AC/A ratio. As can be seen, an arbitrary bifocal power of has a significant effect in each case. This suggests that, for most persons who need a near correction, prescription of +1.25D at near will assist ocular alignment significantly. In most cases it is important to prescribe these lenses in bifocal form. This is especially true for school children as they are otherwise forced to remove their glasses each time they want to look from distance to near. This is typically not productive for most students. TABLE 4. High AC/A Prescription Guidelines Distance Phoria Near Phoria AC/A Near Phoria with Bifocal of +1.25D 0rtho 5 eso 8/1 5 exo 0rtho 10 eso 10/1 2.5 exo 0rtho 15 eso 12/1 Ortho Added lenses are also prescribed when the person has a near accommodative (focusing) problem and normal eye alignment at distance and near. This often occurs when a person does not focus accurately at near which can happen in spite of an otherwise normal appearing ocular system. Using an objective measure of focus at near (MEM near retinoscopy) Rouse et al 8 demonstrated that normal focusing at near is about 0.33D behind the target. Their findings also suggest that a person who focuses 1.00D behind the target is significantly different from normal. Findings by Rouse and others have lead to the clinical suggestion that a near addition of to can be considered in almost all cases when a person focuses inaccurately. The clinically observed, but untested, result is some (or total) relief of the symptoms. Again, in most cases it is important to prescribe these lenses in bifocal form, especially for school children. Prism Prism is often considered when a person has a hyperphoria (one eye tends to go up) or a distance esophoria (eye crossing a distance). Wick and Surdacki 9 suggested that 10-20% of young adults have a clinically significant hyperphoria and Tait 10 found that distance esophoria occurs in about 1-2% of people. Unfortunately, prism prescriptions are avoided by many practitioners these doctors are concerned about prism adaptation which occurs when the patient adapts to the prism and then requires additional prism of the same amount as the original. Schor 11 and Henson et al 12 demonstrated that prism adaptation occurs for patients with normal binocular systems but not for patients who have abnormal binocularity. This suggests that symptom based prescribing is ideal for determining which persons might benefit from prism prescription. Recall that, when tested with the Vision Quality Scale (VQS), 65

76 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING patients scoring more than 84 are considered asymptomatic and those scoring less than 71 are considered symptomatic. Using symptoms as a guideline, prism would be prescribed without concern for prism adaptation whenever a patient scored less than 71 on the VQS. The amount of vertical prism to prescribe in hyperphoria can be easily determined by vertical associated phoria measures (prism to reduce vertical misalignment to zero on a vectographic or other test zero vertical fixation disparity [FD]). Morgan 13, Rutstein et al 14, and Wick 15 have each demonstrated that such a prescription is helpful in reducing symptoms of symptomatic patients. The amount of base out prism prescribe in distance esophoria can be easily calculated by dividing the distance esophoria which remains after best distance correction has been prescribed by three. Thus, if the distance esophoria with best refractive correction is 3eso the prescription would contain 1 base out. Symptoms Based Prescription Guidelines Taken together, the prism and added lens guidelines can be combined with symptoms based refractive correction prescribing. These lead to suggestions for determining the optimum optical correction for a given patient. Such a prescription is grounded in sound science and based on the patient s symptoms. As a result, the recommendations in Table 5 should provide the most likely optical prescription for symptom relief. TABLE 5. Symptom Based Prescription Guidelines Refractive Finding Asymptomatic (VQS >71) Symptomatic (VQS<71) Spherical Hyperopia >1.00D >0.75D Hyperopic Astigmatism >0.50D Hyperopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism >0.50D Hyperopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism Astigmatism (WTR) >0.75D >0.50D Astigmatism (ATR) >0.50D >0.50D Anisometropia >0.50D >0.50D Spherical Myopia >0.50D >0.50D Myopic Astigmatism Accommodative Problem High AC/A (eso at near only) Distance Esophoria Hyperphoria >0.50D Myopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism No near addition OR Distance correction with near addition of Distance correction with near addition of +1.25D >0.25D Myopia; >0.50D ATR astigmatism Distance correction with near addition of +1.25D Distance correction with near addition of +1.25D Base out prism =1/3 phoria Prism to reduce FD to zero 66

77 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING Conclusion Vergence and accommodative problems are among the most common visual disorders of prepresbyopic patients. Results of Dwyer and Wick suggest that a substantial proportion of the population undergoes a passive change in vergence or accommodative status with prescription of spectacles of optimum power. All practitioners need to assess vergence and accommodative function as routine procedure, whether or not a refractive correction is to be prescribed. Patients who require a refractive correction and have concurrent vergence or accommodative anomalies can be prescribed lenses based on the standards above. These patients then need to be reviewed after one to three months to determine the need for further care. 67

78 SYMPTOM BASED PRESCRIBING References 1 Dwyer P. The prevalence of vergence accommodation disorders in a school-age population. Clin Exp Optom 1992, 75: Blum HL, Peters HB, Bettman JW. Vision Screening for Elementary Schools: the Orinda Study. Berkley:University of California Press Dwyer P, Wick B. The influence of refractive correction upon disorders of vergence and accommodation. Optom.Vision Sci. 72;4: McKeon C, Wick B, Aday L, Begley C. A case-comparison of intermitent exotropia and quality of life measurements. OptomVision Sci 74(2): , Crane A, Wick B. Preliminary assessment of the relationship between classroom symptoms and eye movements measured using the Visagraph II. OptomVision Sci (Suppl) 1999 Dec; 76:131 8 Rouse MW, Hutter RF, Schiflett R. A normative study of the accommodative lag in elementary school children. Am J Optom Physiol Optics 61: 693-7, Surdaki M, Wick B. Diagnostic occlusion and management of laten hyperopia. Optom Vision Sci. 68(4):261-9, Tait EF. Textbook of Refraction, Philadelphia. WB Sanders, Schor C. Analysis of tonic and accommodative vergence disorders of binocular vision. Am J Optom Physiol Optics 60:1-24, Henson DB, Dharamski BG, Oculomotor adaptation to induced heterophoria and anisometropia. Invest Opthamol Vis Sci. 22:234-40, Morgan MW. The Turville binocualr infinity balance test. Am J Optom Arch Am Acad Optom. 26:231-9, Rutstein R, Eskridge J. Studies in vertical fixation disparity. Am J Optom Physiol Optics. 63;639-44, Wick B. Prescribing vertical prism: how low do you go? J optom Vis Devel 28(2); 77-85,

79 FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS Chapter 8 Future Considerations The United States is competing against countries where students go to school eight hours a day, six days a week, and for most of the year. School begins at age 2 ½ and older students are expected to complete 2-3 hours of homework each day. If we are to compete, we must improve the quality of the school day or extend our hours in the classroom. Of the 19 industrialized nations, the United States ranks in the bottom fourth in reading, math, and science. Other areas for consideration include the use of Receptive IQ to determine readiness to learn, the use of neurological feedback, standards for eyeglasses, trampoline use, school lunches to minimize allergies, and acoustically enhanced classrooms. Receptive IQ Body movement programs and organizes the brain getting it ready to receive information. If this statement is true, then we should be able to predict what the child is capable of learning by finding out what physical activities the child can do. This factor is referred to as Receptive IQ. Can the child skip, hop, catch a beanbag, and do advanced ball activities? Receptive IQ would help to predict whether the child is ready to learn the alphabet and count or to do abstract thinking or learn algebra. Particular activities could in turn be recommended to help the students improve their performance of physical activities. Will we one day be able to say, When a child can do complex ball bouncing activities with a partner or group, he/she is ready for algebra? By using the Receptive IQ factor and standardized computer reading instruction (e.g., My Reading Coach), it should be possible to predict where a child will be at each step in the learning process. 69

80 FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS Neurological Feedback The New Vision School has eight neurological feedback machines. Electrodes are placed on the student s head and Pacman is displayed on a TV screen. The student can read or engage in some other activity. As long as the student concentrates, Pacman moves faster and faster. If there is no thinking, Pacman does not move. The New Vision School reports most ADD and ADHD students are off Ritalin in six weeks. Do gross motor activities (especially spinning), Lexia Cross Trainer, and neurological feedback effect similar changes? Are they getting the whole brain functioning together? Are they all affecting the ability to concentrate? Prescribing Glasses to LCRP Standards Performance eye glasses relax the accommodative (focusing) system and allow the child s convergence (eye aiming) system to work. Computer programs furnish practice time for the eyes to develop good eye teaming skills while working at near distance. Will glasses and computers eliminate the need for most vision therapy? After the student peaks in fluency training (words per minute), are the eyes trained? Does the student still need glasses? Does a combination of adjusting desk height, prescribing prescription glasses to LCRP standards, and teaching at TV distance prevent most near sightedness? Gross Motor Trampoline Kephart, in his later years, pushed the trampoline as an activity to teach gross motor skills. Now that there are safety nets around trampolines, this may be an effective tool to help integrate the whole brain especially for highly deficient, bottom level students. How does spinning help ADHD? What is happening in the brain? School Lunches Every mammal except humans weans their young ones off milk once they have tripled their birth weight. Many children are lactose intolerant by the age of five. Many are allergic to wheat. With these facts and a Tympanogram, it should be possible to scientifically develop a better nutritional guideline for schools to implement in planning lunch programs. 70

81 FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS Acoustic Enhancing The Marrs study put an FM transmitter on the teacher and a speaker in the four corners of the classroom to enhance the sound. Achievement went up with 70% of the students. Would the hearing aide accomplish the same results for students with auditory processing problems? Would students wear hearing aides? 71

82 FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS 72

83 REFERENCES References 1 Lions Crane Reading Program Video Wick, B, Crane, S, A Vision Profile of American Indian Children. Am J Optom Physiol Opt 1976, 53 3 Harmon, DB, Notes on a Dynamc Theory of Vision, 1958 Austin Texas, Nalle Bldg. 4 SMART Curriculum Guide, Minnesota Learning Resource Center, 1800 Second St. NE, Minneapolis, MN Crane, A, Crane V, Buzzards To Bluebirds, Wolf Creek Endeavors, Rapp D, Is This Your Child s World, New York, Bantam Books, Crook, WG, Solving The Puzzle of Your Hard To Raise Child, Random House, NY,NY, Levinson, LN, Smart But Feeling Dumb, NY, NY, Warner Books, Inc, Zaba, JN, Mozlin, R, Reynolds, WT, Insights on the Efficacy of Vision Examinations and Vision Screenings For Children First Entering School, J Behav Optom 2003, Vol 14, Number 5 10 The Vision in Preschool Study Group Comparison of preschool vision screening tests as administered by licensed eye care professionals in the vision in preschoolers study. Ophthalmol 2004: 111; Orfield, A, Basa F, Vision Problems in Children in Poverty in an Urban School Clinic: Impact on Learning, and Approaches to Remediation, J Optom Vis Dev, Vol 32/ Zaba,JN, Social, Emotional, and Educational Consequences of Undetected Children s Vision Problems, J Behav Optom,2001, Volume 12, Number 3 13 Harris, P, Learning-Related Vision Problems in Baltimore City: A Long Term Program, J Opto Vis Dev, 2001, Vol Bowan, MD, Learning Disabilities, dyslexia, and Vision: a Subject Review, 2002, Optom, Vol 73, Number Johnson, RA, Blair, RJ, Zaba, JN, The Visual Screening of Title I Reading students, J Behav Otom, 2000, Volume 11, Number 1 16 Mozlin, R, Poverty Neurodevelopment and Vision-A Demonstration Project With An Adolescent Population, J Behav Optom, 2001, Vol Cohen, A., Lieberman,S, The NYSOA Vision Screening Battery-A Total Approach, JAOA, 1983, Volume 7 18 Harris, P, Learning-Related Vision Problems in Baltimore City: A Long Term Program, J Opto Vis Dev, 2001, Vol Dwyer, P, Wick, B, The Influence of Refractive Correction Upon Disorders of Vergence and Accommodation. Optom Vision Sci 72: 4 20 Guidelines For School Vision Screening Programs, Colorado Department of Health, Community Nursing Section, 4210 E. 11th Ave, Denver CO 80220, September 1991, 2nd Edition. 21 McKeon C, Wick B, Aday L, Begley C, A case-comparison of intermittent exotropia and quality of life measurements. Optom Vision Sci 74(2): , Wick, B, Crane, AD, Preliminary Assessment of the Relationship Between Classroom Symptoms and Eye Movements Measured Using the Visagraph II, Bowan, MD, Learning Disabilities, dyslexia, and Vision: a Subject Review, 2002, Optom, Vol 73, Number 9. R-I

84 REFERENCES 24 Johnson-Brown, S, Kimmons, RE, Cienkus, R, Daluga, S, Review of an Eight-Year Program to Incorporate Vision therapy in a Remedial Reading Prgm in a School Setting, J Behav Optom, 2001, Vol Bleything, WB, Juvenile Delinquency: The Role of Optometry in Remediation, J Behav Optom, 1998, Vol Callahan, M., Fighting For Tony, NY NY, Simon and Schuster, Inc Rapp, D, Our Toxic World, A Wake Up Call, Environmental Research Foundation, Buffalo, NY Levinson, LN, Smart But Feeling Dumb, NY, NY, Warner Books, Inc, Wise, BW, Ring, J, & Olson, RK, (2000) Individual differences in gains from computer-assisted remedial reading. J of Experimental Child Psychology, 77, Ulm, M, Year end report on Harrison Elementary School, Denver, CO, Curry, GI, Winter Haven s Perceptual Testing and Training Handbook, Winter Haven, FL:Winter Haven Lions Research Foundation, Inc Kephart, NC, The Slow Learner In The Classroom, Columbus, Ohio, Hubert, Bill, Bal-A-Vis-X, Bal-A-Vis-X, Inc., 7412 West Tenth Street N., Wichita, KS , 2001 R-2

85 GLOSSARY Glossary Accommodation (Focusing) - The act of the lens in the eye adjusting to become flat when a person looks at a distance and curved when the person looks close so that objects can be seen clearly at various distances. Acuity - Sharpness of vision. Allergies - An adverse effect to any part of the body brought on by something a person breathes, touches or eats. Each person responds in his/her own way though each follows an individualized, characteristic pattern. Depending on the brain area, it might cause difficulty remembering or learning, hyperactivity, extreme fatigue, irritability, moodiness, aggression, panic, or vulgarity. -- Doris Rapp. Reversals, leaving out obvious sounds while writing, good days and bad days, hyperactivity, loudness, and clumsiness can be educational symptoms of allergies. -- Allen and Virginia Crane. Amblyopia - Decreased visual acuity (usually only in one eye) not correctable by glasses and not caused by an apparent eye disease. Research shows amblyopia is missed on approximately one-third of school screenings using the standard Snellen Chart. Astigmatism - A vision defect caused when the eyeball is shaped like a football. (The eyeball should be shaped like a basketball.) When an eye is shaped like a football lying on its side, it is called with the rule astigmatism. When the football is standing on the tip, it is against the rule astigmatism. If the football is tilted, this is called oblique astigmatism. Varying types and degrees of astigmatism may cause various parts of a letter to appear missing. A person can have one type of astigmatism in one eye and none or a different type in the other eye. The eyes will see two entirely different-looking words, making reading very difficult. Children with astigmatism can often overwork their accommodative system for a few seconds at a time and still pass a vision screening checking one eye at a time on the standard Snellen Chart. Balance - Physical equilibrium or the ability to maintain an upright position without falling over. Bing, Bang, Bongo A relatively simple essay writing format that calls for the student to write an introductory paragraph followed by three supporting paragraphs (a bing, a bang and a bongo), and finished with a conclusion. Brain Gym - A commercially available physical-activity program. G-I

86 GLOSSARY Convergence - The ability to turn the two eyes towards each other to look at a near object. Diverge - The ability to aim the eyes at a point farther away by turning them away from each other the required amount. Dolce Words Standardized sight words that students memorize. There are sets of words for each grade. Dyslexia - A specific language-based disorder of constitutional origin characterized by difficulties in single word decoding, usually reflecting insufficient phonological processing abilities. Eustachian Tube - This tube connects the middle ear with the nasopharynx and equalizes air pressure on both sides of the tympanic membrane. When the Eustachian tube plugs up because of excess fluid, sounds (phonics) come out garbled, and coordination becomes poor due to obstructed functions of the middle ear. Eye-hand coordination - The ability for the eye and hand to work together to perform a specific action, such as writing or copying from the chalkboard. Eye Teaming - Binocular vision or the ability to use both eyes simultaneously to accurately interpret what is seen with the two eyes seeing only one image with no abnormal deviation. Farsighted - The ability of a person to see well far away but to see poorly close up. A book held by a farsighted person looks blurry while the chalkboard is clear. The Snellen Chart, the only eye-screening tool used in most schools, gives the farsighted student a passing score and does not diagnose this problem. Fine Motor - Movement of the small muscles, such as those used in writing. Fine motor refers to smaller motions and different muscles than gross motor. Fixations - An instant where the eye stops. Focusing - (see Accommodation) Gross Motor - Movement of the larger muscles, such as are used in jumping jacks. Gross motor refers to larger motions and different muscles than used for fine motor. Harmon Distance - The optimal distance from the eyes to the working surface. It is the distance from the elbow to the first knuckle. This can only be assured with a proper chair height to desk relationship. G-2

87 GLOSSARY Impress Reading - Adult and child reading together. Child points to a word and both say the word. If child does not know word, adult says word and keeps on going. On the computer, the child and adult read the words as they appear on screen. Lion Templates - Paper-sized (8 ½ by 11 ), moderately thick plastic sheets with cutouts in the shape of a circle, square, triangle, rectangle and diamond. The templates were developed by the Lions Club of Winter Haven, Florida. The program involved more than 25 years of research by five PhDs. Their research concluded that most problems found on the VMI or Bender Gestalt visual perception tests can be remedied in 18, 15- minute sessions using the template program. National Reading Panel - Group of 60 reading specialists appointed by Congress to come up with best methods of teaching reading. Ophthalmologist - Medical eye doctor (M.D.) specializing in surgery of the eyes and diseases of the eyes. Optometrist - Eye doctor specializing in prescribing glasses and being sure the patient is able to aim, move, and focus his/her eyes. Orton-Gillingham Program - An internationally acclaimed approach to identifying and teaching dyslexic students to read and write. It is named for its founders Dr. Sam Orton, a psychiatrist and neurologist and Anna Gillingham, a psychologist and teacher. Dr. Orton first began studying and writing about children with reading disorders in the 1920s. The Orton- Gillingham Approach is structured, sequential, and multisensory. It starts with the short a and adds a few consonants at a time. In this language-based approach, students hear, see, and touch to learn. The program has been found to be highly successful in teaching reading. The Orton Society is now called the International Dyslexia Association. PAVE Perceptual Accuracy/Visual Efficiency Training. A computer program which moves a window left to right across the screen exposing three letters or numbers per line for twenty lines. The student counts how many times a specified target letter or number appears. The slot increases from 20 to 120 lines per minute as efficiency improves. Phonics - The understanding that there is a predictable relationship between the sounds of spoken language and the letters and spellings representing those sounds in written language. Phoria - A tendency for a horizontal or vertical misalignment of the two eyes. Proficient Reading - 1. National Assessment of Educational Progress definition: Student can understand, apply, and analyze challenging subject matter. 2. Cranes definition: Student G-3

88 GLOSSARY reads at grade level, with good comprehension, more than 200 words per minute by the end of second grade and 350 words per minute at end of third grade. Phoroptor - The instrument optometrists and ophthalmologists use in prescribing glasses. Scan - The ability of the eye to look at letters, words, and groups of words and gain information. Children without this skill tend to guess at words and have a hard time learning the alphabet. Snellen Chart - Chart used to measure acuity at a specific distance (usually10 to 20 feet). Big E Chart developed by the army more than 150 years ago to pick out those soldiers who would be cooks and those who would be sharpshooters. Strabismus - Failure of both eyes to fixate on an object at the same time. One eye fixes on an object and the other turns away - either inward (esotropia) or outward (exotropia). Subvocalize (or Voicing) - Physically or mentally saying every word when reading. Synapses - Connections between the brain cells. Firing across synapses connects all brain cells with each other. Allergies can block this firing, and the information stored in the brain is lost until the allergy problem is solved. The information is in the brain, but the filing system is broken. The misfiring can be remedied by changing the chemistry of the brain (antihistamines or gross motor activities) or by developing more synapses by stimulating the brain. Tympanogram - Test that measures the pressure on the eardrum. Tympanograms can be used to look for allergies and colds which temporarily plug the Eustachian tubes, causing garbled sounds and affecting balance and coordination. Hearing professionals consider a normal reading on the Tympanogram to be 100 dapa. Problems show up more quickly in the classroom than in the doctor s office. We suspect a child with a 100 dapa reading on the Tympanogram has difficulty hearing phonics in the classroom. Word Walls - A teaching device that uses words tacked on the wall to help learn reading and spelling. Words may be arranged alphabetically or arranged according to parts of speech or other categories. G-4

89 INDEX A Accommodation 28, 61, G-1 Acoustic Enhancing 71 Acuity G-1 ADD and ADHD Diet, The 21, 54 Air Filters 23, 55 Alamogordo (NM) High School 44 Aliterates 2 Allergies 2, 17-22, 38-41, 50, 55, G-1 Amblyopia 6, G-1 American Academy of Environmental Medicine 50 American Optometric Association 39 Ametropia 62 Anisometropia 6, 62 Anomalies 14, 15 Antihistamines 20, 54, 55 Astigmatism 1, 7, 62, G-1 Attention-Deficit Disordered (ADD) 1, 70 Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disordered (ADHD) 1, 17, 42, 53, 70 Auditory Processing 17, 40, 53 Autism 42 Average Span of Recognition 15 Average Duration of Recognition 15 Average Yearly Progress 44 B Balance 17, G-1 Bal-A-Vis-X 3, 31, 38, 39, 40, 54, 56, 58, 59, I-1 Big Books 35 Bing, Bang, Bongo 45, G-1 Body Movement 55 Boost Up 3, 40, I-1 Brain Gym 3, 40, G-1, I-1 Brock String 26, 27, 53 Buzzards To Bluebirds 11, II-3-4 C Cataracts 7 Comprehension Questions Correct 15 Computer Assisted Phonics 3, 40 Computer Labs 42 Convergence 26-28, 53, G-2 Convergence Testing 26 Crane, Allen & Virginia 3, 47 Crook, Dr. William 21 Cross Correlation 13, 14, 15 Crossing the Midline 56 D Dairy Products 53 Desk Height 2, 3, 25, 30, 32, 39, 51 Directional Attack 13, 15 Distance Copy Test 28, 38 Diverge 26, G-2 Dolce Words 28, G-2 Don t Drink Your Milk 21, 54 Dyslexia 1, 17, 42, 56, G-3 E Elimination Diets 21, 54 Emotionally Disturbed 1 Esophoria 59, 62 Eustachian Tubes 17, 40, G-2 Eye-Hand Coordination 32, G-2 Eye Movement 29 Eye Teaming 2, 6, 8, 12, 41, 42, G-2 F Farsighted (See Hyperopia) 6, 35, 61, G-2 Fetzer, Nancy 45 Fighting For Tony 19 Fine Motor (See Eye-hand Coordination) G-2 Five Favorite Foods Diet 22, 55 Fixations 12, 15, G-2 Fluency 12, 43, 57 Fluent Reading Trainer 3, 13, 15, 42, 55, I-3 Focusing 28, 38, 41, 61, G-2 G Good Days, Bad Days 2 Grade Level Efficiency 15 Gross Motor (Definition) G-3 Gross Motor Activities 20, 38, 47-50, 54 Gross Motor Training 3, 39, 40, 45 Gross Motor Trampoline 70 INDEX-1

90 H Handwriting 34, 55 Harmon Distance 2, 30, G-2 Hearing Loss (See Acoustic Enhancing) 18 Hyperopia 6, 61, 62 I ImmunoCap 22, 49, 54 Impress Reading 14, 57, G-3 Is This Your Child s World 3, 19, 21, 54 K Kansas Optometric Association 30 Kephart Gross Motor Program 40 Knitting 31 L Lazy Eight Exercise 29 LCRP 3 LCRP Intruductory Video 49 LCRP Standards 70 Learning Disabled (LD) 1, 17, 42 Lexia Learning Systems 3, 13, 15, 39, 40, 42, 46, 49, 54, I-2 Lexia Cross Trainer 70 Lexia Early Reading 42 Lexia Primary Reading 42 Lexia Strategies for Older Students 42 Lions Clubs (See Service Clubs) 6 Lions Copy Forms 30, 38, 56, IV-6 > IV-10 Lions Functional Vision Checklist 9, 10, 37, 38, IV-4 Lions Rhythm Tape 18, 32, 38, 39, 40, 54, 56 Lions Templates 3, 31, 32-34, 38, 47-50, 56, G-3 Lions Spelling Words 18, 32, 38, 39, 46, IV-3 Lunch Programs 70 M Media Opacity 7 Medicaid 6 Monitor Distance 25 Multiple Food Elimination Diet 21 Myopia 2, 7, 39, 59, 60 My Reading Coach 3, 12, 13, 15, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 51, 55, 57-59, 69, I-2, II-5 N National Reading Panel 43, 51, G-3 Neurological Feedback 70 New Mexico 1, 2 New Vision School 70 NM Eye Foundation Eye Screening Unit 9 NM Lions Clubs 47 No Child Left Behind 6 O Ophthalmologists 5, 6, G-3 Optometric Extension Program 25 Optometrist 5, 6, 8, 46, G-3 Orinda Study 62 Orton-Gillingham Program 12, 13, 38, 57, G-3 Our Toxic World 19, 21, 54 Overcoming Dyslexia 51 P Parent Involvement 20, 38, 48, 53 PAVE 15, 43, G-3 Pencil Push-Ups 26, 53 Performance-Based Vision & Medical Checklist IV-11 Phonics 17, 20, 43, G-4 Phoropter G-4 Phoropter Stand 9, 48 Photo Eye Screening 6, 8 Photo Eye Screening Camera 7 Point of Convergence 26, 53 Proficient Reading 1, G-3 Q Quick List Identification 39 R Rapp, Dr. Doris 3, 19, 21, 22 RAPS 58, 59 Reading Distance (see also Desk Height) 14 Reading Efficiency 14, 15 Reading Fluency 43 Reading Plus 3, 13, 15, 42, 55, I-3 Reading Problems Resolved 21, 46, 50, II-5 Receptive IQ 69 Regressions 12, 15 INDEX-2

91 Retinoscopy 6 Reversing Letters 2, Rockwell, Dr. Sally 22 Rotation Diet 22 Rhythm (See also Lions Rhythm Tape) 17 S Scan 13, G-4 School Orientation Program 58, 59 See To Learn Program 30 Service Clubs 46 Shaywitz, Sally 51 Simulation 13 Single Food Elimination Diet Trait 3, 45, I-3 Snellen Chart 5, G-4 Solving the Problem of Your Hard To Raise Child 21, 54 Strabismus 6, 62, G-4 Step Up To Writing 3, 45, I-3 Subvocalize (See also Voicing) G-4 Symptom Based Prescribing Symptom Severity Score 10 Synapses 17, 55, G-4 W Weekly-Monthly Report 49, IV-2 Wick, Dr. Bruce 12, 51, 61-67, II-2 Williams, Dr. Brock 22 Winter Haven (FL) Lions Club 31 Word Per Minute 14, 15 Word Walls (See also Teaching Distance) 45, 47, G-4 Writing 3, 44, 45 T Teaching Distance (See also Word Walls) 35 Template Activity I 32 Template Activity II 33 Throwback 56 TV 3, 14, 40, 56 Tympanogram 50, 70, G-4 V Valley View Elementary School (NM) 44 Vergence 61 Visagraph 2, 11-16, 41, 42, 50 Vision 5-16 Vision Habit 30 Vision Quality Scale 63 Vision Screening 5, 6, Vision Skill Development 12, 15, 25-35, 38 Visual Memory 19 Visual Motor Integration Test 38 Voicing 43, 57, G-4 INDEX-3

92 INDEX-4

93 LCRP PROGRAMS Appendix I LCRP Recommended Programs LCRP incorporates numerous programs, which are referred to throughout this publication. The following discussion provides a brief description of these programs. Bal-A-Vis-X is a series of Balance /Auditory/Vision exercises, of varied Bal-A-Vis-X complexity, most of which are deeply rooted in rhythm. These exercises require full-body coordination and focused attention. The program utilizes beanbags, racquetballs, balance boards, and multiple principles and activities from Educational Kinesiology. It demands cooperation, promotes self-challenge, and fosters peer teaching. It is school friendly and just plain fun. Bal-A-Vis-X benefits students whose auditory skills are inadequate for academic success. Such students hear but do not attend to the precise details of pronunciation, verbal instructions, and discussion. For these students, the rhythmic patterns of Bal-A-Vis-X create a new awareness of the nuances of sound. Bal-A-Vis-X is for students whose visual acuity may be 20/20, yet whose vision remains deficient in tracking, teaming, and discrimination For all students, the gains in eye-hand coordination and subsequent growth in overall confidence, hence, self-esteem, are readily observable. (Excerpts from website.) Boost Up was created as a mutil-sensory approach toward gaining the Boost Up readiness skill needed to excel in the classroom. After doing 80 hours of balance/vestibular, gross and fine motor, and visual acuity exercises, children on average make a six-month reading gain. The best aspect of Boost-Up is that children love it as it is a fun approach to learning. Boost-Up incorporates: music; obstacle course; games/stations; rolling; and many other activities to accelerate the student s learning. (Excerpts from website.) Brain Gym is a program of physical movements that enhance learning and Brain Gym performance in ALL areas. Brain Gym includes 26 easy and enjoyable targeted activities that integrate body and mind to bring about rapid and often dramatic improvements in: concentration, memory, reading, writing, organizing, listening, physical coordination, and more. (Excerpts from website.) I - 1

94 LCRP PROGRAMS Lexia Learning Systems software is a serious learning tool to Lexia Learning Systems improve reading skills. Students enjoy working in the software because it is fun, and they come back for more because they enjoy making progress. Three of the software programs are used by LCRP: Lexia Early Learning, Lexia Primary Reading, and Lexia Reading Strategies for Older Students. Lexia Early Reading is a software program focused on building and enhancing phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge. Phonological awareness, or the ability to notice, think about, and work with the individual sounds in spoken words is a critical pre-reading skill associated with reading success. Designed for pre-readers 4-6 years old, Lexia Early Reading provides engaging, age-appropriate activities on skills ranging from pre-alphabetic awareness to basic sound-symbol correspondence. Lexia Early Reading is also appropriate for older students who lack phonemic awareness skills. Lexia Primary Reading is a new generation reading skill development product for students ages 5-8. Lexia Primary Reading builds on the information that students learn in Lexia Early Reading (phonemic awareness) and increases their ability to become stronger readers by introducing phonics principles and focusing on conceptual reading skills. Five activity levels in the program provide drill and practice exercises in phonemic awareness, sight word recognition, sound-symbol correspondence (beginning and ending sounds, syllables, segmenting), listening and comprehension. Lexia Reading Strategies for Older Students (S.O.S.) is for older students ages 9 to 99. Designed with a mature interface, Lexia Reading S.O.S. starts with basic first grade reading skills and works up to advanced decoding and comprehension. Activities provide practice in decoding skills, early comprehension, and keyboard skills. Students control their own activities providing motivation, but each student must show both competency and fluency in each skill before moving on. (Excerpts from Lexia s website.) My Reading Coach is a software program package, which is based My Reading Coach on the Orton-Gillingham multisensory approach to reading and is taught by a speech pathologist or reading teacher on screen. Comprehension is taught through grammar lessons and the philosophy of forming a picture in your mind as you read. Pre-testing places students only in the lessons needed and review tests throughout the program assure what is learned is in long term memory. After mastery of the final lesson, a student will be reading at a 10.5 grade level or his/her vocabulary level. My Reading Coach is a product of MINDPLAY. I - 2

95 LCRP PROGRAMS Fluent Reading Trainer quickly helps students to develop reading Fluent Reading Trainer speed while improving reading comprehension. Fluent Reading Trainer breaks the voicing habit and has most second graders reading over 200 words per minute with good comprehension. Fluent Reading Trainer is a product of MINDPLAY. Reading Plus Reading Plus is a comprehensive, evidence-based software solution for reading assessment and improvement that develops foundational fluency skills for students of all ages. Reading Plus makes reading comfortable, productive and enjoyable. By addressing the foundational silent reading fluency skills required for students to become proficient, flexible readers, Reading Plus prepares students of all ages with the essential skills they need for academic and vocational success. The silent reading fluency skills developed by Reading Plus improve short term memory, literal understanding, and the rate at which students can read comfortably with excellent comprehension. (Excerpts from Taylor Associates website.) Boost Step Brain Up Gym To Writing Step Up To Writing, improves the writing skills of all students regardless of ability level with multi-sensory, classroom-proven teaching strategies and student writing activities. Students learn to break down the writing process into logical steps; transfer these skills in logic to longer multi-paragraph essays and research reports; utilize these same processes in oral presentations; and write exciting, well-placed narratives. Since content materials lend themselves to teaching critical thinking, Step Up to Writing shows students how to find the logic and relationship of ideas in their textbook reading. Students are then able to: take meaningful and organized notes; think and write critically about material read and studied; and respond clearly to essay questions. (Excerpts from website.) After evaluating thousands of papers at all grade levels, teachers identified Trait common characteristics of good writing. These qualities became the framework for the six-trait analytical model. The Trait model includes ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. Teachers from primary grades through college have embraced the Trait model and not just English teachers, either. The traits are used by teachers of mathematics, science, social I - 3

96 LCRP PROGRAMS studies, foreign language, art, and music or anyone for whom writing is an important part of instruction. (Excerpts from NWREL s website.) I - 4

97 LCRP DEVELOPMENT Appendix II LCRP Development Virginia and I have not invented the wheel. Any time we heard of something working, we went to observe it, figure out why it was working, and add it to our to do list. The key is to keep punching buttons until you find the right buttons for each child. While Virginia and I were working as elementary counselors in Farmington, New Mexico, first grade teacher Mrs. Winters would meet me at the door every day demanding to know why Sheila could not learn to read. I kept telling her the child had failed the Bender Gestalt Perception test. Mrs. Winters would ask, What do we do about it? I don t know, was the reply. While reading everything I could get his hands on, I learned that Dr. Howard Walton, an optometrist in Culver City, California, could correct vision perception problems. After flying to Culver City and talking to Dr. Walton one weekend, I had an answer for Mrs. Winters the next Monday. Dr. Walton had told me about desk height, about the perception and gross motor program developed by the Winter Haven Lions Club Foundation Program in Winter Haven, Florida. Sheila s problems were corrected in six weeks, and she did learn to read. We attended a summer session on Orton-Gillinham Society s multisensory approach taught by Arlene Sonday. In using this approach, children hear a sound, see the letter and trace it with their finger all at the same time. For children with learning problems, this is often a good approach. While Virginia and I were team-teaching Sioux children in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Herbie came into our lives. This boy copied poorly from the chalkboard even though he wore new glasses, which corrected his eye sight to 20/20. We traveled over 20,000 miles that summer trying to learn why Herbie couldn t copy from the chalkboard. Our first stop was a Lions Club in Winter Haven, Florida, where we met Dr. Charles McQuarrie. That club had sponsored over twenty-five years of research in perception and gross motor. The results of this great program are not widely known. Fortunately, this information is now in the library of the Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEP) in Santa Ana, California. We went to the University of Houston School of Optometry, where we visited for a week with Dr. Gordon McKee. We observed in-depth vision screening and vision training programs which were being conducted in public schools. We visited with Dr. Arthur Seiderman in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, to learn about his approach to vision problems in II-I

98 LCRP DEVELOPMENT schools. At Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton, California, we talked again with Dr. Howard Walton and conferred with Doctors John Griffin, Michael Rouse, and Julie Ryan. Everywhere, we kept hearing about one optometrist, Bruce Wick, O.D. PhD., of Rapid City, South Dakota. Finally, we did talk with Dr. Wick, who came to Pine Ridge and screened 420 elementary students. This dedicated specialist went to the teachers armed with the results of his tests and described the classroom and playground behavior of each child. Teachers were so impressed that it was arranged for Virginia to do vision activities with 90 children for 9 weeks. Dr. Wick visited every other week to schedule appropriate activities. The academic improvement was great, but the biggest change was playground behavior, which became nearly hassle-free. I went to a three-day hands-on functional vision workshop for optometrists by Dr. William Ludlum in Hillsboro, Oregon. Dianna Ludlum, his wife, had worked as a resource teacher and psychologist in schools. Both Ludlums were helpful. We visited for two weeks at the State University of New York College of Optometry. Most of our time was spent in the library. Between classes, we visited with Doctors Nathan Flax, Irwin Suchoff, Harold Solan and Martin Birnbaum. This superb experience provided access to a fine library with a wealth of knowledge. Information we thought we were discovering had been published decades earlier. For almost a decade, we tried to replicate for other districts the vision screening and vision training activities program which worked so well at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. We could not. When I realized the work was not receiving the quality of optometric evaluation Dr. Wick had given on the earlier project, I persuaded Dr. Wick to put his testing knowledge on the computer. The first school in which we worked with this computer program was the Rock Springs Catholic Elementary School in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where Mrs. Tracy Zuehlsdorff was principal. I asked Dr. William Ludlum to recommend a good optometrist in Wyoming or Colorado to help with a research project. He recommended Dr. Roger Dowis of Boulder, Colorado. Under the direction or Dr. Dowis, I worked at Nederland Elementary School, Nederland, Colorado, where Don Hanson was principal. About 350 students were screened and vision activities were accomplished with about 100 children. While I was working on the project, I realized tests to evaluate the results did not exist. There were vision tests and there were reading tests, but there were no tests to evaluate children s functional vision as they read for a realistic amount of time. II-2

99 LCRP DEVELOPMENT It was then I designed the Performance-based Vision Stress Test (PVS Test, initially called the Crane-Wick Vision and Hearing Efficiency Test) at Nederland to evaluate results. Subsequently, I administered this test to more than 2,000 children in six states and established norms for each grade level. The PVS Test was first given to 170 students at Bayfield Elementary and Middle School, Bayfield, Colorado, where Don Magill was principal. Dr. Jay Highland and the school nurse used a modified New York State Optometric Association Vision Screening Test to do school vision screening at the same time, so I could compare results of the PVS Test with their results. The PVS Test agreed with the VST Test on 121 students. Forty-five students failed this test but passed the other screening; 31 of these 45 developed symptoms (headaches, blurry vision and so forth) when doing the test. Only four students who failed the school screening passed the PVS Test. None of these four developed symptoms. It is possible that these students may have been suppressing the vision in one eye. Jonnie Kennedy, a fantastic librarian in Green River, Wyoming, told us about Smart But Feeling Dumb by Harold N. Levinson, M.D. This book discusses allergy-triggering learning problems. My brother, Robert Crane, sent me four books: Total Concentration, another book by Dr. Levinson Solving the Puzzle of Your Hard To Raise Child by William Crook, M.D. and Laura Stevens In Bad Taste: The MSG Syndrome by George R. Schwartz, M.D. Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. After Virginia and I retired to southwest Colorado, we felt guilty not sharing our knowledge, so we wrote Buzzards To Bluebirds. After publishing this book in September, 1997, I continued to search for answers to fundamental questions and once again embarked upon research. One burning question had to do with my students going from the bottom of the class to the top. While I was teaching at Wilson Elementary School in Green River Wyoming, the students in 4 th, 5 th, and 6 th grades were ability grouped in reading. The bottom group was taught SRA Corrective Reading, an intensive small group phonics program. After about 120 lessons the students could read anything but still were not competitive in the classroom. My team then placed these students in EDL Learning 100 Controlled Readers (filmstrip projectors) with a moving slot forcing them to read faster and faster. When these students read over 200 words per minute they were competitive in their classes. This is the only time I had ever witnessed the bottom group becoming part of the top group in their class. Many of these students were in the National Honor Society when they graduated from high school. II-3

100 LCRP DEVELOPMENT We contacted Stan Taylor of Taylor and Associates and asked why controlled reading worked so well. Stan invited us to a sales seminar in Denver where we learned about the Visagraph and Stan loaned us a Visagraph for research. A Visagraph is four infrared sensors in a pair of goggles connected to a computer that records eye movement as a person reads. The first project undertaken was graphic proof of the success of Buzzards To Bluebirds vision development activities in reading improvement. Virginia and I developed the Crane Functional Vision Checklist and it was given to grades kindergarten through twelve in the Wray, Colorado school system where a fellow Lion, Bob Selle, was superintendent. I was soon approached by Monica, a high school junior, who put in many long hours to make excellent grades. Aaron, her eighth grader brother, also studied long hours. Monica had sixteen out of seventeen symptoms on the checklist. Monica and Aaron did Buzzards to Bluebirds vision development activities ten minutes a day for two weeks. We Visagraphed them after thirty minutes, sixty minutes, 150 minutes and 200 minutes. The Visagraph documented great gains with the students. The eleventh grader gained 11.6 years in reading efficiency. The eighth grader gained 12.6 years in reading efficiency in thirty days. At that time, I took the Visagraph to Fort Collins High School and tested ten students in Ron Thurston s regular English computer class. The students were told to read as fast as they could using Reading Plus (Controlled Reading on a computer). In 25 days we went back. Most had completed 12 twenty-minute lessons. Gains in reading efficiency ranged from 3.5 years to 7.7 years. Bruce McComas of McComas and Associates, Incorporated, whom we met at a Taylor Associates sales meeting, kept telling us how great Lexia was. Lexia is a set of Orton- Gillingham based computer programs. We went to Rusk Elementary School in Midland, Texas, where the second grade had been on Lexia thirty minutes a day, five days a week for four months. The school also had incorporated Brain Gym into their PE program. Student Hillary Stovall read 427 words per minute with good comprehension. Two of her classmates read nearly as well. All three of these second graders scored at the 12 th grade level on the TerraNova that year. This really raised the educational bar for us. We asked, If this program worked so well with three students why not as well with the other 18? We went back to Midland and gave the Lions Functional Vision Checklist. The more vision stress symptoms (headaches, blurry vision, saw double) the lower the student scored on the TerraNova. We learned fluency is the key to high achievement scores. We visited the New Vision School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which had an innovative gross motor program that got results. The New Vision School contracted with the Minneapolis school district to do a gross motor exercise program with kindergarten students who were II-4

101 LCRP DEVELOPMENT scheduled to be retained. In addition to not being retained in kindergarten, these students were academically in the 83 rd to 89 th percentile in third grade. This is the second time we had seen the bottom academic group become the top group. The program was so successful Minnesota and US Department of Education has funded grants replicating the program. Virginia and I met Judith Bliss, the developer of another Orton-Gillingham based computer phonics program My Reading Coach. In this program a speech therapist on screen presents the sounds and concepts of spelling, reading, grammar, and comprehension. Ocotillo Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona, uses My Reading Coach. We went to the Ocotillo Elementary School and tested the top four and the bottom four-second grade students. In January, these students spoke only Spanish. When we tested them in May, we were amazed to find the top four reading at a 10.5 grade level with good comprehension and the bottom four students calling the words to a first grade story. (Note: This school was selected a Blue Ribbon school by No Child Left Behind in 2004.) In Buzzards To Bluebirds, we stressed vision skill development and medical treatment of allergies for students whose academic progress was obstructed by vision problems or allergies. These strategies are still important for some students. In Reading Problems Resolved, we describe other ways to accomplish similar results while working on academic strategies, which have grown out of our personal experience and research since the writing of Buzzards To Bluebirds. We stress the importance of an eye exam designed to enhance academic performance, an exam using different standards for prescribing glasses. These standards are the result of research by Dr. Bruce Wick and Dr. P. Dwyer (Chapter 7, Page 57) for use by Optometrists and Ophthalmologists. By prescribing glasses to these standards and using quality computer reading programs for eye teaming practice drills, we have found very few students need other vision skill development. Properly fitted glasses seem to relax the focusing systems of students and that lets the alignment system work. Students are usually 18 to 28 inches away from the computer screen and do not have to converge their eyes as closely as they do when using a book. We also stress the importance of gross motor activities, the use of good computer reading programs with headphones and volume control and a good resource library for parents to learn about allergies. With these in place there is much less need for antihistamines. It is generally believed that body movement helps program the brain. Our TV watching kids need lots more motor activity than they are getting. Allen and Virginia Crane II-5

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103 RESOURCES Appendix III Resources For an optometrist Gross Motor Programs Optometric Extension Program Bal-A-Vis-X, Inc Carnegie Ave West Tenth St. N. Suite #3L Wichita, KS Santa Ana, CA Boost Up Fluency Program SMART Curriculum Guide Taylor and Associates Minnesota Learning Resource Center 200-2E. Second Street 1800 Second St. NE Huntington Station, NY Minneapolis, MN Lions Crane Reading Program Lions Templates P O box 2846 Las Cruces, NM Orton-Gillingham Computer Phonics Software Lexia Learning Systems areadingpro@aol.com 2 Lewis St. Lincoln, MA Glasses Sunland Optical 1156 Barranca Dr El Paso, TX My Reading Coach Williams Tucson, AZ Pencil Grips Classroom Direct Fluent Reading Trainer Model Stetro 97-ST100 JRM 440 Williams Costs approximately $19.49 for 100 grips Tucson, AZ For Durable Earphones Best Computer Supply, 895 E.Patriot Blvd., #110, Reno, NV 89511, , Telex Explorer Item Heavy Duty Stereo Headset Item #C , III-I

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105 FORMS Appendix IV Forms IV-I

106 Weekly-monthly report Date: School: Grades: # in School: School Contact: Ph. #: Lion Club Contact: Ph. #: Who Served: At Risk Spec. Ed. Title I All Grade(s) Chair correct height? Feet on floor, thighs parallel to floor? For K-5: For K-12: Desk height as low as possible? Knees under desk? Need help to adjust height of desks? Computer tables as low (i.e., ) as possible? Need help to adjust height of computer tables? # of Computers? Number Working? Monitors Off Computers? Need Help to Repair or Set Up Computers? Lexia working properly? Lexia use per week (Min.)? Need help with Lexia? Reading Plus working properly? Reading Plus use per week (Min.)? Need help with Reading Plus? My Reading Coach working properly? My Reading Coach use per week (Min.)? Need help with My Reading Coach? # Earphones needed? Lions Templates available? Lions Templates use per week (Minutes)? Need help with Lions Templates? Gross Motor being done? Gross Motor per week (Minutes)? Need help with Gross Motor? Writing exercises (Min./week): Kindergarten (Minimum of 100 min./week)? Grades 1-12 (Minimum of 150 min/week)? IV-2

107 Lions Spelling Words IV-3

108 Functional Vision Checklist Developed by Allen and Virginia Crane The Functional Vision Checklist should be filled out by the student with parent or teacher assistance as needed. The Functional Vision Checklist is designed to get schools, students, parents, and vision specialists talking the same language. Everyone sees differently. All vision is learned. Name Grade Date Teacher School Glasses yes no Please assign a value between 0 and 4 for each symptom. 0 = never or non-existent, 1= seldom, 2 = occasionally, 3 = frequently, 4= always 1. I get a headache when I do close work I use a finger or marker to keep my place when I read I can comfortably read for 2 hours or more, 1 hour, 30 minutes, 15 minutes 4. I see double, or cover or close an eye while I read Words move, wiggle, float or jump when I read I get dizzy or sick when I do near work I tilt my head when I read or when I am talking to people I get close to the page when I read or write I lose my place while reading I am slow in copying from the chalkboard I skip words or lines while reading I have trouble understanding what I read I read small words backwards (was-saw) I get tired or sleepy while reading My eyes get tired, itchy, watery or burn when I read Print in a book looks blurry I guess at words Read for pleasure? Always Frequently Occasionally Never 19. Spelling when writing is? Excellent Good Fair Poor The Symptom Severity score is arrived at by adding each column (1=seldom, 2=occasionally, 3=frequently, 4=always) and totaling them. #Symptoms Severity of Symptoms IV-4

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117 APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP LIONS CRANE READING PROGRAM FOUNDATION ******************************************************************************* NAME: ADDRESS: TEL. #: FAX #: LIONS CLUB NAME IF MEMBER: LIONS CLUB ADDRESS: SUBMISSION DATE: DATE APPROVED BY LCRPF BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MEMO TO: BOARD OF DIRECTORS LCRPF Gentlemen: I/We hereby request that I/we be granted membership in the Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation. Signed: No fees are required to become a member of the Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation. However, financial contributions are most sincerely appreciated. Total Amount of Contribution: $ Amount Enclosed: $ Check #: Dates & Amounts of Follow-On Donations: Can donate your time to LCRPF endeavors? YES NO If YES, please attach a sheet describing your area(s) of interest. Our motto is: ALL READING PROBLEMS RESOLVED. Thank-you very much for your interest. Please mail applications to: LCRPF, PO Box 2846, Las Cruces, NM IV-13

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119 CONSTRUCTING A BROCK STRING Appendix V Constructing A Brock String Following are directions for making a Brock String. Purchase the following items from WalMart s hobby section or a hobby store: Popsicle sticks Red and green beads (11mm) #36 nylon string Elmer s School Glue Gel Make a needle point out of one end of the string by putting Elmer s glue on it and twisting. Drill a hole (1/8 inch) in the ends of 20 popsicle sticks. After the glue on the end of the string hardens, thread a Popsicle stick on the string followed by a red bead, a green bead, two Popsicle sticks, a red bead, a green bead, two Popsicles sticks, etc., until 10 sets have been threaded. Pull the string through one set (Popsicle stick, red bead, green bead, Popsicle stick) and cut the string, which should be about 40 inches long. Tie knots (shoestring knot with one extra wrap) in each end. Continue the process for the remaining nine Brock Strings. V-I

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121 Allen & Virginia Crane While the Cranes were working as elementary school counselors in Farmington, NM, first grade teacher Mrs. Winters would meet Allen Crane at the door every day demanding to know why Sheila could not learn to read. Allen kept telling her the child had failed the Bender Gestalt Perception test. Mrs. Winters would ask, What do we do about it? I don t know, was his reply. While reading everything he could get his hands on concerning the subject, Allen Crane learned that Dr. Howard Walton, an optometrist in Culver City, California, could correct vision perception problems. After flying to Culver City and talking with Dr. Walton one weekend, Allen Crane had an answer for Mrs. Winters the next Monday. Dr. Walton had told him about the importance of proper desk height and the perception and gross motor program developed by the Winter Haven Lions Club Foundation in Winter Haven, FL. Sheila s problems were corrected in six weeks, and she did learn to read. For 25 years, the Cranes continued to seek ways to help students become more efficient readers. In 1997 Allen Crane and his wife, Virginia, wrote Buzzards To Bluebirds because they thought they could help at least 70% of students in any classroom learn to read more proficiently. Since 1997, Allen and Virginia have fine-tuned the system and they now believe up to 100 percent of children can be helped to read, write, and think more proficiently, usually in one semester. They have given their program to the Lions Clubs of New Mexico, in the hope it will live forever under the Lions motto We Serve. Lions Clubs in New Mexico have adopted the Lions Crane Reading Program (LCRP), incorporated it (i.e., the Lions Crane Reading Program Foundation), and it has now received a 501c3 status. In 2004, New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson, issued an executive proclamation that designated September 5-11 as LIONS VISION AWARENESS WEEK in the state of New Mexico with emphasis on LCRP. In July 2005, the Cranes were nominated for an award at the Lions International Convention in Hong Kong for the Lions Crane Reading Program being chosen as one of the top three Lions service projects in the world. With over 45,000 Lions Clubs in 193 countries throughout the world, that is quite an honor. The Cranes, together with the Lions Clubs of New Mexico, envision the Lions Crane Reading Program to be a signature project that Lions Clubs all over the world can adopt in an effort to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, global illiteracy. Virginia and Allen Crane with lions clubs international president clem kusiak (center)

122 Reading Problems Resolved by Allen and Virginia Crane is a treasure for truly turning around the lives of many children. Page after page tells how to detect and eliminate various common and some less frequently recognized visual problems that can interfere with the ability of a youngster to learn. It will enable parents and teachers to detect a variety of problems that interfere with reading speed and comprehension-which in turn can affect the rest of a child s life. It provides clues to help detect other common causes of reading problems such as those due to allergies, desk position, etc. It not only provides sensible answers regarding the most common causes of visual difficulties, it provides answers that are practical, affordable, and possible. Every teacher and parent needs this book. This book is needed at an international level to help children all over the world. The Lion s Organization is to be commended for truly helping to create and promote this book so children who have visual and learning problems can be helped to reach their full intellectual potential. What a monumental contribution they have made to our future generations! Dr. Doris Rapp, M.D. Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at SUNY AB and Author of Is this Your Child s World and Our Toxic World. I have been the principal of Central Elementary School in Santa Clara, NM, for two years. When I arrived, the school, which has a 93% Hispanic population and where 100% of the students qualify as economically disadvantaged, was on academic probation with only 28% of its fourth grade students reading proficiently. The school made some adjustments in the delivery of reading instruction and integrated the Lions Crane Reading Program. Last year, the fourth grade students improved to 46% proficient readers. This year, that score increased and the fourth grade students improved to 84% proficient readers. This year the third and fifth grade students were also assessed using the NMSBA and the school as a whole in grades three through fifth is at 76% reading proficient. Central Elementary is ranking 37th out of approximately 447 elementary schools in NM in reading proficiency. José E. Carrillo We have two second grade special education students who are now reading at the fifth grade level after completing the Lions Crane Reading Program. I believe in the program. Anything we can do as a school district to get all of our kids on the program we re going to do. George Peru, Director of Special Education, Cobre School District, NM