Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Syntonics - The Blue/Green light

I have just finished 7 nights using the Blue/Green light. I can't say there have been any really noticible improvements, but I have had a couple of therapists mention they thought I was holding eye contact a bit longer than usual and Mummy has noticed that twice I have gone to sleep on my right side - I am ALWAYS a left side sleeper. Tonight I start the next step which is mixing in some Lemon light.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Syntonic Phototherapy

Tonight was my third night of trying a new therapy called "Syntonic Phototherapy".

My current syntonic phototherapy programme needs to be done once a day 7 days a week for 28 days. Each session is 20 mins. I need to be in a completely dark room and look at a coloured light. This sounds easier than it really is. The light needs to be 50cm from my face in my line of sight. So Mummy and Daddy have been waiting for me to go to sleep and positioning the box so it is where it needs to be.

I don't need to have my eyes open for this therapy to work. You can see light through your eyelids when your eyes are closed. Just like if someone shines a torch in your eyes or you close them because the sun is in them, you can still see  the light.

For week 1 I look at a Blue/Green light for 20 mins.
For week 2 this changes to a Blue/Green light for 15 mins and a Lemon light for 5 mins.
Week 3 and 4 are still Blue/Green for 10 mins and Lemon for 10 mins.

Gradually I will move towards red lights.

This therapy makes a difference to some people, but some people it makes no difference at all. It has even been recorded to aid with sleeping and skin conditions!

I have yet to see any differences with my vision, but it is only day 3 of 28 days with a Blue/Green light!


 This is what the light looks like, It comes from a little rectangle box with a round light, and a coloured slide slots in the top to change the colour.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Lesley Vedelago

When I was first diagnosed with having Cerebral Palsy I was referred to an opthamologist (a specialist that works with eye disorders and diseases) who diagnosed me with Cortical Visual Impairment. We weren't given much information about what it actually is. We were told that there was nothing wrong with my eyes physically and that my trouble with my vision was a brain issue. There was nothing they could really do to help. I was told that I might have good days and bad days and my vision might continue to improve until I was about 8 years old.

I had heard a few good things about a lady called Lesley Vedelago. She is an optometrist that works with eyes and their connection to the brain.

We had a fairly lengthy evaluation with Lesley a couple of weeks ago and she determined that I was long sighted and for me to see anything it would have to be extremely magnified. She prescribed glasses, visual exercises  and something called Syntonic Phototherapy. The glasses were ready for us to collect today but they were accidently sent in with a pink frame! They are being swapped for blue frames and I should have them early next week.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Results on the CPL food trial

The high calorie food trial has finished. I can't say that it really helped me with any weight gain, although perhaps it meant that I only needed to eat smaller portions of food. At first when I ate it I was a bit surprised with the smoothness. I am used to something a bit "chunkier" because I am learning to chew now.

The vegetable lentil flavour was ok. I barely noticed it when it was mixed in my food and I could eat it on its own if I was really hungry.

The Banana Smoothy had a funny taste. I didn't like this on its own at all and to eat it Mummy had to mix it in with yoghurt. She couldn't mix much in because it had a VERY strong flavour. We didn't use much of this one. It really put me off my food when it was mixed in.

We also found that if I had more than a couple of packets in a few days it would give me a touch of the runs. We discussed this with our speech therapist who was coordinating this with the dietician and she said that it had occurred in a few children too. Perhaps because it contained a lot of essential oils.