Students are frequently referred for a speech and language screening due to teacher reports that "they just don't listen."
Ruling out any hearing loss, behavioral issues and true language challenges, let's discuss why this is most likely not the case. Our vestibular systems are responsible for providing our brain with information about motion, head position, spatial orientation and motor functions such as balance and head stabilization. The eyes and the ears are connected, do you turn down the radio when you're lost?!
Academic tasks that require moving eyes and coordination can manifest as attentional symptoms, therefore look like a student "just can't listen" when in reality they're having difficulty focusing with their eyes.
- Visual Fixations: sustained focus
- Tracking: following a moving object
- Con/Divergence: shifting gaze from teacher to work
- Quick Localization: visual attention shifts in space to monitor
- Saccades: attentional shifts needed to read/monitor
When a student is having difficulty using their eyes they will start to utilize other parts of their body. Eye strain/fatigue will bring in the use of their head/neck/back, and cause postural deficits. Resource allocation means that they are on output NOT input, which is essential for absorbing information for academic tasks.
There are plenty of simple activities to incorporate into your speech and language sessions to support visual skills:
Eye Found it
The 6 foot board game is a collaborative style game where players work together to all reach the castle before the clock strikes midnight. Students can follow directions, target vocabulary (I use the Expanding Expressions Tool (EET) to describe the items on the card) and answer WH questions.
The compact card game is a fast pace competitive search and find activity. Students race to see who can find the objects on their cards. When the object is found, a new card is flipped and play continues.
PROMPT Lexicon: I see it, I did it, I am, me, I do, character names (Pooh, Woody...), Counting numbers
Hiding Break
Fighting eye fatigue after many hours of screen time can help regulate students (and teachers!)
Students can use their hands or cover themselves in a blanket. Keeping eyes open and staring into the blackness will bring better benefit for eye fatigue.
*IMPORTANT: Make sure students wash their hands prior to putting them over their eyes.
Hit the Hat
The hammers have suction cups and the hats are different shapes, patterns with blue or red borders. Students roll the dice and race to locate the correct hat. Game can be modified to eliminate boarder color for more winners. Students can take turns rolling the dice and describing the hats for others to find.
PROMPT Lexicon: hat, hit, did, it
Track Slow Objects
Use bubbles, balloons or juggling scarves in sessions to support visual and language needs.
Keepy Uppy: Have students tap a balloon to keep it up in the air
Bubble Pop: weighted wand for popping bubbles slowly (duct tape a small weight to the end of a stick)
Throw and catch juggling scarves
PROMPT Lexicon: /ah/ (want, exclaim excitement, again), /mm/ (more, me), bop, pop, go, oh-no
Vision Boost
Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds to keep your eyes healthy. A vision boost is an easy way to accomplish this task.
One arm straight, one arm bent and shift your eye gaze (ONLY your eyes, no moving your head) from near to far points 20 times and then switch your hands and do another 20 looks.
