Paed Rabeen

"Gillian is a seven-year-old girl who cannot sit still in school. She continually gets up, gets distracted, flies with thoughts, and doesn't follow lessons. Her teachers worry about her, punish her, scold her, reward the few times that she is attentive, but nothing. Gillian does not know how to sit and cannot be attentive.

When she comes home, her mother punishes her too. So not only does have bad grades and punishment at school, but she also suffers from them at home.

One day, Gillian's mother is called to school. The lady, sad as someone waiting for bad news, takes her hand and goes to the interview room. The teachers speak of illness, of an obvious disorder. Maybe it's hyperactivity or maybe she needs a medication.

During the interview another teacher arrives who knows the little girl. He asks all the adults, mother and colleagues, to follow him into an adjoining room from where she can still be seen. As he leaves, he tells Gillian that they will be back soon and turns on an old radio with music.

As the girl is alone in the room, she immediately gets up and begins to move up and down chasing the music in the air with her feet and her heart. The teacher smiles as the colleagues and the mother look at him between confusion and compassion, as is often done with the old. So he says:

'See? Gillian is not sick, Gillian is a dancer!'

He recommends that her mother take her to a dance class and that her colleagues make her dance from time to time. She attends her first lesson and when she gets home she tells her mother:

'Everyone is like me, no one can sit there!'

In 1981, after a career as a dancer, opening her own dance academy and receiving international recognition for her art, Gillian Lynne became the choreographer of the musical 'Cats.'

Hopefully all 'different' children find adults capable of welcoming them for who they are and not for what they lack.

Long live the differences, the little black sheep and the misunderstood. They are the ones who create beauty in this world." - Run Wild My Child

"You can actually boost your baby’s brain development by making eye contact. Studies show that when a baby makes eye contact with his parents, their brain waves synchronize and a child’s social learning is improved.⁣
⁣So take a few minutes several times a day, put aside distractions, and make eye contact with your little one.⁣
⁣Young babies may only maintain eye contact for a brief moment. You can’t force it. It’s best to try and connect when your baby has a full tummy and is well-rested."⁣
⁣

⁣

Vision development in the first year of life

Babies learn to see over a period of time, much like they learn to walk and talk. They are not born with all the visual abilities they need in life. The ability to focus their eyes, move them accurately, and use them together as a team must be learned. Also, they need to learn how to use the visual information the eyes send to their brain in order to understand the world around them and interact with it appropriately.

Ensure your baby’s visual development is on track by scheduling a no-cost InfantSEE assessment today!

Optometry Cares - The AOA Foundation American Optometric Association Ohio Optometric Association