This first video is Lyra finding braille “a” letters that are hidden within a line of full braille cells. The first page only has one “a” and the second page has three. The second video is of her identifying print letters and then writing her name.
Lyra is “reading” her storybook, Quiet Loud by Leslie Patricelli. Here are the words from the story, in case you can’t understand what she is saying.
Whispering is quiet. Screaming is LOUD.
Crayons are quiet. Pots and pans are LOUD.
Fishies are quiet. Doggies are LOUD.
Thinking is quiet. Singing is LOUD.
Snow is quiet. Rainstorms are LOUD. (She skipped this page)
Slippers are quiet. Mommy’s shoes are LOUD.
Sniffles are quiet. Sneezes are LOUD.
Turtles are quiet. Monkeys are LOUD
Birds are quiet. Airplanes are LOUD.
Libraries are quiet. Playgrounds are LOUD.
Naptime is quiet. Playtime is LOUD.
More quiet things: pillow, bunny, plant, ant, cloud, snail, teddy bear
More LOUD things: drum, horn, rooster, fire truck, teakettle, alarm clock, burp(Lyra called this, “baby doll”)
Last month at her big brother’s birthday party, Lyra got to go roller skating. She did surprisingly well for her first attempt at skating. I expected her to be scared or at least more hesitant because of all the other skaters zooming by. She had a blast!
This is a video of Lyra with her TVI doing a color sorting/matching activity. They are using colored bears and boats. I recently did some Christmas shopping for Lyra and found a similar toy/game. It also includes cards used for learning to recognize and make patterns. For more information you can click on the product link below.
Color Clown Sort and Pattern Kit
Over the last couple of days, Lyra has had this AWESOME new game/activity to play with. Her TVI brought it with her to her last visit and now we are “trying it out” to see if it is something we would want to buy. See the video above to watch Lyra in action.
This game, toy, activity, or whatever you want to call it is called Toddler Make-a-Match. There are a variety of learning activities you can do with it, each having a different level of difficulty. All of the items needed for the activities are provided, including 12 pairs of objects, 12 silhouette cards, 12 outline cards, 3 blue baskets, and the instructions/activity suggestions. (more…)
Normally Lyra’s TVI and OT come separately. Lately they have been coming for visits together to try and work with Lyra outside where she is less familiar with the environment. However, the last two Tuesday’s when they have come, it has been raining outside.
I post a lot of videos of Lyra. I do this not just to entertain, but also to support my overall purpose of starting this site. I’m not sure if they really HELP other parents of children with albinism. I hope that for NEW parents of a child with albinism, watching these videos gives them comfort. I want encourage them and show them that everything is going to be okay. By seeing how happy, and NORMAL, and silly, and beautiful Lyra is, maybe they will worry a little less, smile a little more and have hope for their child’s future.
This past spring, our family attended an event at our local Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired called Literacy Lollapalooza. This all day workshop type event included a variety of sessions designed to promote literacy in children with visual impairments. One of the activities that was talked about in a couple of the sessions was making your own book, specifically making a book about something in your childs life, an “experience book.” You could write a book about a visit to grandma’s or a trip to the zoo. You could make a book about a daily routine like making dinner or bath time. You can draw the pictures for your book, use real photographs or even cut pictures out of ads and magazines. Let your child help as much as possible by drawing or pasting pictures, putting pages in order, even providing the words for the story by telling you what a picture is about. (more…)
Most parents know how hard it can be to get your child to “perform” on command, but I decided to give it a shot. Here is Lyra showing off some of the words she’s learned over the last couple of months. She has been receiving regular speech therapy for the last month. Lyra even mentions her speech therapists name, Scott, in the video…hmmmmm… I swear it was just a coincidence.
This is my attempt at zooming in on Lyra’s eyes so that you can see the degree/severity of her nystagmus. I apologize for my crappy camcorder skills. Between me not holding the camera steady and Lyra’s wiggling, it’s hard to know what shaking is actually her nystagmus. Every once in a while I was able to catch her holding still with her eyes wide open. Look for those moments and then you should see her nystagmus.
The first part of the video was filmed in the early afternoon and the second half was right before her bedtime. Sometimes her nystagmus is more noticeable when she is tired. See if you can tell a difference. I couldn’t.
Nevermind my singing…LOL… I promise I really do have a degree in music education.
This is an older video, but it’s a good one to have on here for everyone to see. This is of one of Lyra’s first few sessions, either 3rd or 4th, with her Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) and Occupational Therapist (OT). She is 5 and a half months old. Her TVI and OT always came together for Lyra’s sessions for about the first 6 weeks.
These are the kinds of things that Daddies teach their babies… You can never have too many videos of Lyra. : ) This is her showing off her new trick; and then later, just plain showing off. Here are the lyrics to the song she is attempting to sing. It is our special version of ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ that we learned from Lyra’s teacher, Miss Kim.
Row row row your boat
Gently to the shore
If you see a lion
Don’t forget to roar…ROARRR!
Row row row your boat
Gently down the stream
If you see an alligator
Don’t forget to scream…AHHHH!