Confidence

It’s been a whirlwind of weeks lately. On top of the steep learning curve I have been on reading everything I can about brain development and vision problems, we’ve also celebrated my sister’s wedding to a wonderful man. The union took place in Maui, Hawaii with most of his very large extended family in attendance. Now, you might be wondering how being in Hawaii with a lot of unfamiliar people plays into Kathryn’s vision development. Oh but it does.

The first weekend after Kathryn started wearing her prism glasses I was lucky enough to be able to spend a lot of time with her. Mostly just regular weekend stuff running to and fro in the minivan, but it gave me a chance to really listen to what she was saying. And she was really into puns and jokes. Ones that actually had a hint of humor in them. You see, Kathryn like any other developing child at some point “gets” jokes are supposed to be funny. They set it up and deliver a fail of a punch line. And in order to avoid pointing out failure, a good parent goes along with the joke and chuckles, “That’s a good one!” Somewhere along the developmental timeline the relationship between the set up and the punch line becomes cognizant and humor is developed.

Additionally, a child begins to distinguish between real and imaginary. That was another topic of conversation during our excursions. You see, on our kid friendly radio station the disc jockey was interviewing a popular cartoon character. A disconnect occurred. I can only hope that this how it played out inside her brain. “This person who I have seen on the radio website is talking to a character from one of my favorite shows but those two people are different. Is Doofenshmirtz real?” Here’s my take on the sudden newfound humor and realizations – She doesn’t have to “think” so much about her environment because now she has clear sight. Her cortex can tend to higher level functioning like humor, real vs. imaginary, and hopefully all the other school related learning she has missed out on.

We attended the School Open house where we got to speak briefly to her teachers. They noticed that she has displayed more confidence since wearing her glasses. I can only imagine that school tasks are so much easier now that she can see clearly. In the past she was always a hesitant child, always unsure of her expectations. Now she is easily able to understand her expectations because she no longer has to concentrate on interpreting her blurry world. A confident child comes out.

And speaking of confidence…how many adults avoid public speaking? Well, we attended a Rehearsal Dinner during our visit to Hawaii. As expected the fathers of the intended gave a few remarks on the couple as did other friends and relations. When my brother-in-law’s niece, about the same age as Kathryn, gave a small speech, Kathryn looked at me and said, “I want to say something too!” This is in a room full of more than 50 strangers! My little Kathryn who clings to me like Velcro and she wanted to speak and she did! It was short and sweet and not quite loud enough, but it was her idea.

That was just the beginning. The following evening at the wedding Kathryn was off with her “cousins” and new friends, the harpist, servers, and disc jockey. I had very little interaction with her all evening. This is my shadow we are talking about. In the past at parties or other large events she stuck beside me for a good three-quarters of the evening, just about when the party was wrapping up and then she would feel comfortable enough to experience the event independently. Confidence.

Today we will attend a follow up appointment with our Developmental Optometrist, Dr. Collier. I am hoping to have many questions answered. Yeah right. Answers from Dr. Collier just lead to more research, leading to more questions. But it’s all good because I am learning what I can do to help my daughter. I’m hoping to acquire a Primitive Reflexes Program. Again I am still so confused by this area of brain development. Chances are her problems have resulted in an underdeveloped cerebellum. The cerebellum is responsible for receiving input from all the senses and then directing motor control.  Here is a well produced video from www.brainhighways.com about how children deal with cerebellum development delays.