Scotopic What?

Do you remember back in the days when there were words like "hyperactive" and "mentally retarded?" Now they have been replaced with more socially accetable terms like "ADHD" and "Cognitively Delayed." I applaud all the people who have worked so hard to take general terms and find specific disabilities - even better, people who find treatments for specific disablilties. Let's face it, 30 years ago or so if you had a child with down syndorome or autism, the recommended treatment was to institutionalize. Now, we keep them in loving homes and they go to public schools so that they can thrive in a positive environment and grow to their fullest potential. I remember my sister struggling severely in school! She was intelligent enough - but yet struggled. In today's society she would have been diagnosed with dyslexia and ADD - but such terms did not exist then. So she was left to make her through school, barely keeping her head above water. So much has been discovered since then... and new things are being discovered all the time.


So, where am I going with this? Some new disorder crossed my desk a few weeks ago called "Scotopic Sensitivity Disorder." One of my students was being tested for it and being a concerned teacher who had never before heard of this, I wanted to read about it so I would know how to help him. As I was reading the symptoms of this disorder it was like the Lord screaming out to me "this is what Zack has!" Suddenly, everything was fitting together like a puzzle. Why he cannot write in cursive. Why he cannot tie his shoes. Why he cannot write on a line. Why he cannot walk on a straight line. Why he is so uncoordinated. Why he makes mistakes copying things. Even, why he has trouble focusing (which we had diagnosed as ADHD). So, I took him last Friday for testing and the results absolutely fascinated me. Apparently, everything in his peripheral vision continually moves (he explained it as swimming like a fish.) So everything off to his sides is...well...wiggling. No wonder the poor kid has trouble focusing - the only way he can stop the wiggling is to look in that direction.


Now, here is the strangest part. Do you know how they treat this? Color! Apparently, as she tried to explain to me, we all are supposed to see the spectrum of colors (like the rainbow). But for some, they lack seeing certain colors which affects the way their brains see things. By adding this missing color to their vision, it corrects the distortions that they see. Some, who have only direct vision affected, can be treated with colored paper for assignments or color overlays for reading. But for others, like Zack, whose peripheral vision is affected, they need colored lenses in glasses or contacts. And the closest place he can get those are in Minneapolis. So now we have to make plans to make that trip and, hopefully, make life a whole lot easier for my little Zack.