[blindkid] Suggestions for keeping a child from injuring his own eyes

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all,
Stephanie didn't mention whether or not her friend's son with autism
is also blind, but his behavior doesn't really sound like the milder
forms of "eye poking" or "eye pressing" more commonly associated with
blindness (which others of you have commented on). Since I am a
(semi-recovering) eye poker myself, and have corresponded over the
years with several blind adults and parents of blind children who have
this issue, I can offer a few comments on eye poking.
>From what I've observed (and experienced myself) eye poking tends to
be a habit that presents itself early in infancy and is associated
with certain eye conditions more than others. I have never seen bright
lights or anything else when I have done it. In my experience the
poking is an automatic, almost reflexive action and although I have
learned to control it to a large degree, it has taken a lot of effort
and motivation to do so. I wouldn't necessarily say it is a "soothing"
behavior either because I do not do it deliberately or on purpose when
I am stressed. The best explanation I can offer is that sometimes my
eyes just feel a little "off" or out of balance and I think that on an
unconscious level, putting some pressure on the eyeball or around the
eye restores the feeling of balance. I suspect that young babies who
poke their eyes initially do so by accident and then experience some
kind of reward (again, at a neurological level, below conscious
awareness) and then continue to do it to obtain the same positive
sensations. Because it is so automatic, traditional
behavior-modification systems (like giving a child a reward for not
poking) have only limited effectiveness because it is so difficult to
be constantly checking oneself for this kind of automatic behavior.
I have heard that many parents give their kids glasses to inhibit eye
poking and this can be effective, especially for older kids who
actually want to stop, because the glasses create a barrier and make
it harder to touch one's eyes. They can be less effective for young
children who may just pull them off or put their hand between the
glasses and their eyes. I have also heard of one blind man who
discovered that he could stop himself from poking his eyes by pressing
on his eyebrow. I suspect that the best long-term solution will be the
invention of a pair of specialized glasses that puts pressure on the
right spots to trigger the neurological response without causing eye
damage or having the social consequences of eye poking. We really know
very little about eye poking and it would be useful to conduct some
high-quality research into its causes and potential interventions.
Best,
Arielle

On 2/16/12, Carol Castellano <carol.joyce.castellano at gmail.com> wrote:
> I wonder if the positive behavioral support method might help, where
> you analyze what happens immediately prior to the child's behavior to
> see what sets it off and what the child might be trying to
> communicate via the behavior.
>
> Carol
>
> Carol Castellano
> President, Parents of Blind Children-NJ
> Director of Programs
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> 973-377-0976
> carol_castellano at verizon.net
> www.blindchildren.org
> www.nopbc.org
>
> At 01:13 PM 2/15/2012, you wrote:
>>A friend of mine has a child with severe autism.  Last week, he hit
>>his eyes so hard that he lost vision in the left and had to have
>>surgery to restore some of the vision in the right.  Now she's
>>worried about how to keep him from injuring his eye again. Any suggestions?
>>Thank you.
>>Stephanie Kieszak-Holloway
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