About Us Mission
The Picciano Method™ How
We Differ Validation
BRM was 10 year old girl when she entered the program. She is an intelligent child with a happy personality. She has a sister and brother, both of whom are sighted. Her parents are also sighted.
BRM has been blind since birth due to retinal injury as a result of oxygenation therapy following premature birth. As a consequence of her blindness, BRM has faced a number of physical, academic and personal development challenges. At the start of her ISP training™, she lacked proprioceptive skills with respect to movement of arms, legs and torso. Her movement was further impaired with respect to lifting her elbows, bending over, and zipping her jacket because of intense muscular inflexibility in various regions of her body. She demonstrated poor balance, coordination and strength and she had poor skills with respect to spatial orientation. She had a number of severe blindisms and a pronounced rapid eye movement.
At a more functional level, BRM was unable to tie her shoes, use the telephone, tell time, use a calculator or count money. She exhibited a stereotypical walking pattern for those with vision impairment (head down, bent over stiff upper body and on the front of her feet). Her words were poorly articulated and she had difficulties making friends and socializing with respect to body language, body orientation, eye contact, engaging in conversation, violating others' space and following rules of social behavior. Her self-management and environmental management skills in her classroom and lunch line were minimal as well as her ability to focus on the teacher during classroom instruction.
Academically, BRM had short-term memory difficulties and an inability to develop and understand conceptual relationships. Her writing and reading skills were poorly developed as were her "sequencing" skills in writing, mathematics and relaying events.
ISP Training™ sessions with BRM took place during school hours for a duration of 45 minutes per session. An average of three sessions were held every two weeks for three consecutive semesters. During this time, the issues listed above were prioritized and addressed in systematic fashion.
As a result of this training, each of these difficulties was resolved with the exception of her blindisms and rapid eye movement. These conditions will be addressed in future sessions along with any other needs and challenges that may arise. Additionally, she will be given training to learn personal and academic self-management skills. These skills, along with more advanced academic training will be strengthened and applied through an enrichment program that is offered as part of The Picciano Method™.