My 9 y/o dd is so scared to even dance - weak visual-spatial skills - please help

[momsuz123]

My oldest dd is 9. She completed 9 months of VT and did have some good success. Her scores for the most part shot up a lot. She tested out in some areas as one of the worst kiddos they have ever seen. This surprised me because we also found out she is gifted (mostly in abstract reasoning and verbal skills) - so in a way a 2E (I think).

 

She wants to dance, I don't force her to. But yet, she cries, literally cries before dance because she is so scared. She is in OT for weak visual spatial skills. She literally was breaking bones (in 4 casts last year), because she had no body awareness, etc.Her OT said she would be a better soccer player while on a roller coaster because she has such poor input coming into her system. When she spins in a circle (on their astronaut board), her eyes have no nystagmus - no reflex at all.

 

Any suggestions of how I can help this little kiddo? I told her I wish I could see the world through her eyes to see what it is like. I am wondering what other vision things we can do to address this.

 

Thanks - and yeah, she is one of the reasons I posted the question about the master list of VT games.

[PeterPan]

nt

[Plink]

((Suz))

 

My dd is very similar. We found a great dance class after a bit of searching. The key for us was to find a group that wasn't focused on performance - their goal is to encourage the kids to love dance. They have a beautiful diversity in their classes, even including hearing impaired students. Great teachers are out there, shop around and ask how they handle their less capable students. I've heard that some even offer special classes for older girls to focus on the skills usually seen in the younger classes (balance, rhythm, etc.)

 

Be bold in asking for what you need.

 

~ We also do swimming and cross country skiing to help with balance and coordination.

[momsuz123]

Thanks Ladies - I knew you could help me out here. The trouble is, she loves musical theater - and is really quite good at it, except for the dancing part. When she was a lead orphan in Annie - when the girls are going left, she is going right. She told me that she wanted me to sign her up for a dance class (her younger sister is taking the same class, yes, complete with the recital after 7 months). I really tried to actually DISCOURAGE her from signing up because I was afraid it was going to be TOO much of a dance class for her. She started off in a class with 8-10 y/o's. She had some good friends in it. After the tears started - then we were able to get her into her sister's class of 5-7 y/o's. I thought this was going to help her, but not too much. Poor kiddo.

Swimming, yes, she loves that in the summer here. Hmmm...what other sports?

[amo_mea_filiis.]

My dd has no nystagmus with spinning, but is the opposite of your dd. mine could (and does!) spin all day. My ds has severe reactions to spinning, and his eyes jump all over the place. They both spin and swing a lot in therapy.

 

Does she like spinning and swinging?

 

I'm hoping to get ds to tolerate a regular swing this summer. So far he swings on his belly or in a handicapped swing (the type that support your whole body).

 

Have you considered martial arts? Horseback riding? Rock climbing?

 

Have you read any sensory processing disorder books? The out of sync child and the out of sync child has fun are both really good. The everything parents guide to sensory processing disorder (or sensory integration dysfunction) is another one i like.

 

A little too much time on a playground or indoor play place could help, too.

[Dmmetler]

Can you find a dance therapist? Or maybe a college dance therapy program that might need kids for dance therapy majors to practice on?

 

One of the single, best things that ever was done for me (Visual-spatial perception skills off the bottom of the scale, plus mild CP) was that I had a couple of years of ballet classes with kids a few years younger than me, coupled with private sessions with a dance therapist. (I was short and small enough that it wasn't obvious I was older). The two were able to work together to give me a really good experience and also helped my balance and coordination quite a bit.

 

Another possibility might be a world dance class-those tend to be less performance focused and might be a better fit for her.