Improving Eye Gaze Communication Through Ocular Movements Exercises

Heather Crossman, B.App.Sc. (Orth) La Trobe, DOBA

A thirteen year old girl with severe athetoid cerebral palsy, visual and intellectual disabilities was given a series of exercises in maintenance of fixation and saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements. The aim of the exercises was to give her improved control of eye movements to enable her to access an eye gaze communication board. The exercises were performed daily as part of her school programme with measurements of fixation and refixation time being taken twice weekly. Results showed an improvement in both measurements, however fluctuations were obvious with fatigue, illness and varying levels of co-operation.