Episode Details

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Keywords

astronaut training, sensory integration, visual skills, functional vision, visual tracking, binocular vision, cognitive skills, visual memory
Summary

In this conversation, Sam Berne discusses various techniques and methods used in occupational therapy, particularly focusing on astronaut training and its components, including vestibular activation, ocular motor skills, and auditory processing. He emphasizes the importance of visual skills in functional vision, including visual tracking, accommodation, and binocular vision, and how these skills are essential for reading and spatial awareness. The conversation also covers cognitive skills such as visual memory, form perception, and spatial orientation, highlighting their significance in learning and everyday activities.
Takeaways

Astronaut training incorporates sensory motor integration techniques.
Vestibular activation is crucial for spatial awareness.
Visual tracking is essential for reading and learning.
Binocular vision enhances depth perception and spatial IQ.
Visual accommodation is important in sports and daily activities.
The cover test helps assess visual coordination.
Visual memory plays a key role in learning processes.
Form perception is vital for recognizing objects in different contexts.
Spatial orientation aids in understanding relationships in space.
Visual closure is important for problem-solving and comprehension.

Sound Bites

“It’s a wonderful sensory motor integration.”
“Visual tracking is so important with reading.”
“Binocular vision is super important.”
“The cover test is a way to do this.”
“Visual memory is essential for learning.”
Chapters

00:00 Understanding Astronaut Training Techniques
05:53 Exploring Visual Skills and Functional Vision
11:49 Enhancing Visual Tracking and Accommodation
18:10 The Importance of Binocular Vision
24:06 Cognitive Skills and Visual Memory

Sam Berne (00:00.236)
All right. So in the astronaut training, this is an occupational therapy technique where they’re working with sensory motor integration and there’s three components. There’s the vestibular activation. So that’s where when you rotate them around you’re stimulating that inner ear number two, it’s ocular motor meaning it’s visual. So it’s eye tracking and gaze stabilization.

So getting me to be able to focus and hold my gaze that improves my visual motor integration like hand-eye coordination or copying from the board stuff like that. And then the third component and the astronaut training is auditory processing integration. So you can use sound and rhythm to help the brain process spatial awareness. So

I find I like to do this with every kid, but especially with autism, developmental delays, autism spectrum, Asperger’s, brain injury, people with dizziness, vertigo, balance. So what you’re doing is either using a rotating board or you can use a chair, something you can spin and you’re monitoring the direction speed and duration.

To over stimulate. some of these kids if you try to do too much of the astronaut training it over stimulates them. Now you can use a pen light or moving objects or visual tracking tools and then also they’re listening something sometimes you can pair it with you know, by by urinal beats or you know some like in here.

We use the so cord. Now, the reason why we call it astronaut training is because in NASA and astronaut training protocols, they would work a lot with the vestibular system, especially in different g