Preparation Phase
1. Fix or Hold the Ball
First, you need to ensure that the Marsden Ball is in a proper swinging position. If possible, use appropriate tools to fix the Marsden Ball to the ceiling. Make sure it is firmly fixed to avoid the ball falling during the swinging process, which could cause danger. If you can’t fix the ball to the ceiling, then arrange for someone to help. Let that person hold the rope so that the ball can be stably suspended in the air. The key point is to make the height of the swinging ball level with the patient’s eyes. This ensures that the patient can clearly see the ball during the subsequent operations.
2. Wear Glasses
Decide whether to wear glasses according to the color of the ball. If you are using a ball of a color other than red and green, such as a white or yellow ball, you can skip this step. However, if the ball is of a color that needs to be used in conjunction with glasses, you should prepare red – green glasses or other types of anaglyph glasses for the patient. Ensure that the glasses are worn comfortably and firmly and won’t easily slip off during use.
Treatment Phase
3. Start the Ball Swinging
Gently push the Marsden Ball to make it start swinging naturally. Pay attention to using moderate force when pushing. Avoid pushing too hard, which may cause the ball to swing with too large an amplitude or too fast a speed. Also, don’t push too lightly, or the ball won’t swing smoothly. After the ball starts swinging, observe its swinging trajectory and amplitude to ensure it is in a relatively stable and appropriate state.
4. Press the Letter
Arrange a person to participate in this process. This person needs to observe the swinging ball and then loudly announce a letter on the ball that they intend to press. After announcing the letter, quickly use their hand to touch the corresponding letter on the ball and gently push the ball away with the force of the touch. The purpose of this is to make the patient’s eyes follow the movement of the ball and at the same time focus on identifying the letters on the ball, which helps to exercise vision and attention.
Repetition and Adjustment
5. Repeat the Operation
Follow the above step of pressing the letter and pushing the ball, and continue for 1 – 2 minutes. During this process, try to maintain the coherence and regularity of the operation. If the ball swings faster and faster, making it difficult to accurately identify the letters or press the corresponding positions, you should promptly use your hand to gently catch the ball to stop it from swinging. Then push the ball again to restart the swinging, but there is no need to restart the timer. Just continue the treatment with the remaining time.
