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JuliaT
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| Posted: June 06 2008 at 3:58pm | IP Logged
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We saw a reading a specialist this week due to my ds's slow progress with reading. We saw her on Mon. and she gave my ds an assessment. She came again yesterday and talked just to me about what her findings were as well as a reading plan to implement with my ds.
Her findings were what I had always suspected but I was hoping that I was wrong. She says he has visual processing disorder. He also has visual motor issues as well as memory problems. She suggested that we take him to a developmental optometrist (I think that is the proper term) for a vision test.
There are two developmental optometrists in our province. The one looks like it is a pretty basic test. From my understanding, they give you a CD which tells you how to help your child. The cost is $250 total.
The other optomestrist's checklist is more intricate and detailed. If, from the test, it is decided that vision therapy is needed then we would need to go once a week for ten weeks. The cost is $650 total.
I am so overwhelmed right now I don't know what to do with all of this information. My initial reaction is to take the cheaper test as it will take less time on my part. But seeing that my ds has more problems than just a visual processing problem I am wondering if it would be better for him to see the other, more expensive, optometrist.
Has anyone here had vision therapy for their children? Was it helpful? How much time did it take on your part at home. I would love to hear others experience in this area.
Thanks,
Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)
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momtimesfour
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| Posted: June 06 2008 at 4:12pm | IP Logged
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 I have no idea about this, but I'm betting you need a hug.
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Anneof 5
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| Posted: June 06 2008 at 5:19pm | IP Logged
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This is something I am considering for my ds right now, also. My dd15 went through it several years ago and it was a free eval and she went through I think 38 weeks of once a week therapy at a cost of $4800, not covered by insurance. We also had daily homework for about 30 minutes/day. I think she actually needed more therapy or some type of remedial follow-up as these vision defecits caused her to not progress accademically as she should have. The clinic we went to has revamped their program and now the 3 hour eval is still free but more thorough. They also have some remedial follow-up available but I am not sure if that is part of the program or something to pick and choose when therapy is over. There is a lot of discussion about vision therapy on the Well Trained Mind special needs board (is it OK to say that?) and I actually did a search on that board and I am working my way through all of the posts on it before I decide whether or not to have him evaluated. There is a gentleman on that board who works closely with a developmental optometrist and answers questions all the time. I am leaning heavily toward having ds evaluated at this time.
Anne
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ALmom
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| Posted: June 19 2008 at 4:30am | IP Logged
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Julia:
We have had vision therapy for 5 of our 6 children so we identify with the sticker shock. I will say it is best to go with someone who really knows what they are doing. We had our dd tested locally and they found very little. The suggested activities were utterly frustrating for both of us and didn't work - well beyond the frustration of the therapy that actually worked. We went to a developmental optometrist 3 hours away and we had both an accurate assessment and very good support to correct our difficulties.
We started out with severe deficits - I forget the whole gamut of visual issues but they did include visual form, visual memory, physical muscle weakness in the muscles that point the eyes, monocularity (forget what the technical description was at the time but basically 4 of these children did not use their eyes together), convergence insufficiencies, two of them definitely did not cross midline or coordinate both sides of the body together and on and on.
By way of encouragement, the therapy was worth all the effort and expense. We saw a certain blossoming before our eyes, so while we pulled our hair out doing therapy at times, and certainly stressed over the financial aspects (we did one child at a time for reasons of stress, time and money)and worried about how late we detected the problem in 2, still we got to experience seeing the world anew from the eyes of a child who was finally seeing correctly. There were many moments of utter frustration and exhaustion but just as many (usually right after you think you are not going to cope with anything else)moments of celebration and excitement. Our children gained in areas that we never even suspected were related.
Some sites that might be of help to you:
pavevision.org
They have a list somewhere on the site that tells you exactly what should be tested for and what to look for in an optometrist. I know our developmental optometrist spent time actually working with our child in the assessment and then referred each upstairs for additional testing (at least 2 hours worth for each child). Obviously we did different children on different days - usually getting one tested when someone in therapy was being evaluated for progress. He or his in house therapist spent quite a bit of time making sure we understood the tests and test results and how to work with our child at home. We did do vision therapy 2 days per week for 36 sessions for each child and with many noted vast improvement by the 4th session - and then had moments where we actually thought things were worse (because our children were starting to complain about what they saw when they never had before) when they were really improving.
We do have one child who seems to have more than just vision at the root of things. However even with this child, whole world opened up once the eye therapy was done and we are so glad we did it. We are looking at trying to do some other things and were impressed with what we saw on diannecraft.org . I'm hoping to get the program book and use it myself (at $40 I cannot lose with this as a supplement). Our therapist noted that some folks, especially those with visual memory difficulties seemed to find vision therapy easier with some sort of work like what developmentalists do. Wish we'd known about this when we started therapy long ago.
OH, btw, all of our children are finished with therapy for good  . (Well, we may end up needing to do a bit more with one child once we get to the other roots but we'll wait and see. He keeps reverting to monocularity. I'm hoping the diannecraft stuff will help). One of our children with the most severe problems, and the one we caught late in the game, is in high school now, doing fine and vision therapy changed her life and opened up a world to her.
If you ever want to talk to someone who has been there, I'd be happy to share - or be a shoulder to vent on. Just PM me.
Janet
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JuliaT
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| Posted: June 19 2008 at 1:49pm | IP Logged
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Thanks everyone for the hugs and the words of experience. My dh and I have decided to wait until the fall to make the decision about VT. In the interim, I am going to read up as much as I can on dyslexia and VPD so I am more informed about these two areas. As well, we will be working diligently on ds's reading.
Blessings
Julia
mom of 3 (9,7,5)
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MichelleW
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| Posted: June 21 2008 at 11:45am | IP Logged
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Julia,
My son has vision issues as well. He is almost 11, and I wish I had been more diligent about the VT.
This year he finally started really reading. I changed the way I taught him. What I did is kind of long and involved, but if you are looking for reading ideas, I'm happy to type it out for you.
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Michelle
Mom to 3 (dd 14, ds 15, and ds 16)
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Cathmomof8
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| Posted: July 07 2008 at 7:24am | IP Logged
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Hi Julia,
As a part time Occupational Therapist in the school system, I've seen several children with visual processing and visual motor disorders. If he does have fine motor issues too, I would suggest an Occupational Therapy evaluation. Actually they could help with visual memory. Some school systems will actually let you have this service free and others won't but most would do the evaluation at least. If not a local clinic or children's hospital would be infe - but I'd suggest asking if they have someone who works a lot with children. I know before I took this job in the schools this past year I'd been an OT for 20 years but had never worked with pediatrics. Your son is young and it is a good time to help him with all of these issues. It is an investment in his future success with all of his school and even play. God bless you and guide you in finding the best help for him!!
Theresia
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tiny
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| Posted: Sept 23 2008 at 1:33am | IP Logged
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Yes, I have done vision therapy with my children. It helped my oldest child immensely. I would go for the one that is more expensive in the hopes that it will be curtailed to what your child needs and not a generic CD that is used with all children. At a young aage, we did a little vision therapy with my child with dyslexia and it did not seem to help her. I plan to have my child with dyslexia do vision therapy when she is older. I trust our provider and have found him to be very honest. I would check to see if the optometrists you are seeing are board certified in vision therapy.
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jenk
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| Posted: Sept 23 2008 at 8:02pm | IP Logged
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Check out the book Seeing is Achieving . I have a friend who used it successfully with her son after learning the cost of therapy. It might be worth a try.
Jen
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Jen
with 2 boys, 14 and 8, and a girl expected 1/09
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: Question about vision therapy
