Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Quick vision question

We have been a little worried about my sons vision for at least a year. I took him to an eye doctor last year who did the standard eye exam and said all was well. I actually took him in for rubbing his eyes when reading, but there was no test for close up vision even done. I know that he sees great far away, super great.

That was all right around when he turned 4. The general opinion of many was that he was too young to read and that maybe his eyes were getting tired or had a hard time tracking because it wasn't developmentally appropriate. The eye doctor saw autism on his chart and said it might be a stim or tic or something. I felt like it was all a big waste of time.

This year at DS's 5 year checkup (almost 2 months ago now) they screened his vision with a weird thing he was supposed to look into that made some odd sounds. They tried 4 times, but could not get a reading on his left eye. They recommended an eye doctor to follow up. The same eye doctor we already saw was on the recommended list.

My question is, should I go ahead and schedule another appointment? Should I be looking into a different kind of eye doctor? My son still rubs his eyes a lot when he reads, but he doesn't seem to do it quite as much. At 4 he rubbed his eyes probably 45 seconds out of each minute he read, to the point where I limited reading because I was worried he might damage his eyes. The eye doc said you can't damage your eyes by rubbing them, so I gave up on the reading restriction.

So, yeah, try the whole thing again? Find a different or different kind of doctor? Does the eye scanner not getting a reading generally mean anything anyway? They also want us to do followup with an audiologist because he didn't get all of the sounds on the hearing test, but I personally think that he hears great and he just was having a hard time keeping up with the pace, he has very slow physical reflexes and motor planning issues. I'm also a little tired of experts and appointments... but of course I'm always willing to do what's best for my son.

Any opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated so that I can either get this taken care of or put it on the pile of less important things to get to later.

I would find a different eye doctor, honestly. The rubbing explanation sounds iffy to me and I would be concerned about a test not being completed.

In our case, we had our DS tested and learned he needed glasses for farsightedness when he was four. We were told it was a big correction. We moved, took him for a checkup in a new town, which turns out to have a well-known ophthalmologist with a specialization in pediatrics. Turns out DS' vision was under corrected by about twice what he needed! He also needed patching for a few months. We are really glad that we were forced into another doctor because the first one, though nice, wasn't completely accurate.

FYI, it might be worth looking here:
American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology

We're in early stages of treating visual processing issues. Many of the flags on the screening quiz could relate to the eye-rubbing you describe. Aha - I managed to find the same checklist we were given on a random website; I think this is fairly evidence-based. See if any of this looks familiar: http://www.centerforunlimitedvision.com/30question.pdf

You can also check a few basics simply by moving a pen back and forth and figure eights between the eyes, and in and out from the nose, and see if the eyes are working together. (Our DD flunked this 30 second screen entirely, shortly after a full check-up from her regular optometrist).

I would get a different eye doctor. You absolutely can damage your eyes by rubbing them -- keratoconus is not all that rare and is no joke. Definitely not saying he has keratoconus, he is too young, but rather that it is a common eye disease thought to be linked to eye rubbing causing damage to the cornea. If you can help it, please discourage your child from rubbing his eyes.

OK, asking here turned out to be very helpful! Looks like I have more work to do...

Looking at the 30 question checklist (which is either super blurry or I need to see a vision specialist!), I'd say he only checks about 10 of those boxes, although I have no idea if he has blurry vision or double vision. It's not really the sort of thing I suspect he would be aware of/know to report.

He definitely does tend to hold reading material very close, or more accurately he sets it on a surface and then sticks his face right in it when he reads. He also seems to have trouble reading my computer screen and I always have to increase the zoom 3 levels. OTOH, he can read road signs before anyone else in the car, even those whose vision is corrected to 20/20 or better. He always impresses passengers with that skill!

I had a lazy eye as a kid and it was obvious. My mom did therapy with me, I remember a lot of ball bouncing exercises where I had to catch the ball on the way up as it came towards my face. I got to wear one of those oh so stylish patches as well. And in early elementary I was the only kid in my class with glasses, great big lined bifocals! My eye looks fine now, but I still have a large discrepancy between my eyes according to some weird cube thing the doc checked with a few years ago. I know I had a lot of trouble with double vision well after my therapy, into 2nd grade at least and much later when tired.

Just looking at my sons eyes they look fine to me. I'll have to try the figure 8 test though. I always use this site after bed or when he isn't here, I'll set myself a reminder on my phone

Thanks for pushing me to do what I should have just done anyway. I hope I can find someone really good who won't be a waste of our time.