Yes, Marytheress. I've taken my son to see Dr. Lovecky, author of Different Minds. I've now got to wait a couple of weeks before she meets with me and my husband without ds to discuss things. I'm trying not to let my mind wander or predict what Dr. Lovecky is going to say/diagnose, which is very difficult for me
.
I'm a huge supporter of vt after seeing what happened with my son. The results have been amazing. There's no question or doubt in my mind that the visual processing/perceptual deficits hampered my son's developments/skills/abilities.
My DS's behavioral optometrist specializes in treating autistic kids (
http://www.autisticvision.com/), though he sees a range of children and adults and has something on strabismus. During one of the examinations, he told us that our ds was operating a couple of grade levels ahead, but it didn't fully register with me at the time because we didn't see much evidence at the time. He told me that it's a matter of time before he starts showing. Well, that started last year and has continued this been year with reading.
My DS had been in a special needs pre-k program in NYC and MA. Last year the special needs pre-k program in MA told me that they were going to keep my DS in special needs for kindergarten if I hadn't moved him due to his attentional issues (despite no diagnosis and the fact that he was starting to spell and read at home). Well, I moved him last November into a private gifted school. Within 2 1/2 months, he went through the pre-k/k/1st grade curriculum and I was told the gifted school could no longer accommodate him. Yet this was the same child who was barely counting before he entered the private gifted school.
Visual processing deficits are very much misunderstood (imo) and how it can impact a child. Dr. Linda Silverman includes the impact of vision therapy with visual spatial learners (i.e. my DS) in a chapter in her book, Upside Down Brilliance. She says that children who previously scored low do not suddenly start scoring higher; "most children do not show such dramatic and consistent gains without intervention" when referring to a child who had visual processing deficits and had vision therapy.
I used to talk to my son's behavior optometrist about these things. He's been in contact with Dr. Linda Silverman. I'd love to meet her to talk about these things. I find it really fascinating after what's happened with my DS and trying to read as much as possible on it and giftedness.
