Further testing by a developmental pediatric optometrist just this week has revealed that not only does DS6 have intermittent convergent strabismus (intermittently crossing eyes) (which I have posted about here before) but that it looks like he also has a “visual perceptual processing disorder.” I was suspecting dylexia/dysgraphia...But he didn't quite fit that I realized. I didn't know about VPD. He fits all of the symtoms of that.
Not sure how familiar you all are with visual perceptual processing disorder but I will give youmy basic understanding. After an image enters the eye, the brain's visualperception capabilities tell the child what it means. It connects the image tosomething the child has seen before and gives it meaning. Something round thatrolls is probably a ball. Visual perception skills also include the ability totell similar images apart (p and q or words like “skate” and “stake”; "new" and "now" etc), or to separate important details from a background of information (taking the vowels out of the word), or to recognize the same symbol being used in different ways. Confusing words “saw” with “was” and "new" and "now"(and vice versa) is a very frequent mistake made by people with this disability, and my DS is no exception, because he lacks the sequencing skill needed to perceivethe difference. What may seem simple to the average student, copying a sequence of numbers or letters correctly from the board becomes a monumental task nomatter how short the list. This contributes to the slow pace with which Benwrites his numbers and letters and almost guarantees papers wrought with reversals and omissions.
Anyone else dealing with this disability? We have a conference scheduled with the developmental optometrist regarding the pending diagnosis of visual processing disorder on Tuesday and I know he will answer my questions and concerns but I am so anxious. So, if anyone can jump on and give me some info on living with this, I would so appreciate it. Is it lifelong, like dyslexia? Or does it "get better" or "cured"?
Also, does anyone have any tips on how to talk with DS about his having this? Without him feelign broken or defective. How do I tell him about his having these diabilities without destroying his confidence?
As a side note, it's no wonder my poor child has anxiety. He has this incredible brain stuck inside a body that can't see properly, read or write anywhere near the level of his intellectual capabilities and no one had any idea of his struggles. I have been suspecting some sort of learning disability or visual issue for awhile now (which is why I pushed to have him take the WISC IV in the first place) but it really hit me when I observed him doing the WISC IV. (Thank goodness I was able to observe!) It was so obvious to me he doesn't "see" the way most people see. It was very disheartening to hear the psychologists attribute it to various behavioral/psychological issues (that he is so rigid he just see others' perspectives" - so not Ben at all!), anxiety and to hear and read in various reports people 'hinting' that he is on the spectrum or has ODD or ADHD - when I KNOW what "on the spectrum" looks like and I know he is not (anyone who takes some time to get to know Ben can see that he is not "on the spectrum.") And I KNOW what ADHD looks like and I also know that is not Ben. I said to the Dupont psychologists that I when I observed him taking the test it seemed really obvious to me that he has a learning disability or some sort of vision problem and they sort-of treated me like I was crazy. And here we are. I am so glad I valued my observations and suspicions over that of the "professionals" with their stupid "checklists" and pushed the vision and learning disability testing. I am not glad that he has these vision disorders (on the contrary, I am so heartbroken) but I am glad I am finally getting accurate labels and diagnoses rather than him being labeled with (and possibly medicated for) various disorders that he does not have. It frightens me how easily that could have happened and would have happened, if I were not the way I am (as annoying as "the way I am" may be to various people).
