Originally Posted by bzylzy
Originally Posted by marytheres
By the way, Bzylazy, I wanted to comment on this. Today my son did he three month eval with his vision doc and they give him all kinds of tests to see if the VT is helping, where he is still struggling, etc. Anyway, he did a near point test and again I could "see" my son's eye cross and then his eyes physically and obviously became very irritated during the test. Seeing this means to me that no other doctor could tell me my kid doesn't have intermittent convergent strabismis. I literally saw his left eye quickly cross in while his right eye stayed straight... when this happened his eyes became red and irritated looking, then started watering as he tried to continue the exercise but the left eye crossed in a few times and caused him more irritation, fatigue and inability to keep his eyes working (basically he couldn't keep them following a target together - he physically struggled to get them physcially focused.) I don't know what type of convergence issue your daughter has but maybe seeing her do some of the tests could help you feel more sure in one of the doctor's opinions/diagnosis. Just a thought as it sounds like you don't know what/who to believe.


You're right that I don't know who to believe. The vision therapist has a reputation about 50/50 for working or not and he was fairly aggressive in his contract. I don't completely trust the opinion of the pediatric opthalmologist because when DD went for a follow-up I saw that during the "dots" test there were a different number of dots DD was looking at than she reported. I pointed this out and the dr. shrugged and said it was good enough, that her vision wasn't perfect but if she was getting good grades at school it's not really a problem. The issues are 1) she's capable of much more advanced work so that argument isn't satisfactory 2) she completes her schoolwork and homework (output) with a level of frustration to cause notice of teachers at least enough of the time and at home also, to be a matter of concern, so this is also not satisfactory.

I told the pediatrician and asked his opinion about getting a 3rd opinion and he said "I wouldn't bother" stating that were I was at this point is a common place to be between these two camps of eye professionals.

Meanwhile hopefully this will be an issue covered in a neuropsych exam or if not I have the name of another vision therapist with a better reputation a little distance away but if we decide to do therapy there this spring/summer will make the drive easier.

Anyway, thanks for your message!

It's so hard. I was vacillating between surgery and therapy - those are the options for my DS. As you may be able to tell, I kind of like to be able to "fix" things, right? I just want his vision "fixed" - I don't care if it's "out there "light therapy or vision exercises or surgery or whatever - it doesn't matter to me if it is homeopathic or mainstream. Of course, this problem is much more complicated. I would love to just get him surgery but the surgery's success rate for his particular condition is pretty low. So, I think I'll just find the best surgeon, right? Well my neighbor's kid has the same type of vision problem (except her child's intermittently drifted out instead of crossing in) and they seem to think vision therapy is total quackery. They went to the best surgeon in the area (her husband is a doctor) and got their girl the surgery. That poor child's eye now crosses in. Last I talked to her mom, she told me that the surgeon said she would grow out of that. But both my husband and I saw the child last week and her eye didn't look good at all (I noticed it crosses in more in the morning - and is better in the afternoon). She had the surgery a year ago and her eye looks way worse. Also, my son said she s really behind in reading and he attributes it to her eye problems becasue he said he had a much harder time reading before vision therapy too. I have no idea of course but I suspect the vision is playing a big part. My husband and I have stopped considering surgery at all now. I have yet to read or see a success story with the surgery. Originally surgeons were telling my neighbor that nothing could be done b/c those surgeons wouldn't even consider VT and the surgery itself just has such a low success rate.

The VT on the other hand has helped trmemendously but my kid still isn't "fixed." He's still symptomatic... and it is frustrating. However, he is significantly better and fortunately he likes the in-office therapy at least. I am just getting impatioent for him to be "cured" you know...Guess I need to work on adjusting that expectation frown

Last edited by marytheres; 02/09/13 08:16 AM.