Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Update: met with developmental optometrist

My ds6 saw developmental optometrist yesterday. Exam was 45 mins. Short story vision therapy starts next week. Longer story (though I could barely pay attention with both boys tackling each other as optometrist spoke to me). Basically, ds eyes don't converge or diverge. They don't work together at all. She couldn't believe he could read at all (little alone 4th grade level) and couldn't believe no one pointed out anything.

Ds has spent this year being told he "scribble scrabbled", gets poor reading level because he skips words, "messy", "rushing", and "not trying his best". Meanwhile, he can't see!

Relieved that after some tough vision therapy, he will not have these problems. Can't wait for that. I bet he will feel so much better too! Thinking I'm gonna hold off on OT a bit and focus on vision Therapy. Thoughts?

Wow! We do our final testing tomorrow. What did they tell you about therapy? How often and for how long? It sounds like there will be a group of us doing VT this summer. Bronalex I believe mentioned in one of my threads that her child would be starting it too. Perhaps we can compare notes along the way.

Seems like vision is primary to so many other things, and addressing a primary issue before a secondary seems wise as the secondary may work itself out or need to be addressed differently once the primary vision issue is addressed.

p.s. I've been debating vision therapy for DS, as I have the suspicion that opthamologists work to achieve "not broke" rather than "fixed" as therapists are oriented towards.

Zen Scanner- that's what I'm thinking. Ds may not need/ have fine motor issues once he can see. So, I'm hoping with vision therapy, handwriting may improve. If it doesn't, get OT involved.

HappilyMom- VT in office sessions are 45 min, once a week for now. Will get a packet of at-home exercises next week. Optometrist hopes 16 sessions secondary to age (less years of bad coping techniques to unlearn), but we'll see. Yes, keep me posted!! Would love to hear. Optometrist said she wanted to see how much she could challenge ds's eye; not at all- no stamina, kept tearing and looking away. Poor guy:(

I know I'm jumping ahead, but I'm starting to wonder if ds will need a 504 or iep for next year- at least until VT is completed.

Zen scanner- I just saw your ps. The eval IS covered by insurance for VT. Might be worth having the second opinion. I say this because the pedi ophthalmologist ds saw said "mild convergence insufficiency-do this 1 exercise". I would have never known and would have been working on hand strength and function, when I really believe that's not the problem. Also, I'd be wondering why my 1 exercise Isn't helping. (Hope that helps.)

Thanks Melessa! I am hearing standard is 2x a week in the office and work at home daily. Interesting to see differences.

My son and I started a verbal list of things we hoped therapy would help with... poor kid said he really hoped he could "do writing better". I've heard over and over that it is hard going on the exercises so we wanted a list of how it could help to keep us motivated.

Since 16wks of therapy will take you in to the school year I wonder what the impact will be? I think yours is finishing Kindy too if I recall. We are considering therapy at a different practice than our testing. The one we think we want for therapy will work directly with school and is only a mile away from his school. I am ready to bring her in if needed--I have wondered about 504 and IEP as well. We have dx of ADHD, Anxiety NOS, and suspected Dysgraphia. We haven't needed IEP or 504 yet but next year he will spend all day at school and that may change.

HappilyMom- I know this sounds dumb, but I never thought of enlisting ds to help make a list of goals for VT. I'm going to do that with him today. Thanks for the idea:) yes, ds just finished k. That's great that there's a place so close to school for you. I have had such a pleasant experience with this office; and therefore want to stay with them.

I guess I'm thinking about next year, because I don't want his teacher to have expectations he can't meet and then make him feel bad about it. However, I guess I won't know till mid- July (school starts August 1st).

Thanks, appreciate that. After patching (opthamologist's solution) for nine months, DS7 definitely had improvements (8 months since patching ended), but handwriting has been slow to change, and he still skips words in reading and has trouble hunting for things. The internal debate being: is he just delayed and catching up, has he over-learned wrong habits, or is there something incompletely fixed.

Glad you got some answers and are starting VT soon. My DS needs OT first for sensory then he will start VT later this summer. He still needs to do the second eval with the DO to come up with a plan so I don't know how much VT he will need yet.

Bronalex- yes, I am happy to get started. My ds- not so much. What sort of sensory stuff does you ds need to work on? Mine needs to work on regulation and transition, but for now, I am going to focus on the VT. Then, get OT involved. I know he needs the sensory help, but may also need some help with fine motor stuff too. At least we're on the right track.

Stay in touch with how things are going:)

Wow. That's huge! This could be monumental for your child. Good for you for getting an answer.

That is sort of the reaction my doctor had. DS was reading 6th grade words in the eval even with poor teaming.

His sensory issues are mostly related to "where is my body in space", balance, strength and some tactile. Tags, messy stuff, loud noises, etc. All mild individually but together make him seem out of sync.

Thanks herenow! I am hoping it helps him!

Bronalex- thanks for sharing about your ds. I keep wondering about my guy. His coping mechanism at school has been to act really silly (in k). He doesn't act this way at home at all. Yet, now as I watch him with other kids, he is shy and awkward. He wants to be liked and fears rejection. Also, he does have some sensory stuff which he compensates ok, besides the regulation stuff. Transitioning between activities. I do worry that as he gets older, he will seem more different.
Keep us posted how things are going with your ds!