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We have had some concerns about DD10's vision, and at her latest eye exam I spoke to the fact that DD steers clear of text heavy books and prefers graphic novels or books that are broken up by pictures. The optometrists gave us a prescription for her long distance vision which surprised us and also stated DD had astigmatism. The opt. thought perhaps the reading issue would be better after DD received her glasses. Well, it's been several months, and DD still won't read picture free books unless she has to for school. She just says "It's annoying." to read that kind of book which isn't very helpful, I know.

With all that, what questions should I ask the optometrist? I am waiting for a call back. DD also has ADHD inattentive type which I saw mentioned elsewhere concerning reading because the attention span needed to read a whole page and maintain the info in one's mind can be a concern.

Will she listen to audiobooks?

Have you asked your dd to read out loud to you? That might be helpful in determining whether or not there's a vision issue vs focus issue. A vision issue might show up as stumbling on words you'd expect her to know, skipping a line, skipping words here and there etc.

I wouldn't expect prescription for long distance to indicate a need for corrective prescription for reading (near distance), so I'm not surprised that glasses haven't helped. Astigmatism... that might be an issue.

If she is skipping words/lines or getting tripped up when she comes up to words you would anticipate her knowing, you might consider an eval by a developmental optometrist - these are drs who look at *vision* rather than eyesight - the regular eye dr checks how well each eye is seeing, a developmental optometrist checks how well the eyes work together. There is some controversy over developmental optometry because there have been DOs who try to sell people on the idea that vision therapy can cure dyslexia/LDs/etc - which it can't. It *can*, however, make a world of difference for children and adults who have issues with eyes not tracking together, double vision, etc.

I also wonder if it's possible that there's perhaps a subtle reading challenge that's not easily picked up due to your dd's high ability? It's quite possible she's able to pick up meaning through context yet challenged perhaps by a specific reading skill. My youngest dd has a challenge with reading that was incredibly difficult to diagnose simply because she was able to pull together meaning from context. Having an in-depth evaluation from a reading specialist that included an oral reading test as well as other tests that measure very specific skills that go into reading teased out the challenge. I wouldn't necessarily think that's necessary for your dd at this point - I'd rule out vision issues first.

Best wishes,

polarbear

ps - re specific questions for the optometrist - definitely listen to her read aloud first to see if you notice any issues. Ask the optometrist about those issues if you discover any. Also ask the optometrist if they have done any tests to see how well the eyes work together, did they test tracking, did they test for double vision, is the eyesight in one eye significantly weaker than the other.

pps - I'd also recommend audiobooks!

Well I just had my daughter who doesn't like reading anything other than graphic novels assessed for a reading disability, and the assessor indicated she thought it might be related to ADD. So… I would maybe investigate that angle.

Thanks all! I have my list:
Have her read aloud to me.
Question optometrist.
ADD angle.

I did look up reading specialists online for this area. All I found were those working in the schools. Is there another title for someone who does this?

Update:
The optometrist did a re-check on her vision and saw nothing to be concerned about. I had her read paragraphs of size 10 and then 12 font. Besides being horribly ornery about it, she had no trouble reading any of it including figuring out words she did not know. I picked a subject she likes (black holes) written for adults. She did say she didn't understand all it said, but again, read fluently - and then sped up just to make me mad. She still didn't skip any words or lines. If she is doing well in school do I leave it alone at this point? She listens to me read books every night (bedtime ritual) and never has trouble following along (even when she starts drawing which is pretty often!! She's the doodling queen).