VT and those body-brain neurological wiring can be a very long road and journey. There is light at the end of the tunnel here. Unfortunately, there are no quick answers or magic cures.
I've been grappling with this stuff for over 7.5 years with ds now and some days I'm afraid it's not over for us. Sigh. When I took ds7 to neurofeedback provider #1 and water therapy last Aug, I nearly hit the roof and then had a complete meltdown when they said how it was still affecting him - after 2.5 years of vt; 5 years of pt and ot; etc.
Since my son was born with a head/brain and neck (torticollis) issues, I had no choice but to see and unravel how the processing systems and everything else it seemed (except maybe the toenails) were connected. Tort kids like my son are often born with one eye being anatomically smaller than another. So they do not process visual information like normal kids do from the start. They can't hold their heads up due to the neck muscle or ocular tort. Then, they don't crawl properly, develop hand dominance, and it kind of goes on and on.
Ds7 should be swimming and doing Dr. Burdenko's water/ land exercises nearly every day or at least a couple of times a week. He's got to use both sides of the body and brain evenly - which has been the bane of my existence with him. But ds7 is pg and rather resistant to doing the exercises (or much of anything lately). The brain/body will take the path of least resistance when possible to conserve energy and effort.
Visual processing accounts for 80-85% of what the brain processes. Even in blind people, it still accounts for a heck of a lot. If the visual goes down or goes awry, well you are up the creek and backpedaling bit. If hearing central auditory processing deficits are thrown into the mix, good luck I say. Those are the two main processing systems for the brain and body. That's not to say vestibular, touch, and other senses play a role. They do. It's just seeing and hearing are the main ways and dominant ones used in school. No smelling textbooks exist yet!
Before VT, it's like placing a telephone call between NYC and Denver and there's been a storm. The direct lines are down. An indirect route is necessary; or the call might even be aborted. The call might go through to Chicago and perhaps Cleveland, Kansas City, and a bunch of other cities and/or the line might go dead on its way to Denver (if you even get there). Thus, different/ new lines are unmasked and you have no clue where the call goes/does. Time and quality are compromised in the process. Everyone is frustrated.
With VT, new phone lines get built. With sufficient repetition, remaining fibers are strengthened and high efficiency can be reached. The brain can adapt and compensate. And well, the call finally takes a direct route and goes through!
