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This sounds good. Speaking from experience, ds7 had 4 years of pt and ot when he started vt at 4 years old. He had neck surgery before starting VT too. I remember his behavioral optometrist said that he needed to have the neck surgery and years of pt/ot before he started VT too. The SPD and other issues were too intractable and outstanding otherwise. We would have just been spinning our wheels.

Ds7 spent 2.5 yrs in VT. It can make a huge difference, especially combined with ot/pt. I wish you luck. It can be a long journey. I remember when Ds's former behavioral optometrist pointed out the deficits too. Wow. It was incredible. And what a journey we had. I learned so much about vision.

Behavioral optometry is about how the eyes function with the brain and body rather than simply about visual acuity (20/20 vision). They should take a holistic approach to treating a child. They should exam their gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination issues, and speech and attentional skills. Ophthalmologists, on the other hand, take an entirely different approach to examining the eyes.

Thanks Bronalex and CDfox! I love hearing the stories of others. and CD that brain body connect with vision was eluding me before talking to this OD and reading some of what she suggested. I had a hard time grasping how it all related but of course now it is making perfect sense. I really needed someone who could answer my questions and walk me through putting it together. I really appreciate you sharing what you have experienced and learned so I can keep comparing and learning more!

We're just getting started on this journey as well so I'm also glad to hear about other experiences. My son's visual integration evaluation is on Monday - that's when the OD will figure out what he needs in terms of VT. We will have a follow up results meeting a couple weeks after that.

I felt like the initial vision processing diagnoses really just made everything about my son so clear. I really owe the parents on this message board for leading me down this path. We had assumed his eyes were OK following surgery. Clearly, that is not the case. I'm so glad we uncovered this now and not after years of struggling in school.

Good luck and keep us posted.

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!

I'm following the comments here because our DS has some of the symptoms. He's mild (or else has compensated) and so I'm not sure if VT is for him. His optometrist has had him eye patching now for the last three months for two hours a day while playing eye/hand games on the iPad. His last exam showed an improvement in his lazy eye: going from 20/40 to 20/30, yet the optometrist has suggested we see a VT doctor.

DS hates to have his head underwater and up until this last year, would scream just having his hair rinsed. He's been one to cover his ears for no apparent reason and was a screamer as a baby...again for no apparent reason.

When I read the description of dysgraphia it seemed to fit him. We're having him evaluated by Sylvan for writing to see if they think they can help. After a course of instruction, if he doesn't improve (which with dysgraphia, practice doesn't improve it), we will definitely pursue the VT.

Well the OT eval gave a diagnosis of "Lack of Coordination including Dyspraxia and Hypotonia". SPD isn't mentioned and only one objective mentions working on his sensory issues.

When I see Dyspraxia and know that we have suspected Dysgraphia, I start thinking maybe we better follow through with the Neuro Psychologist to put the pieces together.

We are starting OT next week and should get in about 6wks of 2x a week before we re-evaluate the vision piece.

My son had a major anxiety flare up when we were travelling and visiting relatives last week and it was an awful trip. He couldn't handle the noise level when we went to VBS at church. He couldn't play outside with his cousins because he couldn't physically do the things they wanted to do. He couldn't be out of eyeshot of me even for the bathroom. He couldn't fall asleep. He was scared of everything and it was exhausting. We came home early.

It left me wondering if we are going to ever get to a more "normal" existence from all of these efforts or if we will end up having spent thousands of dollars and hours without meaningful improvement.

I know our diagnoses so very often are comorbid and have seen many here with a similar list. I find myself pondering if it is all really pieces of a disorder yet unidentified or perhaps how a gifted brain develops to accommodate specific deficiencies....

Back at home with no school my son is calm and sweet and cheerful as usual. He seems like such a normal bright little guy as long as you don't put a pencil or crayon in his hand or ask him to do another physical skill.

HappilyMom-
I'm sorry things have been so frustrating for you. (We don't see OT until 7/24 and frankly I'm scared.) I have also thought knowing there are others in similar situations if it is something that doesn't have a name yet. Could very well be in my opinion.
Btw, my ds had a bad anxiety flare up re school. Still working on that:(
Sorry your trip didn't work out. We have one upcoming. He is soo excited, and we orchestrate the whole trip- making it successful for him.
Enjoy your happy guy, and focus on that for now (and the therapies). Hang in there. If nothing else, I completely sympathize and empathize!

Melessa and Portia thank you so much for your encouraging words and keeping up with our story!

It's so nice to be able to talk here about it. My family (that we saw on our trip) doesn't get it and was not able to be supportive. I have been so exhausted from that trip (I was travelling alone with my son by car over 500 miles from home) and how it went. Then being back at home my husband had a training program at work that left us on our own again all day and evening for several days. After all of us being back together for the weekend things are finally settling down.

Tomorrow we do our first OT session. DS is counting down to when we go back (he loved it so much there!). Unfortunately it is an hour drive from home. He responded so well to that place and the therapist that I'm willing to make the drive and hoping we will see good progress.

Last night I was thinking about DS not being able to ride a bike (balance issues) and how much he enjoyed riding his tricycle before he outgrew it. Bike seats don't offer much security for a kid with his issues either. Have any of you found good options for this?

I did a little research and ordered a "Ybike Explorer Go Kart" for him after a bit of study on it. It has a big bucket seat and a 3 wheel design. The steering requires bilateral coordination to operate it and you make it go by pedaling much like a recumbent bike. It looks like a very cool vehicle he will be proud to drive around other kids. It seems like it would be a good option to grow his skills and participate when other kids his age ride bikes. Have any of you used any "special" toys like this to bridge some of the 2e gaps with age mates?

Portia-- that is good progress (and encouragement) to hear about how your son has grown through similar struggles. I feel like one of my challenges is listening and acting better on what my son tells me. He does advocate well for himself and quickly synthesizes new information about why he feels or acts the way he does and what he can do to make it better. It's been hard to believe or understand the depth of what has been happening without the professionals shining a light on what it is and how it impacts him.

I think I have bought in to the lie that we must not be good parents that some have offered up to us as the reason my child behaves differently than others. Some of his behavior comes off as difficult and obstinate when he is simply overloaded and needs options. Looks like a "brat" with bad parents to the casual observer in the moment. One of my biggest faults is wanting others to like me and approve of my choices. Not a good fit for parenting the child I have been given. It's a growth area for me and I keep working on it.

I hope I get more time to read soon and keep up better here and in my "reading list" from the optometrist.

I can't make a recommendation yet, since we haven't gotten the bikes to try it out, but I just ordered balance bikes for DD9 and DS5 (neither of whom can ride a bike now). I will report back once I have some data. Neither of them seems to have issues with bilateral activities or with crossing the midline, but both have sensory issues.

Portia-- I love your posts! You are always incredibly informative and helpful. Good medicine. It seriously helps me "normalize" the odd experience of raising my son. I cannot thank you enough for that.

Elizabeth-- Thank you so much for sharing this as I was looking at those but had concern about if there were a model available that was large enough for my very tall nearly 7yr old. Please report back on how it goes... and you know I should probably make a thread here in 2e just about bikes. Might learn a lot.