Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Vision issues or similar-looking problems: IDing?

Thanks, all. I'll call. I need an eye appointment myself--it's been years, and I am noticing a difference as I roll on toward 40, so I'll just get appointments for us all (with different docs, though, of course).

And you can advise me anytime, Debbie! Do you think I'm an expert? NO! Just a mouthy broad with lots of opinions!

You can certainly see a specialist without a referal, but you might have to wait longer for an appointment. My niece was wearing glasses before she was a year old.

Hi Kriston,
A plain ol' optometrist diagnosed both of my dds' vison problems. My youngest wasn't even consistently recognizing her letters at four. I was "there, there'd" by many people, and told that I shouldn't compare her to her sister. All four year olds should have their vision and hearing tested, so I used that as my excuse to have her vision and hearing tested. What really prompted me was that she was having trouble reading. When I shared my concern with the optometrist he explained that it was physically impossible for her to focus on letters because of her severe near-sighted/far-sighted astigmatism. I simultaneously felt justified in my concern and was kicking myself that I did not act on my gut-instinct sooner.

DD9 got glasses recently. She has 20/20 sight when tested with the standard eye chart (like they use for vision testing in school). She was complaining that it was hard to read. After a full battery of tests, the optometrist found that she was slightly far-sighted. He said that what she has is difficult to identify because most children do not complain about it. The optometrist said that many children with the same problem just avoid reading. Since my dd loves to read, she wanted the problem fixed.

Ironically, my youngest dd never complained about her severe vision problem.

I hope things go well with your optometrist visit and you have your questions answered. At the very least, I think you can feel confident that it is a good first step.

Thanks, TS. I am sorry to hear about the vision problems for your kids, but it makes me feel a little better about following my gut.

Especially the fact that a normal eye chart-type exam didn't catch your daughter's problem makes me feel more confident that I should take some action, since that's where we're at, too. The nurse who gave him the eye exam last week said DS4 was "a little far-sighted, but that's normal at this age." Even when she said it, I thought to myself, "...or it could explain why he's not reading yet!"

So do you think I should go straight to the specialist, or would you recommend just having the regular optomitrist take a look at him first, while we're there for me?

I think that answer depends on the eye doc you are going to. If he/she is someone used to doing adults only, doesn't understand your concerns and doesn't know how to accurately check a 4 year old for acuity, astigmatism and visual efficiency skills, then I'd say skip it. Go to someone who has experience with kids just like yours. Someone who focuses on vision and learning. So, ask how many kids your doc sees and what the typical exam for a 4 year old would include.

Makes sense. Thanks, Debbie!

This is a really interesting thread! I can't believe something that 15% of people have is not screened for in schools. And it really makes me wonder about some of the kids I was helping learn to read in first grade, that otherwise seemed very bright.

I was not an early reader, but got glasses in first grade. At that point I jumped in my reading ability. I should ask my parents why they had me screened.

I have no expertise, but good luck Kriston! With your family history of early reading, I don't blame you for wanting to get it checked out.

Kriston, I think what Debbie said is great too. Also, my specialist wanted a regular check up first to make sure it wasn't something like near-sightedness/farsightedness causing the problems. But just because they don't find something wrong, doesn't mean some of the other issues can't be happening. You'll just have to see how you feel after meeting with the doctor and maybe try those eye exercises 'Neato mentioned to see how he does with that.

kimck- I too can't believe this many people have these type of problems and no one knows about it. From what I can tell this type of therapy is very new and a lot of older doctors who aren't up on new trends feel it is somewhat "quackery". From my research though, this type of therapy is considered completely legitimate and believe me I researched it thoroughly! I also know that it has helped my child as I can see the difference in him. I think in 5 years this will be much more well known.

<sarcasm alert>

Of COURSE it's quackery. I mean how could vision problems affect reading? That's clearly insanity!

<end sarcasm>

How dumb can people be sometimes, huh?!

Kriston,

I stongly feel you should seek out a vision development optometrist primarily.

First, because C-dog also passed a vision test with an opthamologist that is highly regarded around here. I had a false sense of security and it prevented me from pursuing it further for almost a year. Big mistake.

My baggage aside, the person you find at covd.org, which is where I recommend you go if you are looking at testing for vision processing issues will want to do their own initial vision testing, so C-dog had to repeat everything anyway.
It's a big deal if they dialate their eyes, you don't want that done twice if you can help it, those drops really burn.

Additionally the "good" doctor () didn't dialate at all. She had a machine that takes a picture of the eyeball and besides the fact that the girls thought it was sooooooooo coooooooool, it did't hurt!

Other than that if you really want to rule out vision/auditory processing issues, I really think you should look for a pediatric nuerologist or nueropsychologist.

From one opinionated caring mother to another.