Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Eye Test

Welcome back Kriston!

Questions, I'm so glad you were able to get some answers through the behavioral optometrist.

I am also grateful, as previously posted!!!!!

C benefitted greatly just from the glasses. Her confidence soared and we have good hopes for when therapy starts next week.

They have awesome kids glasses these days! Have fun picking out a cool pair with DS.

Thanks, friends! Appointment is at 10 today!

Hi, everyone. Figured we may as well try them and see if it helps. Kriston (hi and glad you weathered the storm) and Neato - interesting fact I learned yesterday. Our optometrist's vision specialists use Brainware Safari for the vision therapy, which I believe has been extended for purchase at homsechoolbuyersco-op. Less than $50, as I recall. And the Dr. said that it doesn't matter if DS does the exercises with me or the OT at home or at the office. Just a cost-savings alert if your respective dr.'s recommend the same thing. Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes. I'm still a bit skeptical, as no one that we know of in our extended families has ever needed glasses at a young age. Hopefully, this is just a few months thing. Then again, if it gets DS over his objection to writing and reading, I'm all for it.

Hey, Questions, we're in the same boat. No one else in the family needed glasses young, but DS4 needs a mild prescription for close work. (Hey! I'm not the crazy GT-obsessed mom! Yahoo!)

The optometrist said that DS4's vision is in some ways "immature." He gets stuck on the details--can't see the forest for the trees and he's a perfectionist (YES, he is!), so whole-word reading might be better for him than phonics at this point. (You were ahead of me on that one, 'Neato! Thanks!) his left eye doesn't seem to track very well, and there may be coordination problems between his eyes. Distance vision is fine, but there are problems with his near vision.

The upshot: I'm really glad I ignored the "there-there"ings that I got from the pediatrician and other friends around here (even those with GT kids!) and took him in for the checkup. With his perfectionism, I think waiting could have led to some serious problems with reading and led to MAJOR problems with his self-worth. I really think catching this early may have saved him an otherwise very rough road, given his personality.

Thanks to all who suggested, encouraged, and pushed me to get him in. Thanks for the covd.org website reference. Thanks, thanks, thanks!

I love this forum!

It is so wonderful to hear about the successes and finding answers! Congrats to both questions and Kriston on solving a part of the puzzle for your kiddos! Yea!!!

I'll second that love of this forum

Yea Kriston! Just goes to show that mom's instincts are worth their weight in gold, and are definitely worth more than the weight of the diplomas hanging on the wall. You deserve a raise!!

Hope your DS is happy about it too! Now if they just made lego glasses or Star Wars glasses, then my DS would be over the moon about them!

Here is a funny story for you. The last time we went shopping for glasses, when DS was 7.9 years old, he found some interesting frames. His favorite color is red, and so he was searching for a pair of red frames. His eyes excitedly fell on a pair of frames that was noticeably "hot pink". They were close enough to red for him, but I could not see him going to school in hot pink glasses. I had a devil of a time talking him out of those!!! The male salesperson was beside himself with laughter.

Good instincts Kriston! It's so nice to hear good news. I do love this forum too.

ebeth - show these to your DS: http://technicbricks.blogspot.com/2008/06/tbs-techtoc-04-sun-glasses.html - P.S. I would have let my kid get the pink glasses, but i'm sure DH would have brought them right back to the store! (In fact, DS picked out a pinkish flowered carseat, but i assured DH it's "hawaiian print" to make it ok...)

Of course, reading through all this, I noticed that DS4 has troubles on Big Brain Academy with the spot the difference out of these 4 moving pictures, and of course i wonder if it's a vision thing. He doesn't seem to have a whole lot of trouble reading, but he's definitely a whole word kid (won't do phonics at all).

Yippee Kriston!!!! Just shows it always pays to go with your gut!!! I'm so glad you found this early!!!

(edited to say - my DS10 has hot pink swim goggles! He is of the "real men wear pink" school of thought!!! LOL!!!)

Yay Questions! Looks like you've got more answers too.(Just reading the posts backwards here...)

HI SPG,
DS12 definitly had 'behavior vision' problems, almost no depth perception, but at the time I was very resistiant, as it seemed so 'snake oil' - but he has been tested twice. The same visit that found he had almost no depth perception also pegged him as reading on a 12th grade level. The Optometrist and I both scratched our heads about 'is it worth it to do all this traveling when the reading is ok?'

Time took care of the depth perception, and DS can throw and catch, particularly a frisbee. But he did struggle with asynchronous development between his 'eye-age' and his 'mental-age.'

Bottom Line - one can have behavior-vision weaknesses and reading can be spared. One can try the eye excersizes and get big improvements or not. Some of these weaknesses do correct with time AND practice. (Apparently DS12 went through an 'obsession phase with wall ball' in 4th grade at school that I never knew about.)

How many of these kids could be well described as 'not well rounded?' Quite a few I guess. With mine, there seems to be a pattern of a skill area 'dragging behind, and then leaping forward.'
His printing come to mind. Lately he's been trying to get his 'Rubix Cube Solves' down to 3 minutes, and I know that it's good for his floppy little fingers.

Love and More Love,
Grinity