Vision therapy could help your child's ADD, reading problems, aggressiveness, and more!

[Julie42301]

I've been learning about vision problems recently and wanted to share with all of you. If I could help one child, it would be worth it. Parents and teachers need to be aware of these problems. I never heard of this until just a few months ago, and I wish I knew sooner.

Just because your child has 20/20 eyesight, it doesn't mean his vision is normal. It just means he can see clearly 20 feet away. The Snellen eye chart (the one with the E at the top) does not check for eye movement, focusing,  eye teaming (moving together), depth perception, visual memory, etc. which are needed to read, write, hit a baseball, spell, and other near activities.

Some symptoms: excessive blinking or eye rubbing, headaches, blocking one eye when reading, tilting head when reading, letter reversals after first grade, poor reading comprehension, slow reading, poor sports performance, looses place when reading, skips letters, numbers and words, tantrums during homework, labled add/adhd, lazy, or behavioral problem.

For more info see the optometric extension program foundation http://www.oepf.org/ or parents active for vision education http://www.pavevisionorg/.

[natesmom1228]

Great articles. Thanks for posting. Very interesting reading.

[Armywife1998]

 I have heard about this research!  It started becoming known to the public back in 2003-4.  From what I learned from the Behavioral Health Center I had to intern at during nursing school the programs that the children are to watch help retrain the brain.  It is a pretty cool thing.

[steelcrazy]

Ummm, not sure if my eye doctor is in the minority or not, but both of my boys get all of these areas checked every year during their eye exam.

[Julie42301]

You're doctor is in the minority. The reason for my post was to help the people who haven't heard of this, and  whose doctor does not check for these things.  

[StephanieSH]

I have a friend who is a developmental optometrist and she specializes in this.  Her company is called Stars in Your Eyes and she's in Austin, TX.  It's an interesting discipline.

[StephanieSH]

Here is he website:

http://www.starsinyoureyes.com/

This is her office.  I went to college with her.

[mom2boys1997]

My now 10 year old is currently taking vision Therapy (PT).

He has always had poor vision. At birth his neonatal nurse told me he was far sighted. I questioned her about it and ws told all babies are far sighted at birth. When we went for baby appointments, his pediatrician said all was well.

By age three a few times I would notice one eye would drift but quickly go back. Agin the pediatrician said all was well. By 4 1/2 his eye was turning inward and pediatricians said it was a phase and he would out grow it. I had to fire three doctors before I found a pediatrician who would make the all mighty referral needed to see an eye doctor. Now my child was almost five, and when we saw the eye doctor we were told my son was legally blind . He was given strong glasses with bifocals and we spent years patching both chemically and with PATCH PALS, (patchpals.com)

I wanted to get vision therapy and the closest was 100 miles away in Atlanta, GA, and insurance would not cover VT.  we saw specialists in Jacksonville, FL, Baton Rouge, LA and Columbus, GA.  All the doctors we saw poo pooed the value of VT.

(My personal opinion is that in general, southern doctors are unwilling to try new treatments and like labels. I miss my sunny south, but the medical community stinks, except forthose in  Atlanta, GA or teaching hospitials)

During all these years my son was RXed with a sensory integration disorder with suggestions of aspergers, but was told vision trouble causes similar behaviors as aspergers, add, and several other spectrum conditions.

We moved to PA a year ago and the new doctor is a vision therapist as well as our family eye doctor. My son is in his fourth month of VT. I am observing wonderful results.

My son has decreased flappinng: it only happens when he is super excited.  He is actually looking at people in the face when he talks to them,his reading is improving, his athletic skills are improving and he actually wants to play sports. He is noticing facial features and getting a clue about other peoples feelings.

His vision has improved to 20/40 with out glasses and 20'20 with glasses. The doctors are talking about taking him off bifocals this fall.

I cannnot say enoough. Several children at VT have 20/20 vision, and they are also doing super great.

If your child is diagnosed with a learning disability, get their vision checked, and get their hearing checked.

Several ladies have some great info about the difference in checking for 20/20 vision and the need for deeper vision testing to reveal deeper vision problems.

Thank you for your detailed information. I do not understand all of why VT works, I just see results in my own child.

ABOVE

My son at age 7 with is patcch pal, super patch  and wearing his patching makes my eye strong tee shirt and cape.

BELOW

This was taken last week at soccer practice.  He is doing geat. Now he hates dirty glasses, and has calmed down a lot. We still have to teach him some better social skills and break alot of sensory issued behaviors that are now habits, but he is more empathetic since he is noticing facial expressions.

[kmrtigger]

 Thanks for sharing this with the group!

[Eyes4Liz]

The is a reply about the post from the mother now living in PA. 

I realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when you make a generalized statement about doctors in the South like that, it is offensive.  As a student of the Southern College of Optometry class of 2010 (located in Memphis, TN), I can assure you that Vision Therapy is emphasized heavily in our curriculum and has been for decades.  I not only have watched patients have positive results with our therapy plans, but I was a vision therapy patient myself.  I had great results with it.  It made reading easier and faster.  I no longer get headaches when I read, and my depth perception has improved quite a bit.  One must simply know where to look to find a doctor that is comfortable including this line of treatment in his or her practice.  The website: covd.org is a good place to start, but there are doctors that utilize vision therapy that are not listed here. 

[Mahopeful413]

My son was sent by his OT therapist but here was the kicker Insurance does not cover this! It was not even close to  reasonable cost.  The evaluation was over $1000.  I was shocked because the insurance we have is very good.  I spoke to my sons pediatrician about it and he said that its because it wasnt proven to work.  I do not mean to sound negative. I am always wary when bc/bs wont cover it