We went back to the doctor today for ds’ 1st eval after starting VT almost one month ago. The Dr said he was making TREMENDOUS progress and he told me over and over again how pleased he is. He said, at this rate, we will be through in 3 or 4 months instead of 6 to 9 months. WOO HOO!!!
DS started reading again last week and has already finished the 1st Red Wall book and he’s 1/2 way through the second! His convergence is perfect so no more pencil pushups for us! YEA!! But we still have to do the dreaded heart chart. :(
I also took him today for an occupational therapy eval for sensory integration. The OT said his balance was normal. The ONLY reason it’s normal is because we’ve been working so hard on the VT. Balance doesn’t seem like it would be part of VT but it is.
Another thing I learned today is that ds CAN do all the therapy exercises WITHOUT whining. Imagine that.
Sharon
Re: Vision Therapy Progress
Ewa,
The first doctor we saw wanted to do therapy in his office twice a week for 6-9 months with homework done weekly. His office was 1.5 hours from my house! I didn’t like him anyway. :)
I was very lucky to find another Dr. who has great passion for what he is doing. He gives us exercises to do at home and updates the program monthly at a cost of $60/visit. …big difference!
The first Dr. has us using a tracking ball and doing exercises in a bunch of workbooks. The workbooks were fine until we got past level one and ds hit the wall. The reason I took him to a doctor in the first place was because he had a hard time doing bookwork! HELLO?
The new Dr. has him doing some very physical exercises and the tracking exercises we do are done VERY slowly and require a great deal of concentration. I’ll describe some of the exercises:
Tracking: done very slowly with ds lying on the floor
Pencil Push-Ups: holding a pencil about 18” from ds face have him focus on the tip while you move the pencil toward his nose very slowly. Ds tells me when he sees 2. At first he saw 2 about 6” from his nose. Now you can touch his nose with the pencil and his eyes are crossed but he still sees just one.
Walking a chalk line: Walks heel to toe on a line and squats down after each step. This is for balance, which is somehow connected to the brain and vision. I don’t fully understand it but it has really made a BIG difference.
Angels in the snow: Done slowly and very controlled to be sure arms and legs are moving together and at the same time. Variations on this.
Heart chart (named dreaded heart chart by ds): tape 2 eye charts to the wall at eye level about 1’ apart. Have ds read two letters from one then 2 letters from the other untill he has read all the lines. Goal is to complete both charts in 2 minutes. Variations on this.
I would encourage you to look around for another doctor if you aren’t just delighted with your current one. I sent an email to our new doctor explaining my situation and asking what his policy was for home therapy. He replied that he only does home therapy.
About the whining: VT is boring and hard and not fun. I give rewards and lots of praise and it’s still hard. I give my son M&Ms and I eat plenty myself. I figure this won’t last forever so whatever it takes to get it done…
Here’s a link to find a doctor in your area:
http://www.covd.org/index.html
Hi Sharson
Your doctor sounds like ours. Like you, I went to others before finding the right one.
You are absolutely correct that it is important to address the balance because vision is related to the vestibular system( Beth helped me to understand this and I am forever grateful.) Our doctor does a lot of body work as well and it does make a difference.
We have been doing this a bit longer than you. We did the hart chart and have mostly graduated. (we always go back for review.) We now use lenses to adjust focus and he is on the most difficult level.
The hart chart would make my son litterally weak in the knees.
We are on our 6th month and mostly do visual memory and other types of visual perception work. I think the progression is to deal with the sensory issues (focusing, tracking, divergence along with balance etc) first, then move on to perception.
It is hard to stay motivated and I do hear whinning at my house too. He never whines for the therapist.
Good luck.
VT
Sharon and Linda,
thank you for reply.
the doctor we are seeing is on that list from the WebSite.
I do not question that what we do is right- it only seems a bit “scatter”…
and I do not really see any “progress reports” from her- I do not mean written ones but just a verbal statement. We are only doing it for a month, but I would at least expect to get some feedback.
My son major problem (I think?) is that he suppresses his left eye. I do not know what is the result of a such behaviour since his visual perception (I think) is right since he is gifted in visual-special task (and believe me for his a game SET- he figured it out in a minute and now is probably better than me and I am really good at SET…). I know he was not that good in tracking, but this is slowly improving- he is not losing his place while reading that often…
Well, I am a bit reluctant to search more- this is a second OD we went to, so I would need to give it some more thoughts, but it might be better to do it sooner than later.
I will try that “walking” exc. sounds fun to try.
Thank you, Ewa
Re: Vision Therapy Progress
Ewa,
Just wanted to tell you that the OD we saw was COVD certified and in retrospective it was not a useful exercise. I think there is a wide variety in quality of ODs. The more broadly oriented they are (incorporating OT type exercises) the more likely you will get results (of course some kids don’t need those kinds of exercises.) You need to pay attention to your gut. I did not because there was no one else in the county—we went for almost a year, and were dismissed, even though I insisted he still couldn’t track correctly. We have continued to work on the vestibular visual connection with Neuronet therapy but I am not convinced we won’t end up in a OD office again.
Beth
VT
Beth, thanks for the support…
Yaaa, I am this intuitive personality that is rarely satisfied, but I just cannot stop having those “gut’s feeling” when things are just not that good…
Anybody from CT with a good experience?
Beth- I really envy you your Neuronet therapist. I am still waiting to find a person that would have such a “holistic” view of a child…
Ewa
Linda F Re: Perception
***We are on our 6th month and mostly do visual memory and other types of visual perception work. I think the progression is to deal with the sensory issues (focusing, tracking, divergence along with balance etc) first, then move on to perception.***
Our doctor said that after we finish the therapy for tracking and convergence he would test for perception. I was under the impression that any further therapy depended on the test results. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do anymore therapy (VT that is, I know we will be doing therapy of some sort for a good while). I’m I being naive?
Is it normal or expected that kids with SI would need more VT for perception and visual memory? Break it to me gently. :o)
Re: Vision Therapy Progress
[quote=”Beth from FL”]Ewa,
“Just wanted to tell you that the OD we saw was COVD certified and in retrospective it was not a useful exercise. I think there is a wide variety in quality of ODs. ”
Our 1st doctor is on the COVD list and he is AWFUL!!!! You’re right about the variety in quality.
Find a Dr. with passion. You’ll know it’s right immediately.
Sharon
Visual perception and SI
Sharson,
I don’t know if all kids with SI need visual perception work. I do know that my son has both problems.
The good news is I really feel that the work we are doing through vision therapy is addressing all the difficulties he seems to face. So, in a way, this is the easy part.
The hard part was not know what was wrong or how I could help him.
The doctor evaluated my four year old and me yesterday. I need glasses for reading. I am getting old.
My four year won’t need vision therapy. He will most likely be nearsighted and need glasses. He also told me that he will probably pursue a profession that does not involve traveling and will enjoy close work, like engineering or perhaps even music. He encouraged me to have him play piano.
I didn’t tell him a thing about my little guy and he totally nailed him. It was almost strange.
The doctor told me something else interesting. 9 out of 10 kids with articulation problems need vision therapy for tracking. If they are having trouble controling the muscles around their mouth they are usually also having trouble controlling their ocular muscles.
My son has the worst tracking ever but never had any speech problems so he is the exception.
Re: Visual perception and SI
“The good news is I really feel that the work we are doing through vision therapy is addressing all the difficulties he seems to face. So, in a way, this is the easy part.
The hard part was not know what was wrong or how I could help him. ”
That’s also our experience. Isn’t it great!
“My son has the worst tracking ever but never had any speech problems so he is the exception.[/quote]”
Same with my son. My neighbor’s daughter who is seeing the same doctor has speech problems and tracking problems. Interesting…
Sharon
Sharon,
would you mind sharing what kind of exercises is your son doing?
We only do the tracking ball exercises, some with a dowel and ball and some with prisms (which I do not understand very well- throwing a ball while wearing prisms).
What I do not like is that we need to go there every week and with the possible 6-9 months of therapy- it will be quite a challenge- time-wise (especially when the school starts) and financially. What is positive-my son does not whine with the OD while he will really avoid doing the exercises with us.
I will be curious to see how other therapist are designing VT- you seem to be visiting only once per month so you must have a few exercises to work on in between the visits..
Thanks, Ewa