Visvion Therapy and Schools? Long post....sorry :(

Not to be too cynical, but perhaps the VT person is not reliable and is out for your $$. It would be hard to explain two such different results on the same test unless someone is cooking the test. I guess it could be the school doing the cooking so that they don’t have to provide services. Hard to say. Also, another person posted about how they were told that at 9 there child was too old to get full benefits from VT, so maybe you would be wise to get a second opinion before you pay out that much money.

I agree that it would be hard to explain two such different results on the same test and I too wondered (when I first heard of VT) if they were just out to grasp a parents heart because that parent is looking for ‘anything’ that could help their child.

However, my experience with my SD hasn’t been the greatest and the services my son receives are next to none. I find that I have to fight like a bulldog to get even the simplest thing…..ie.., a text book that he can actually take home so that he can get extra help here, etc…

I am though, truely baffled at the two different test results……but also have to say that when I questioned the doctor, he had no problem showing me the tests, the results and giving me copies so that I could take them to the school and ask my questions. It isn’t so easy to get such information from the school. They seem to hold back when asked a point blank question…..they’re almost guarded in their responses. I know this for certain….they won’t “offer” information unless specifically asked….and I know that they know that a lot of parents don’t know the “right” questions to ask. It also seems that when a parent finally knows what to ask that the IEP team gets defensive….and it becomes harder than it has to be, or should be. That’s MY experience anyway.

Next month, like I said before, we go to my son’s annual IEP and I’ll have the doctors paperwork and theirs….and needless to say I will be asking for an explanation.

At any rate, I’ll be taking my son to therapy and crossing my fingers that this is what opens the door for him. Once his door is opened….it’s up to him to want to work hard enough to play catch up. IF this doesn’t work, then I guess he’s no worse off than he was before. ??

I really do thank you for your point of view. I may be one of those desperate parents that want to latch onto something that ‘could’ help….
and hearing different points of view will keep me grounded.

*Huggz*

B.

First of all, schools do not do vision therapy, so I seriously doubt you will get help paying for it.

Also, I think when that much money is involved, I’d definitely seek another opinion. And you’d better believe I’d be trying some home vision programs before I spent that money.

Here are a couple of things to look at:

http://www.eyesontrack.com/

http://www.visionbuilder.no/

Also, do a search for home-based vision therapy. There are doctors who do it that way for considerably less money.

Janis

I appriciate your opinions…..thank you very much.

I’m wondering though if the doctor’s testing isn’t a second opinion. I don’t know, but certainly my son needs something that the schools can’t or aren’t providing. I am in no way in ‘denial’ of my son’s disabilities, but I do believe that with the proper help and guidence, he can be helped. He’s a very bright young man and is completely aware of his LD, but he never stops trying. I just feel if VT is something that could help remove even a few of the roadblocks that have been in his way all this time, that I owe it to him to try it. He knows how much work it will be and that he’s not going to one day wake up and be able to read at grade level. However, in his own words “Mom, if it can help me to see things right maybe I will read better.” That attitude alone, to me, is worth the $3000.00, the time and the commute.

I know that $3000.00 is a lot of money, but I look back at all the time wasted (not knowing this as a possibility) and then look ahead at how little time he has left in school……home vision programs aren’t an option, as I don’t know enough about this whole process. Having him seen professionally once a week and following-up at home daily seems more intensive and (maybe I’m wrong) but the only option.

When I asked about the schools helping to pay for such therapies…I was just curious as I don’t know if they KNOW about this kind of thing, or just don’t believe in it. I do know though that if this is something that works for my son, even a little bit, that the schools should at least put it on the table for parents to consider as an optional therapy for their children. I think: “How sad, if VT can really help, to have children go through years of struggles, if it can be helped……even a little.”

Anyway, sorry to go on and on….my feelings are all over the map on this one. I’v heard many good things about VT, in fact “this” is the site I first learned of it and the reason I looked into it at all. I’v also heard ‘not so good things’ but again……if theres a chance, it’s worth taking….especially when nothing else has worked….. no?

I think VT steps over the line into the medical area and educators are technically not qualified to do that kind of testing or therapy. Just as we are not qualified to diagnose ADHD, etc. The school must technically deal with the academics, but it would be the parents’ responsibility to take care of the medical.

I fully understand that you are convinced your child has visual deficits and I was not really suggesting a second opinion to see if he needs therapy. I was suggesting it to do some price comparison!

It is just like my situation. I took my child to Lindamood Bell for reading testing because I wanted thorough testing. They recommended several weeks of both Seeing Stars and Visualizing and Verbalizing and I completely agree! But it was never even a consideration to have the therapy done there. That would have been about $10,000-13,000 for 8-10 weeks. The LD teacher at her school is taking the trainings and so am I. Between the two of us, my child will get those programs but at a fraction of the cost (the cost of the training and all materials would add up to about $1200 for both programs).

Personally, just don’t think we need to make doctors any richer than they already are, if we can find one who is more reasonable!

Janis

You are very welcome to seek this, however don’t expect this. Vision therapy is not universally accepted, though I know people have sworn by it.

As the obnoxious teacher, I will state that I believe it is wrong to ask the school to pay for things that are difficulties with a child’s physical body. This falls under what I consider to be the full responsibility of the parent. If it helps reading, then great. Parents pay for eye exams and glasses, their children benefit by being able to see the board in school and grades may improve.

I think that the VT is really outside the provence of a school, unless this were some ld school where they hired such people. I have heard of such schools, say residential, having nutritionists and psychiatrists. Or residential school for the deaf having an audiologist.

Even public schools with psychologists will tend to think of it as counselling, and not psychotherapy. Nurses (LPN) don’t dispense meds without the written permission of the parent, this includes aspirin.

But the VT requires an optometrist (not a medical doc btw). I don’t think that schools hire them. Even when they do hearing and vision screenings they usually use nurses. I took courses in deaf education (so glad i can write this and not have people say ‘what?’ ha ha so old :-)). In my audiology class we did screening for a local school. They do a standard sweep thru the pure tones, easily handled by a beginner non-audiologist or nurse who would know the equipment.

I doubt you’d get anywhere. Might save money, by either going with some software suggested on the ld parenting or see if you can find a doctor who prescribes the exercises which you do with the child.

Of course many schools aren’t even using research based reading techniques.

—des

The public is being brainwashed by special interests. Research, including the famous First Grade Studies conducted in the 1960s which compared pretty much every method of teaching reading, demonstrated that it is the teacher who always makes the difference. Teachers need good training, they need good tools and then the freedom to apply them.

The First Grade Studies were extended past first grade and similarly by 4th or 5th grade there really was no difference in reading methodology. Good teachers will TEACH children and vary teaching to meet varying needs.

I’m sorry, I meant to imply this was with dyslexic kids. Most kids will learn to read if you supply them with proper instruction and attention.

—des

I had heard California was the only state where vision therapy is sometimes accepted as a valid treatment by schools. Maybe it depends on the school district……

I haven’t yet figured out why occupational therapy is supposed to be provided by schools, but vision therapy is not. Seems to me the issues they address are both physical in nature and affect ability to pursue academics.

Depending on the specific problems, at-home therapy can be just as effective as in-office VT and much less expensive. See http://www.homevisiontherapy.com for more information in case you want to get another opinion on the VT. HTS is not sufficient for all vision problems, but I think it addresses the ones you mention.

Also, you might want to call or email Dr. Stephey who, when he is not away from his office, is very willing to help parents understand their options for VT (AND he is in CA, so may be able to tell you something about schools and VT). His website is http://www.optometrists.org/stephey/index.html

One very important thing to understand about VT is that it may not be enough! VT is very good at correcting visual efficiency problems (convergence and accommodation, etc.), but a child with these problems has been deprived of years practicing visual processing skills — things such as visual short-term memory, visual sequencing, visual pattern recognition, visual attention to detail, etc. These skills are most likely to develop automatically after VT in younger children. Older children have a lot of lost years of practice to make up. Cognitive training is a very efficient way to develop visual processing skills once visual efficiency skills are in place. The best program for someone your son’s age is PACE (http://www.processingskills.com ), but it costs about $3,000. What you might want think about is finding a less expensive way to do the VT so that you can afford PACE as a follow-up. (The developer of PACE is a developmental optometrist, so you may be able to get some helpful advice from him too.)

Nancy