Can anyone advise?
Just learned our 8 year old has the above condition, also known as exophoria, which means his eyes want to drift outward rather than teamup properly to converge when he views print—resulting in blurred or double vision, eyestrain, fatigue etc., depending on size & clarity of print.
Exercises will be prescribed at our follow-up, which, unfortunately, is not until Dec. 17 due to the developmental optometrist’s vacation time.
My web searching uncovered the following exercise used as therapy—bringing a pencil close until just before the image blurs, repeating until the child can get it to his nose without a problem. (Prisms are sometimes used also to assist.)
Can anyone who has experience with this therapy tell me if going ahead on my own with this simple ex. (minus the prisms of course) is a good idea or not? Dec. 17 is a long time to wait. There are only 2 developmental optometrists in our region, so I figure the other might not be easy to see either.
In the meantime, his teacher is sympathetic. (LD herself and the one who suggested vision testing) and will modify work and its physical presentation.
I think this story underlines the importance of getting a good vision assessment by a developmental optometrist as a first step. My son’s teacher was convinced he was ADD/LD. This condition can be mistaken for either. I was all set to go ahead with psycho-ed testing but am postponing til after we have therapy results, by which time further testing might not be needed. (At any rate, this condition would certainly skew the reliability of the results in the meantime.) I use to ignore the vision therapy stuff on this and ReadNow but I am now appreciating its importance. The whole story is not phonological!
Thanks
PS—am planning to post also on ReadNow where a Dr. Stephey, an OD posts but am having trouble accessing the site. Hoping someone here can help.
Jan L.
Convergence therapy
Dear JenM
Would you mind posting the treatment protocol after you have been to the first session and have an idea of what lies ahead?
Our optometrist is now on vacation. I envy you being able to start right away.
Thank you.
JanL
eye therapy
I replied before but now I can’t find it. If this is a repeat, sorry.
My daughter is 7 and has been in eye therapy for just over a year. My advice would be to hang on until you see your therapist, or at least consult her before you start doing anything on your own.
We are nearing the end of our program, and we have just started the two exercises you mentioned. In addition, my daughter has a different problem. I know several of the parents where we go to therapy. Their children have a range of different eye problems. Some of the exercises are the same and many are not.
I totally understand how you feel right now. You have found something that might help you child, and you want to get started yesterday.
In closing, let me just say, that the eye therapy has worked for us. My daughter was tested twice last year by an outside source. The first time she tested in the severe range for visual problems, the second, in the normal range.
I hope that it works as well for you.
Good Luck!
Dana
Re: Advice on Vision Therapy for Insufficient Convergence
Thanks, Dana.
I’ll try to be patient.
Jan L
Re: Advice on Vision Therapy for Insufficient Convergence
Hi Jan,
Have you tried calling the office and asking the staff if it would be okay for you to start off with these type of exercises? Even with the doctor gone on vacation, they may be able to give some recommendations of things you can do in the meantime.
Re: Advice on Vision Therapy for Insufficient Convergence
My daughter had her first session for the convergence insufficiency tonight. However, they wanted to work with her alone for the first time so I didn’t get to watch. The nice surprise was that one of the teachers from her school who knows her works as a therapist in the office. She came home looking very tired, denied it of course, but feeling upbeat about it all. She was having some trouble with double vision earlier when doing homework so she’s really looking forward to some answers herself. So, sorry I can’t really tell you what was done yet. Unfortunately, she also isn’t too good at talking sometimes. I’m guessing it’s one of those LD things that we just don’t have diagnosed yet—soon though. She often tells me she doesn’t feel like talking about things because it’s hard for her to find the right words. She will have a computer program later in the week that we are supposed to use at home to follow up on the in office therapy.
I really can’t answer the question but my daughter (6) was diagnosed last week with the same disorder. She starts vision therapy tomorrow night. She also has visual processing problems. I have an appointment to get a full evaluation to make sure all areas of learning are covered. She will be evaluated again at the end of three to four months for the convergence insufficiency.