I have a student in which it is stated in his cum file that he was evaluated by a vision specialist and sees double. He is a foster child just placed in our district. Any ideas of what I can do to help him?
Re: Seeing Double
I would offer him a peer reader if the double vision interferes with his academic performance. It is amazing how kids can adjust to things, so ask him and his foster parents how he deals with it on a daily basis. They might have suggestions for you. Also provide him with books on tape. I wonder if it is better close up than far away?
Re: Seeing Double
A Developmental Optometrist could test areas other than just visual acuity (where the term 20/20 comes in). Double vision and words moving on the page are some complaints that can arise from eye teaming/tracking/focusing issues. Some of the things you would notice are a student blending words together, skipping lines, skipping words. These can all be treated, sometimes with glasses and more often with therapy that retrains the eye. It could be worth a try.
Re: Seeing Double
He could also be seeing double & having trouble “reading/seeing” because of scoptic sensitivity (sensitivity to certain bands of light) which Dr. Irlen out of Irvine, California has written extensively about & has developed a system of colored lenses which corrects the problem. While not a “cure-all”, about 50% of true dyslexics suffer from this problem. A way that you might discern if this is part of the problem is by changing lighting in the room in which you teach by eliminating flourescent lighting and trying different colored transpercies over plain black & white print. As it is doubtful that the your school system would pay for Irlen testing which is not cheap (not to mention the cost of the glasses), trying a softer lighting and colored transpercies might help. In some countries all children are tested for this at the kindergarten level with great success (Australia & England). Unfortunately we are rather backward here. However, I have had some personal experience in my own family (2 members) where the lenses have made a difference, including my own son! As I said, while not a cure-all, a definite assist. If testing is a possibility you can find someone in your area qualified to test through Dr. Irlen’s clinic in San Diego. She is also on-line. There was also an interesting piece done on this on “Sixty Minutes” a few years ago. You could acquire a copy of this piece through the Irlen Institute in San Diego or a local Irlen certified diagnostician.
Did he see a Developmental Optometrist?? It’s a very narrow field, in NJ there are only 4 practices that offer this specialty and each practice only has one doctor who is certified.