Academics during Vision Therapy

[amazzie]

I just had my 11yo son screened by a VT. He is having major convergence issues along with lots of other developmental delays. His ability to know if letters and numbers face the correct way came in at being 5 years 8 months. He sees double on the rope and bead test until the bead is 2 feet out. The whole thing was very tiring for him, but explained a lot to me! He really needs this therapy!

 

She recommended I do a lot of history and science with him for the next six months and not bother with penmanship, math facts or spelling until his vision is working better, at which time she thought I should be ready to work a lot with him on those areas. He is doing very well with reading now, even with his brain blocking off the input from one eye, so at least that's not a concern.

 

I am looking for advice or been there done that stories of other people's experiences and to know if you think she gave me good academic advice. I must say it sounds good to me. I am tired of trying to teach subjects that just don't stick. It's frustrating to everyone involved.

[DeniseF]

I've read other posters on here say that they did as she advised...laid off on reading and math, but I just started VT with my 7-year old and they didn't seem to think I should hold off.  I was surprised given what I've read from others on this board.  I'll be interested to see the replies to your post.

[PeterPan]

Amazzie, that's the age my dd was when we did VT, and indeed we went extremely awol for 6 months.  The world does not end.  I think situations just vary and it's not as simple as everyone stops or no one stops.  My dd is extremely, extremely sensitive sensory-wise, so the pain of VT was EXCRUCIATING for her.  That's not normal or typical at all, but it was her situation.  We've had kids on the board here who BLEW through VT and kids who died a thousand deaths and were mules the whole way.  Different answers for different kids.

 

Your VT doc gave you permission and she's looking at your situation as a whole.  She's probably looking at how severe his problem is, how much work he's going to need to put into it, how much effort that's going to take, how worn out he will be afterward, and how likely you are to be consistent if you do all that AFTER you do a bunch of school work.

 

We did field trips after our VT sessions and we made lots of great memories!  I highly recommend it.  Seriously, go sign him up for programs at the zoo, volunteering at the animal shelter, whatever.  Visit all the state parks and historical sites in your state. 

 

It is NOT WORTH IT to make him miserable right now pushing academics, when in a few months things will come together.  Give him audiobooks.  Ok, my two cents.  Still do math.  Do it on the whiteboard and orally, but *if he has energy* try to keep going with math daily.  Do you listen to NPR on the radio?  Start listening to the news together and talk about it.  Put on audiobooks.  

 

My dd had a shocking surge after her VT.  It was like her brain wanted to go through and re-see and re-learn everything.  We went back through all 6 levels of AAS.  (Previously we had always used SWR.)  We saw the same type of surge in math.  She was a totally different kid when she came out of VT, and missing that work didn't matter a BIT.  The only thing that was a bummer was letting that math drop.  If you can avoid it, don't do that.  But other than that, throw your inhibition to the wind and enjoy.  And if you can't get math done, move on.

 

Does he like the Popular Mechanics for kids videos?  I just ordered the building dvds by David Macauley for my ds.  Just roll with what he enjoys in an enriching, non-pressured way.  Find your own balance of what you're able to get done comfortably.  Just go with the balance that works *for him*.  And when you feel like you ought to be cutting back more, you've got your doc and the board fairies backing you up.  :D

[SandyKC]

There is a lot that can be done academically without working on penmanship, math facts or spelling specifically.  When we started homeschooling and my DS was having VT, we watched a lot of educational DVDs, had a project-based science program, and didn't do spelling as a subject during that time.  We did work on math facts--if you want to and can find the larger 5x7 cards, they can be functional.  You can, if you choose, also work on letter formation in a LARGE format, like writing in big letters on a wall mounted board, using a finger on a soapy pan or in a pan with rice, etc.  Either way you go, the world won't end if there is a delay in those subjects that are quite difficult to do on a small visual scale.  That said, If it feels like a relief, give yourself and your son a few months of less stress because the VT WILL be difficult for him.. That will probably be enough stress as it is! ;-)

[Julie of KY]

I definitely would say to lay off a lot of schoolwork if possible.

I can't put aside math altogether so we continued math (orally and slowly). I wouldn't worry at all about postponing writing and spelling for months. There is a ton of schoolwork you can do like read-alouds, books on cd, science experiments, etc. However before you go planning a bunch of educational activities, keep in mind that some kids are totally wiped out by doing vision therapy and won't want to do much at all at first. Others can keep plugging away on schoolwork without a problem - I've had both.

[geodob]

I would agree with holding off with close up work: penmanship, spelling. etc.

 

Though you wrote about: "his brain blocking off the input from one eye."

Where each eye actually uses its own side of the brain, with a left and right visual cortex.

So that when the brain blocks off input from one eye?

It is actually shutting down that side of the brain's visual cortex.

 

Which means that the side of the visual cortex that was shut down, needs to be reactivated and working again.

With both sides working, their is region in the mid-brain that combines the images from both sides, to form a single left to right image.

 

So that by taking a break from close up work, until the convergence is corrected?

He can come back to it with fresh eyes, and learn to make use of both sides of his visual cortex.

 

Where a problem with not taking a break? Is that while the eyes may be corrected.  That the visual cortex on that side, might not have returned to full use?

[amazzie]

Thank you for all the input! I am pretty sure he will be wiped out at least at first. He almost fell over after he was done in the office and came home and took a nap...he hasn't napped since he was two.

 

My gut feeling is to totally drop any spelling or penmanship. I am thinking I'd like some sort of math just to keep up a bit. He has has been having a little summer break but before that I had had to drop down to half a math lesson because math was wearing him out so much. I had no idea his vision had anything to do with it, but he is my son and I knew something was wrong. He would spend a very stressed out hour on two pages, I think because there were so many multiplication problems and those pesky facts just were not sinking in.

 

That is fascinating about half the brain shutting down, geodob. I had wondered how that worked. He told me yesterday that reading is very tiring to him. I think the screening explained a lot to him as well, and he is so eager to get in there and fix things! We have to wait for the doctor to do a complete evaluation before they will proceed with the VT, and he has an appt. at the end of Sept. He wishes he could start right away without the doctor's visit.

 

Interestingly, the VT told me she did not read a whole book until she was 28. She is so passionate about this work. She says the boys get angry and frustrated and the girls depressed and blame themselves. She also said they kick the kids out as soon as their eyes are functioning correctly because they have more clients than they need. It makes me wonder what's going on that so many kids aren't developing normal vision by themselves. I'm pretty sure my 5 yo dd will also need VT.

[mommymonster]

I was so concerned about math during VT, and I probably pushed more than I should have. If I had to do it again, I'd chill out. Really. If I had to do it again, I'd play strategy and logic games. Read aloud math books -- Sir Cumference, The Numbers Devil, biographies of mathematicians (a ton of them overcame a lot of challenges growing up), history of numbers. Watch DVDs -- The Story of One, Donald in Mathmagicland, Nova. Do real life money work. The nice thing about money is you can do a lot of mental math with the coins, and you don't necessarily need to see the coins to do the work. They each feel differently. There are tons of ways to keep math fresh without a pencil and paper... 

[Tiramisu]

I thought dd would be tired or have headaches from VT and so I planned to cut down on academics from the get go. But her reaction was different than I anticipated....she was flat out grumpy! So I let her do what she enjoyed and we continued math but slowed down. I don't regret dropping the other stuff. If I had pushed, I wouldn't have made any progress and we would have all suffered for it. 

[PeterPan]

I like the suggestion to do living math!  You could do it on the whiteboard instead of paper.  You could do the geometry or measurement or lighter lessons from your math curriculum and skip computation for a while.  You could PLAY GAMES that just HAPPEN to use math and working memory and that would be EVEN BETTER!!  VT totally changed how I view games, puzzles, etc. Have you tried Ticket to Ride with him?  He's a great age for it. 

[amazzie]

Games are a wonderful idea. With two much younger sisters he loves having something special to do with Mom. Recently he's been enjoying chess, which is a mental workout for me! I will have to check out Ticket To Ride. And I will try to relax about computation. Maybe a few problems on the white board from time to time would be enough.

 

[Tiramisu]

You may have seen my post about my dd's placement tests. The scores finally came in the mail, and I want you to know that dd did better in the subjects we did not do during vision therapy. That should make people feel better about letting some things slide. :)

[amazzie]

You may have seen my post about my dd's placement tests. The scores finally came in the mail, and I want you to know that dd did better in the subjects we did not do during vision therapy. That should make people feel better about letting some things slide. :)

Wow! That is incredible. And very good to know. Thanks for sharing!

[ElizabethB]

You could do games, oral math facts, and some math large on the white board. You could also do a bit of oral spelling and hangman on the white board.