I would do some testing on your own first. This is what I did: Check your kid's own vision-- does your kid have "lazy eye"? Do they have dyslexia? Do they have Irlen Syndrome? Ask and research first. Look up links you can use my thread as an example of things to test: Do Sunglasses or colored filters help stabilize words on the page? Many symptoms seem similar across eye issues.. Look at all the descriptions and ask : does xyz happen when.... What specific things does the kid experience more problems with? Math (dyscalcula), reading, both? Read my thread -- http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/515198-no-more-patienceam-i-teaching-challenged/page-5?do=findComment&comment=5851028 use some of the videos - and ask, does your kid experience xyz? Same with what One Step at a time said. Be encouraged! you're not alone!!!

http://irlen.com/ For all those interested. It might be what's bothering your kid. It's like a visual dyslexia. Things that come to mind: monocular diplopia: having double vision problems out of each eye but it's more a how the eye translates info to the brain with perception and sensitivity issues. But not for those experiencing lazy eye per se-- not binocular diplopia or convergence issues. My kid seeing colors differently PASSED the Ishihara color blind test. But he sees red=orange yellow=green etc. Ishihara test (dots with numbers) only test for a specific type of genetic color blindness. Do what I did, use sunglasses, use colored transparency folder dividers to see if it helps "calm" the words on the page (I bought them at a dollar store!) Different colors for different kids. If it doesn't help, then it might be another dyslexia, or VT - may help. Check FB sites and groups, see what symptoms most match your kid. ASK tons of questions! I am 95% sure my kid has irlen syndrome which is a perceptual/sensory issue. I am still researching the difference between visual dyslexia and Irlen syndrome. I've been checking FB groups and found out the kids were having THE SAME issues. You are not alone. It's been researched, but most of the medical community doesn't accept it yet because they don't understand how it works, you may have to pay out of pocket.

It was a neural ophthalmologist – they usually have more of surgical and field experience over against a optometrist. I did goto a covd at first. She was really nice but got my prescription wrong, and never got to do a dyslexic test on my son, because they said that they accepted my insurance at first – then they came back with the fact that she was not a participating covd in my insurance plan. They wanted all out of pocket. Then a regular optometrist (swindler) in the same office said to check with neural ophthalmologist because she said my kid was a malingerer. She tried to charge me for some bogus write up, even though they messed my prescription up. Then she faxed the same "malingerer" information to the neural ophthalmologist who was supposed to be giving me a second opinion not a rehash of what the prior optometrist said. Thanks for the support ohelizabeth! I am pretty sure it's Irlen issues, with similarity to dyslexia symptoms, only everyone (covd or Irlen) wants out of network money. Upwards of $1070. Still considering all options. What does fellows mean in the grand scheme of who and how they diagnose? The Neural ophthalmologist said that I might want to check out a pediatric ophthalmologist if I think it dyslexia.

GRRR!!! Neural Opthalmologist was a complete waste of my time. He basically dissed my being a homeschooler, He was smart enough to think to ask if I had a degree in education and I said I did, and he was shocked, and I stated that my husband is an engineer, and then he said my son was super smart and a malingerer (he basically said my son was lying!) because he saw what the referring physician said. He said I can't test him, because I wouldn't be objective enough, and that I don't know what my son is thinking/doing, and that he's at the age where they make up stuff. He said COVD's are just out to make money because none of it's proven, and my son doesn't have a physiological problem. Then I said I know my son is having issues, cause he says this that red=orange, etc. And he drew this, nn when there is just 1 n. and he sees 1 n with a green filter. I gave him all of what I used to test and ask my son, and he still thinks my son was lying. Then he proceeded to do magic tricks with my son to try to soften the environment and lead us out.

So I scheduled a neural ophthalmologist appointment at the end of the month. I got clip ons for my son's prescription glasses. The other optometrist blamed my son as a malingerer, then got my prescription wrong again... sigh. It is really strange, I think my son had a concussion to cause his color issues. He passed the Ichihara test (colored dots with numbers). Which is a color blind test, but technically is a test for a specific type of color blindness, not all. I pray that the neural ophthalmologist confirms everything that I have researched and stuff. So I timed my son's reading the last week. His oral fluency is better when reading with sunglasses. out loud oral average is 45 wpm without sunglasses out loud oral average is 55 wpm with sunglasses

covd College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) capd-Central Auditory Processing Disorder wm-working memory

I dont think that VT's prescribe anything other than singular, bifocal or trifocal/progressive lenses. I think that most lens places carry regular optic lenses, Lens Crafters may make tinted lenses but not Irlen.

I still need the diagnostician to evaluate him and give the correct prescription for which color gradient to tint and if we'd need to add acuity to the lenses. That's at least $595.00 ETA= The spectral filters are 100% different than normal acuity lenses. I just called costco and walmart they said no, they don't carry it.

The true Irlen customized lenses are much more expensive $395, and you have to bring in your own frames. But that doesn't include the diagnostics at $640. I wish there was a cheaper method. I don't think that it is absurd, it's just not very affordable at this point for our needs. :( the insurance won't pay for the VT and I am doubtful they would pay for Irlen diagnostician services either. ETA ... Geodob - thank you for your wonderful explanation and line of questioning. The Insurance just told my VT that my prior VT exam might not be covered and they do not cover her now. Wow, I HOPE that this doesn't come back to bite my wallet. Especially since many of our appliances are going on the fritz. It's really annoying! I just talked to the specialists that were at the IEP meeting, 1st was a speech and Lang pathologist and psychologist, and they were interested in all the evidence I presented them. They were amazed at my son's vocabulary, and I even brought in my folder dividers and eyeglasses. They suggested that he stay on grade level, because most don't get promoted, and most that are delayed a year are held back in Kindy and 1st. But they were looking at the stanford test and considered him average, and not enough for special needs. They said that if he got the special eye accommodations, then most of what he is doing is at grade level and would be acceptable in the beginning of fourth. They also said that it was up to me whether I felt I should hold him back on paper. They said it's harder to skip grades than to hold them back.

I saw those. I must say, I wonder how both my dollar store sunglasses and the amazon ones are probably a quick but not customized fix. Our eyes can view way more than 10000 colors. I know now after speaking to the Irlen diagnostician that without testing- regular sunglasses are not optimal. Because each Irlen lens is configured per eye to each color sensitivity, and they aren't just tinted lenses, so everything that you look out of isn't just that one color, but you see every color. But at the same time both the cover sheets and the Irlen sheets are just plastic overlays and showed me an immediate difference. No double vision per eye for green. The sunglasses do the same -- close too but he still had color differentiation issues. Green was better than the sunglasses but still green viewing . ETA... yeah, the dotted numbers with red and green - can someone tell me what that test is called?

Yeah, my VT said she didn't do Irlen type testing with different transparencies and glasses. Wow - you lucked out. Not necessarily a bandaid situation. I can't afford both therapies at the same time-- my insurance have not responded. And, if I am correct, one would drastically affect the other. If the spectral differences using different filters help the eye, that drastically, his muscles might relax enough to fix the other issues. If not, and he had a reading test again after a certain amount of time, then we could measure his saccades and the fluidity and be fixed. Accommodative insufficiency and stereotopic have to do with both eyes working together. Well, he sees double in each eye alone. With the transparencies, he's seeing great... don't want to be prohibitive. KWIM?

My other friend helped me know that there are many lexias. I was astounded at the visual lexias. Henianoptic alexia, surface alexia, phonological alexia, deep alexia, peripheral alexia, agnosic alexia, attentional alexia. These are all more visual or perceptual lexias similar to dyslexia. There is also hyperlexia which is sometimes associated with spectrum disorders. I got part of the solution, but I didn't know the medical terms associated with describing the problem.

I keep on seeing Irlen pop up. What type of doctors do scotopic light sensitivity screenings? Occupational Therapists? Cause my VT doesn't do Irlen type screenings. Only Irlen specialists? I got quoted $1045 yesterday out of pocket.I used -- dollar store transparent dollar store dividers. She also suggested avoiding fluorescent lighting. The Irlen specialist suggested that we use those different color lightbulbs inside the dollar store or party stores or somewhere that sells color lightbulbs for cheap. Or different colored paper to write on to kind of figure things out too.

Opposite is true, Green allows him single object vision. But I think I understand what you are trying to say. Ex. Don't throw away the VT's diagnosis, because it could be 2 issues. But which to work with first is an bigger question. A second peripheral eye exam or the scotopic exam. And, if I did, then I just spent $125 on glasses that don't work for everything. :( Should have listened to Heather about not purchasing the glasses yet.

OK... so he just put on his prescription glasses and dollar store sun glasses and he put the colored folder dividers (dollar store) in Roy G B sequence. Then without his glasses, orange red green yellow and named blue purple. He said that some things that are dark seemed bright. I told him to cover one eye and asked how many mommies? He said 2. I told him to cover the other eye he said 2. To me, that is not stereoscopic issues--- that you can correct with VT, right? There has to be lens filters or something-- because it has nothing to do with two eyes working together and seeing double-- he is seeing double of me in each eye by itself. Every time I put the green transparent divider in front of his face, he sees things normally. I told him to trace the shadow caused by the window pane - testing without glasses, then with prescription glasses, then with sun glasses, then with the green divider. Green gave him single vision. So like this: Testing my kid: 1) To see if he could put the transparent folder dividers colors in rainbow order: a)Without glasses - Orange Red Green Yellow Blue (named it Purple) b)With Prescription glasses (with reflective coating?)- Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple Test on my kid: 2) To see what filters would allow for him not to see double: a) Without glasses - Sees double b ) With Prescription glasses - Sees double c) With dollar store sunglasses- sees slightly double but the edges of stuff are closer together d) With green transparent folder divider- doesn't see double; things are as one but everything is green. Test on my kid: 3) To see how far he sees single vision before doubling occurs a) With objects approximately 1 foot from his face- sees singular b ) with objects greater than about 1 food from his face - sees double with things tilting into a V To me, this is more Irlen syndrome than VT. I can't see how it could be predominantly VT issues. What I may understand to be a vt issue, is because one eye's prescription was different than the other. And there might be slight depth perception issue - one eye goes quicker inward than the other- barely noticeable though. But predominately I can't see how 90% of this has to do with VT because it's one eye at a time seeing double. VT is for two eyes working together, right? Anyone know? ETA : What it might look like for a person with Irlen Syndrome ETA: What Irlen Syndrome is solved using colored filters.

Just a couple more links my COVD optometrist sent that might help all of us will VT issues with our kids. Using this as my resource thread. www.covd.org www.oepf.org www.pavevision.org (parents active for vision education) http://www.childrensvision.com www.visiontherapy.org

http://www.visiontherapycalgary.com/whats-new/New-News-Item,544683 I just found this. Irlen vs VT and studies differentiating it. I am shocked, when I put that green transparent sheet folder divider over his eyes from far away the doubling stopped. At one point without the green transparent divider he told me a zebra was upside down on the page down, and all my fingers were everywhere. I had NO idea this was happening. Oh also GREAT ARTICLE http://heartofthematteronline.com/vision-therapy-from-skeptic-to-cheerleader/

Heather - sorry for the arbitrary question, of course you wouldn't know what it would say... I am just cheezily posting all these questions in my mind and "typing out loud" lol. IEP's are individualized education plans. So they would basically lay out the next order of things to teach him so that I can guide him into the next concepts to follow based on what I have and what his special needs are. Of course, I am just thinking to myself how I would teach everything, by song-- That just seems weird. I could except for division, there aren't division songs that I know of heheh. Too bad he has to use the other modalities of learning to compensate for the visual stuff being off for 4 months while therapy works. He would probably get tired doing therapy 20 minutes a day. I bought veritas press history time line - I guess we could just start those in song. Then I'd have MUS - times tables by song and veritas history by song, while the rest of the therapy goes on. I would leave grammar alone, science is still apologia, and that leaves me spelling with rod and staff with the kinesthetic phonogram cards of AAS, and reading and writing. Art - is already part of science so far, although, we borrowed cd's about famous painters from the library these last two weeks. Not much hands on - which I should get some done before the portfolio review in two weeks. Just want to be organized. I will present his partial diagnosis letter and such. Oh wow I took 4 transparent sheet dividers green blue red and orange, on all he saw double or somewhat double except for the green one. I am no COVD, but isn't that Irlen syndrome?

My ds is amazing - to have gone through ALL the curriculum in my signature. Including K-3 he played at least 5-7 piano pieces memorized. All with these visual difficulties. He is my genius. Wow... I am so entirely proud of him. He persevered through all my tiger momish-ness since he was a little itty bitty thing and endured all of this stuff despite his visual difficulties. I am truly humbled. Even though his mountains were higher than mine ever were, he climbed them anyway. My eyes are brimming with pools and his are brimming with duplicates. :crying: :crying: :hurray: :hurray: Heather - I wonder how they will do the write up since we know what it is now...

His perception test is next. Then she would devise therapy, but we still have insurance coverage issues to deal with at the moment. The perceptual testing battery includes the following: Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS-III) Jordan Left-Right Reversal Test Piaget Left-Right Awareness Test The Dyslexia Screener (TDS) Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI) The purpose of perceptual testing is to assess visual processing skills, awareness of laterality and directionality, screen for both visual and auditory forms of dyslexia (to determine if formal dyslexia testing is necessary), and to evaluate visual-motor integration.

Oh E- I was told accommodative insufficiency and stereopsis issues. Not convergence or problems with binocular vision by the COVD optometrist. I'm like huh???

OOOHHH my gosh! I JUST talked to my ds and asked him, does his letters look like double vision for him? I proceeded to print out dog and then ddoogg and he said it looks more like the ddoogg, but the second looks like there are more letters in it. Then he proceeded to show me how his tt's next together look. And he drew tttt My poor son!!! We never knew! I showed my DH my son's problems with my ds' glasses on and made him answer my questions in front of my DH and it proved he has the eye issues. 2 ft away everything was doubled. At 1 1/2 ft it was like one item. Why doesn't insurance pay for this? Poor kids and parents that have to go through this! LORD have MERCY!!! A regular eye exam doesn't cover this. My student's mom just told me her kid's teacher had their kids in the classroom tested and 3 out of 30 had eye issues. That's 10% of the classroom! How many kids were probably misdiagnosed? Krikey! I am shocked at the numbers. No wonder there was slow saccades! He doesn't know which letter to focus on when reading, he didn't know how to spell because there are two of everything. THANK YOU EVERYONE ON THIS BOARD that gave advice and told me to straighten up- there is something wrong get my but in gear, and that my DS is TRYING! Holy moly! I think my dh is more on board now-- that I showed him straight to his face what my ds can and can't do. I am crying with joy and relief and grief inside my soul because of all that time that was wasted but finding a reason. I may have also just seen a student with similar issues. He was an older adult spanish speaking man. And his signature was illegible, he squinted as he wrote and he just wanted to learn how to play the piano.

I am sure he doesn't have a CAPD. If he did, he wouldn't have memorized the 50 states and capitals song. I think it's just easy confusion. I have to review it several times too, cause I don't know the song well, and we'd been relying on the multiplication.com associative visual memorization method for awhile. And when you have to sing descending notes in a math song, it could feel like just a bunch of numbers randomly grouped together in a song to memorize or too similar a song. For example, Jesus loves me this I know tune for 3,6,9,12, 15, 18 ( I don't know if Is close to MUSee's Zacheus 4's song in that they both have descending melodies for the beginning. Multiplication of the 3's is easy to confuse with the 4's, I guess. Until I isolate it enough it's easy to get confused - I only played it on two days. Not enough repetition on my part and the space between the repetition was far apart, like 3, 4 days apart. I tried to get him to use the 9 trick with your hands more often, but he forgets to use it. Edited to add...So multiplication.com is a visual math associative property multiplication method, MUS Song CD is skip counting audio math multiplication method, and 9 trick using hands is kinesthetic method. We'll see if he gets it in 2 weeks. LOL ETA.. I talked to the special ed team on the phone today as I was about to confirm with them for the meeting on Monday. And they had some better testing questions to add about how I worked with my son. I'm thinking I am really going to feel inadequate. Like with math, I think that a lot to do with any slowdown, is because my dh isn't thorough enough with his follow through. It's all too easy to just let him watch the video and expect him to get it. I have been marking an x by the ones he has wrong and telling him to redo them with me there, but somehow I don't know how "good enough" that is. My dd keeps on forgetting the number 15 in all her work... Thank GOD for VBS' the vacation is for MEEEEE!!!

Oh no -- partial neuro psych won't happen until the end of the month I thought capd was a typo for covd! I gotta look this stuff up.

I'm laughing inside. -- It just reminded me when one of my friends said when we first started homeschooling... " You don't need to be singing your way all through education for all your facts" Hmmm... seems like we might... LOL This past year He memorized all 50 states and capitals using wacko's 50 states song, a long psalm, He knows all the FLL grammar definitions, when prompted with a little help. He still has some practical application issues with the parts of speech. For a VSL kinesthetic kid to be taught using very slight vsl methods... Is kinda tough...The odd part: on his testing for the Stanford 10, he performed below average, but, his reading comprehension was normal for the VT. Guess I should just use the MUS skip counting song cd that I bought eons ago. I thought, bah, let's memorize it visually... Welp, he confuses the stories on www.multiplication.com sometimes too much. Now he's confusing songs between the 3's multiplication and the 4's multiplication songs... sigh... time to review!