FO4UR Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 What can I expect? Should I prepare ds6 in any way? He had his normal vision test and he's got better than 20/20 vision (yeah!). I described some of the issues we've had with reading in spite of what I know he knows. It will be nice to either pinpoint the problem or rule visual tracking out as the problem.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 my son has visual tracking problems. yet he passed the visual tracking examination, don't ask me how. you don't have to prepare you DC. you can also do a simple test at home. take a pen. ask DC to stand at a comfortable distance. ask DC not to move her head or tilt head but move only the eyes. move the pen horizontally then vertically. ask DC to follow the pen. watch if here eye go smooth without any eye jumps or head turning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Our vision therapy evaluation began with a normal eye exam just to make certain my son's eyes were still 20/20 - and they were. After that the dr began a series of special "activities" as she called them. One was the tracking activity described above. But there were several more, some involving special lenses, some that seemed more like a game to my son, some that just seemed odd. Some we did in the eye exam chair, some he did at a regular table and chair set up. All in all the exam for my son lasted about 3 hours. Don't be surprised if glasses are recommended for you child even if there is 20/20 vision. I was skeptical at first but went ahead and got the glasses with the smallest prescription available at the optometrists recommendation. Almost immediately we could tell a difference in how better my son could see. The glasses seemed to take the edge off some and block some peripheral interfearance - blocked some of the extra sensory input. Now my son prefers to wear the glasses all the time, not just when participating in close activities like school and TV. If you child has other sensory problems, be prepared for your child to be on sensory overload after the exam. Mine was. He hasn't been after therapy, but he certainly was after the initial exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Our vision therapy evaluation began with a normal eye exam just to make certain my son's eyes were still 20/20 - and they were. After that the dr began a series of special "activities" as she called them. One was the tracking activity described above. But there were several more, some involving special lenses, some that seemed more like a game to my son, some that just seemed odd. Some we did in the eye exam chair, some he did at a regular table and chair set up. All in all the exam for my son lasted about 3 hours. Don't be surprised if glasses are recommended for you child even if there is 20/20 vision. I was skeptical at first but went ahead and got the glasses with the smallest prescription available at the optometrists recommendation. Almost immediately we could tell a difference in how better my son could see. The glasses seemed to take the edge off some and block some peripheral interfearance - blocked some of the extra sensory input. Now my son prefers to wear the glasses all the time, not just when participating in close activities like school and TV. If you child has other sensory problems, be prepared for your child to be on sensory overload after the exam. Mine was. He hasn't been after therapy, but he certainly was after the initial exam. Thanks for this info. I'll be prepared to be there 3 hrs:001_huh:.....good thing my dh can keep my other dc that day. That is fascinating that glasses helped your ds, in spite of 20/20 vision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 We have glasses here too to help the eyes track/work together. I'd actually try what the prior poster said - but NOT tell him to not move his head. That is one of the tests the doctor did - and DD moved her head instinctively to follow it, which is what he was looking for - THEN he told her to do it without moving her head just her eyes - because he was an eye doctor NOT a head doctor! LOL!! What i'm saying is, you might muck it up if you tell him to not move his head first.... Our first appointment was about an hour, from that they determined if she needed further testing or not. Then that was scheduled for 3 hours over 2 appointments. This also always you time to find out if you have to pay for the testing or if your insurance will cover it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 Thanks Tracy. I haven't tried any testing on my own...I'm sure I would muck it up.;) And, we asked about ins upfront. It's not covered, but only $50 for the initial evaluation and she said that much of the time, she sends patients home with therapy to do at home and no further help is needed....no guarantees on that and we are likely moving out of state very soon. It will just be nice to know what I'm working with - kwim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 We just got back from the evaluation. She said his binocular vision is good, but he is having trouble focusing. We go back in 2 weeks. She is going to put together some things for us to do at home based on what she learned today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnL Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Where do you find the right kind of Dr to do this exam. My ds has sensory issues, and needs to have an exam like this. He will be 6 in November. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 http://www.optometrists.org/eye_doctors.html My other link isn't working now but the doctor's we used were on both sites. It made a huge difference for my son who had tracking and focus issues. We did glasses and daily vision therapy and office therapy as well. Worth it here. I also did light therapy which I do think helped though I can't prove it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 We asked our normal eye doc...it just so happened that one of the docs in the office specialized in vision therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 We found ours using the search function at covd.org . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 I got the results back today. He's in the 8th percentile for Visual Discrimination and the 68th for Visual Motor Integration. She also said that she noticed a slight issue with convergence insufficiency, but he was too young for therapy for that....it might not remain an issue, but to keep it in mind if he's struggling down the road. I have a huge stack of "therapy" to do at home with him. Can I just say I'm GLAD I had him tested EARLY and at HOME!!! And please offer any advice if you've btdt!:bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 My advice is to treat VT at home like another school subject. I even have it written into my lesson plans each day to make sure I can checkk it off. Otherwise I have been known to forget it. If she didn't give you a list of which activities should be a priority (or frequency), ask. Some activities I have found ours wants us to do daily, others just a couple of times a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 My advice is to treat VT at home like another school subject. I even have it written into my lesson plans each day to make sure I can checkk it off. Otherwise I have been known to forget it. If she didn't give you a list of which activities should be a priority (or frequency), ask. Some activities I have found ours wants us to do daily, others just a couple of times a week. Hmm..some stuff is just activities like word finds and mazes, but the bulk of it is stuff from a vt book...I got the impression we are to do maybe one thing from the vt book and 1 "fun" activity a day. I didn't really nail that down specifically though. I'm seeing that vt will be just like another school subject.:iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 At home we do a lot of mazes and word search type activities. I think a lot of them have been specially designed for this because I had been diong mazes for a long time with my son with no improvement. One we do is called Ann Arbors where he has to find words and letters in groups of words and letters. Most are to be timed that we do so we can have measurable progress. Even when we have several activities to do, I doubt we have ever spent more than 30 minutes on them in a day. We have also done things like the Moro Walk and Secades that involve big movements and tracking from a distance. My son's biggest problem was tracking so we probably have very different activities. I can say though that with daily work, his progress has been huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 At home we do a lot of mazes and word search type activities. I think a lot of them have been specially designed for this because I had been diong mazes for a long time with my son with no improvement. One we do is called Ann Arbors where he has to find words and letters in groups of words and letters. Most are to be timed that we do so we can have measurable progress. Even when we have several activities to do, I doubt we have ever spent more than 30 minutes on them in a day. We have also done things like the Moro Walk and Secades that involve big movements and tracking from a distance. My son's biggest problem was tracking so we probably have very different activities. I can say though that with daily work, his progress has been huge. This is encouraging. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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