Vision Therapy for Dyslexia

[KatieJo]

In my introduction thread, several of you recommended a developmental vision exam for my 11yo dd, recently diagnosed with dyslexia. I found an excellent provider in the next valley. He is not part of our PPO and the complete exam is $1750. Can some of you let me know what the cost for your testing was and whether your insurance covered any or all of it? The insurance company gave me a long list of things to do to get an answer from them about what and if they will cover it. I have started down that documentation road, but wanted to know if it's a waste of time!

 

Also, if your child had vison therapy, how long, often and the cost would be really helpful information as well.

 

Thanks so much!

[EKS]

First, $1750 seems really, really high for a developmental vision exam. I think ours was in the $300-$400 range. I seem to remember that insurance covered part of it because part of the exam is the standard vision exam.

 

Both of my children have had VT, the older one went for about 9 months and the younger one for about a year. It was about $100/hour and each visit was an hour. They went once per week and there was 20-30 minutes of daily homework as well.

 

VT will not cure dyslexia unless what was causing the problem was completely visual. My dyslexic son's reading and handwriting improved while he was doing VT and I am glad we did it. It was a *huge* commitment of time and money, though.

[RamonaQ]

Our insurance has covered a tremendous amount in the past year (we have only paid about $350). Our O.D. bills for a medical condition. I would inquire of the doctor you have found if s/he could bill for a medical condition.

 

Also-that initial appointment is really high. Our OD, once a year, does a free screening test. I am remembering that $300-$500 would seem to be more reasonable.

 

And, no, the vision therapy did NOT fix the dyslexia. However, within 6 weeks, ds no longer got lost in the page, or skipped words to such a high extent. I think what has been successful is that the vision therapy was linked to intensive phonics work.

[PrincessAriel]

nt

[Guest]

I think we paid around $500 for the initial exam. Weekly appointments were an hour, and cost around $150 each -- it was quite an expense. My daughter had therapy for around seven months, with daily homework exercises.

 

She still confuses left-right, has difficulty with an analog clock, and other dyslexic symptoms; but a whole slew of other difficulties she had either disappeared entirely or were much improved. After therapy she went from having hardly any reading stamina to reading full-length adult novels with fine print, in one or two sittings. Her pent-up longing to read was so strong that I don't think she lifted her head from a book for about two months!

 

Our insurance did not cover ANY of this; it was not considered medical.

[NCW]

We paid $650 for an initial eval and started treatment in another state; after our move we paid another $750 for a new eval. We can't afford the time (five hours round trip) or the $$ for 18 months of weekly visits - I've ordered the Vision Therapy at Home program and we started it today. Fought with our insurance before the first round, but no luck. The opthalmalogist in town that they covered didn't believe in VT for learning issues - handed out a pamphlet on how vision wasn't related to learning disabilities.

 

good luck!

[Dobela]

My son qualified for medicaid and it paid all of it after the initial evals and such - it all has to be preapproved and we didn't do that initial step causing us to pay out of pocket for a short time. The first eval was $500 and that included a pair of glasses. Each therapy visit was $90 before medicaid started paying. His VT also did re-evals every 12 weeks to make sure he was progressing and still qualified for assistance.

 

For my son, vision therapy really helped and we consider it a miracle for him. He was 9 when we started and was using his vision like a 3 year old. We went 1 hour weekly for 16 months and he was recently dismissed. We were told he was dyslexic when our journey began (by a reading specialist) but after responding to vision therapy we were told the dyslexic diagnosis was incorrect. But his tracking, convergence, and depth issues were very severe. He might have tested out sooner but when they did his review eval at 13 months my grandmother was on hospice and he didn't test well.

 

A friend of ours uses the same VT and because her son's issues are different and her schedule is different, he has sessions once every 2-3 weeks and is then sent home with homework and activities for them to do together.

[peacefully]

We are about to start vt next month. The initial evaluation will be about $300, and 8 sessions of vt, including progress checks, will be about $1200.

 

$1750 seems like an awful lot just for an evaluation.

[KatieJo]

Thank you for all of the helpful info. I was really taken aback when he said the initial eval was $1750! I will call around and find someone with a more reasonable cost. We live near LA and there are many developmental optometrists there. I will press on with the insurance company and see if we can get at least some of the costs covered.

[Jan in SC]

Our assessment was the cost of an eye appointment, which in our case was a $25 deductible. The VT he received was $50 an appointment (1 hour), and if you paid for four at a time, you received one free.

[Sixmeadows]

wow, I think it has been years since I have been on here. Anyway to answer your question... My son did vision therapy for 2 years and we did not see any improvement in his reading ability. (3rd and 4th grade). this was after we tried 3 years of different phonics programs. Only when we started an Orton Gillingham reading program did we see improvement. I am not saying vision therapy does not work, just not sure if it works for dyslexia.

 

Cheri

[Dobela]

Thank you for all of the helpful info. I was really taken aback when he said the initial eval was $1750! I will call around and find someone with a more reasonable cost. We live near LA and there are many developmental optometrists there. I will press on with the insurance company and see if we can get at least some of the costs covered.

Would your insurance company pay if your PCP made the referral? My ds and dd are on different insurances. One requires a referral for vision services, the other doesn't.

[juliajulia]

I have not read through and have only scanned very little...

My son was having trouble in school. Vision therapy was suggested. The $1000s price tag seems about right from what I heard from others. These people (only 2 families) also didn't really see much improvement. Then someone suggested I go to the College of Optometry. I was a bit leery but found that they did a wonderful job and were VERY thourough. Initial cost was $90 and weekly therapy was $40 (my insurance covered it all). We saw almost immediate results and I ended up finding out 2 others I knew had similar results there. I realize you probably don't live in Memphis, TN but thought I would add my 2 cents hoping it would give you a place to start researching.

[siloam]

wow, I think it has been years since I have been on here. Anyway to answer your question... My son did vision therapy for 2 years and we did not see any improvement in his reading ability. (3rd and 4th grade). this was after we tried 3 years of different phonics programs. Only when we started an Orton Gillingham reading program did we see improvement. I am not saying vision therapy does not work, just not sure if it works for dyslexia.

 

Cheri

 

Same here, my 2nd dd didn't see any improvement and hated the magnification glasses they wanted her to wear. She went for about 6 months and we gave up. Over time she has started reading more and enjoying it. She also responded well to o/g methods.

 

It is not a cure for dyslexia, it does cure vision problems that have symptoms that resemble dyslexia. It is very frustrating to figure out the difference, especially without spending lots of money just trying things to see if they work. Many Optometrists themselves see it as a cure for dyslexia, but there are good ones who don't and who know its limitations and will tell you if they can't help your child.

 

(((Hugs))) I hope you find someone cheaper!

 

Heather