Vision Therapy & Teens?

[Tokyomarie]

Is there anyone here whose child has done vision therapy for the first time as a teen?

 

I am considering having my 15yo son try it this fall. He clearly had strong symptoms of eye problems when he was younger & learning how to read, such as skipping words, skipping lines, headaches w/o any other physical symptoms, etc. He now reads at grade level but scores extremely low on visual/motor integration, has very slow but legible handwriting, and cannot copy from a whiteboard in a classroom. Spelling & written expression are also significantly impacted, but he is also dyslexic. I am awaiting the written report from the developmental optometry testing, but he definitely has difficulty with visual tracking & accomodation according to the verbal report. Ds has never been willing to try or stay with ball sports, as well.

 

It seems like he has the kinds of problems that vision therapy could help, but since he is a teen, I'm not sure what to expect as far as improvement. Any thoughts?

[EKS]

My sons' vision therapist claimed that VT could help adults. In fact, over the time we were going there, I saw several adults coming from their appointments.

[RamonaQ]

Vision therapy can even work in adults. Here is an excellent book

http://www.amazon.com/Fixing-My-Gaze-Scientists-Dimensions/dp/0465009131

 

In this, a neurobiologist, who had amblyopia, undergoes vision therapy to re-gain depth perception. It is a great read about the science of seeing, and also disproving that once the neuronal pathways are established there is no more change. The author discuss this experiment, and its flaws, that has, for 50 years, has informed this idea. Ultimately, she, through her own experience and looking through the scientific lit, discovers that the neural connections are far more plastic.

[Guest]

My daughter went at age twelve; the therapist said that many people came right around the time they were trying to get their driver's license, when problems with depth perception, peripheral vision, and/or tracking moving objects became critical. Another huge chunk of his practice is dealing with professional sports players.

[Tokyomarie]

My daughter went at age twelve; the therapist said that many people came right around the time they were trying to get their driver's license, when problems with depth perception, peripheral vision, and/or tracking moving objects became critical. Another huge chunk of his practice is dealing with professional sports players.

 

That's interesting that quite a few start right when they are trying to get a driver's license! I'm not sure that my son's vision issues are severe enough to potentially impact his driving. OTOH, I have started talking about driver's ed since he will turn 16yo in a little over 2 months. Legally, teens can start earlier in MI, but in our family we don't let them start driving until they turn 16yo. I would have thought that since he is a male, he would be raring to get his license but he is showing a lot of hesitation.

[Tokyomarie]

Vision therapy can even work in adults. Here is an excellent book

http://www.amazon.com/Fixing-My-Gaze-Scientists-Dimensions/dp/0465009131

 

In this, a neurobiologist, who had amblyopia, undergoes vision therapy to re-gain depth perception. It is a great read about the science of seeing, and also disproving that once the neuronal pathways are established there is no more change. The author discuss this experiment, and its flaws, that has, for 50 years, has informed this idea. Ultimately, she, through her own experience and looking through the scientific lit, discovers that the neural connections are far more plastic.

 

This looks like an interesting read. Not sure I have the time to read the whole book right now, though.

 

I had not been aware that so many adults were pursuing vision therapy, as this and Kai's response indicates.

[Dobela]

When we were watching some sort of informational show on ESPN they briefly showed quarterbacks and receivers working with team hired behavioral optometrists because it was 'proven' that by working with the vision therapists that the vision and tracking of those 2 positions would improve dramatically and potentially result in higher scores for the teams. (Sorry, I don't usually pay attention when dh has on his sports or I would give you the name of the show).

 

The vision therapist we worked with also saw several stroke patients, at least one was a lady in her late 70s, and they all raved about how much vision therapy helped them when we would cross paths at appointment times.

 

So yes, I would say that vision therapy can also be beneficial for a teenager and I highly recommend it. It isn't a cure for dyslexia but it can certainly alleviate other issues that could be making reading even more difficult.

Edited August 15, 2010 by Dobela
spelling

[momtotkbb]

John Holzman (sp?) from Sonlight did VT as an adult and has written about the tremendous benefit he rec'd from it. In fact his testimony was one of the main reasons I decided to pursue it for my children. I had done grad training in Spec Ed and we were always taught that it was quackery ---while some may be I can only say that it helped my two who went through it tremendously! It didn't cure my now 12 yo ds's LD's or ADHD but it helped him be able to write, follow and read longer in a book, etc. and it has helped a lot with his baseball skills :)