Vision therapy

[MilkMaid]

Just came upon this & was wondering if anyone knows much about it?

 

I am looking for a reading program that will help my reluctant visual spatial learner,11yo., with her reading issues. While looking, I was reading about Developemental Optometrist who do vision therapy.

 

Well I don't think I will end up taking her to such doctor but I have been looking for advice on how to do vision therapy at home.

Got a few good ideas & foound a site www.eyecanlearn.com that seems to utilize most of the things that I read about for home v. therapy.

 

Do I sound crazy? I feel like I do. Always grasping for straws.

 

My dd was reading to her dad today & it didn't go so smooth on her behalf.Grrr! I cannot make him understand that much of her difficulty & lack of confidence roots from this visual spatial stuff. My dd fits the description to a T. My dh believes me that this her problem but when it's time to use a little understanding with her, he cannot grasp it.

 

She is a slow reader, sounds words out very wack, cant remember the word again 2 sentences later, etc...

I am searching for help but in the right direction. I was going to order some crazy expensive reading course for her until I found vision therapy.

I truly feel that this would help her far better than a reading program targeted for troubled readers.

Maybe I'm wrong. Any suggestions? BTW- this has nothing to do with sight like 20/20.

Blessings!;)

[Joyofsixreboot]

No advice but lots of hugs. My ds was seen on Wed. by a dev. optometrist. He has a lazy eye and handwriting issues. I am a skeptic but we felt if he could get better vision in his eye it was worth a try. It is so hard to know what road to take. :grouphug: to you and your dd.

[abc123mom]

Wow-thanks so much for this link. My 12 yo ds goes to vision therapy. These "games" are different and might add to "fun" of doing VT.

[Aludlam]

We did vision therapy at home, but not this. We actually bought a computer program by "prescription" of our doctor. I'll see if I can get my dh to climb up to the top of the shelf in a little while (no coffee yet). We did it everyday for months. We had phenomenal success with it. I think we paid $60-$100 dollars for it. I know I had to call the company to get it, but that was 2-3 years ago. The games were sort of like something from an Atari that she did wearing special 3-D glasses. Forgot to mention that dd was diagnosed with Convergence Eye Insufficiency.

 

I'll get back with you..... after coffee.

[DoublePortion]

We had similar issues with my son (then 5, now 6 years old) when he was learning to read. He has some eye teaming issues. He was reading words from end to beginning, losing his place often, and forgetting words that he had sounded out 2 seconds prior!

 

We switched to Spell to Write and Read (SWR), and the doc prescribed reading glasses with a prism on the outer edge to encourage his eyes to stay together.

 

SWR has been great (although not easy!), because he has the tools to read each word as he sees it. He can't memorize sight words because thy look different to him each time. His vision issues have been a huge obstacle, but he has come out stronger on the other side. There is hope!!!

 

I still want to try Vision Therapy, but it's very expensive and our insurance doesn't cover it. We are working on that!

[SophiaH]

Make sure you check out the Special Needs Board. There is a lot of discussion about VT over there.

[Momling]

I'm a little skeptical about vision therappy. My parents took us when we were kids and I think, in the end, they felt it was a scam. My brother was dyslexic before he went. And he was dyslexic afterwards. I don't know why they took me though. I remember thinking there were a lot of pretty weird games.

[Lovedtodeath]

Helping Children Overcome Learning Difficulties has definitely helped dd. I took her to a therapist too, but she wasn't bad enough for therapy (this was after applying this book). I am looking into more things with vision, but I think that now ADD is our biggest problem because it comes and goes.

[MilkMaid]

Shew! What a relief, I don't feel crazy now. She hasn't been seen by a doctor over any of this,(optometrist says eye sight is 20/20, but I didn't know to question any of this.)

I have been desperately searching for an answer as to why she is the way she is despite her or our efforts.

'I' determined that she is visual spatial & have been working with her in different ways now because of it. It has helped a lot but just not enough. I truly think she needs vision therapy, even the homemade kind.:)

 

Aludlam- that would be great if you could pass the name along for the prescription computer program. I will talk to her doctor about it then.

Thanks everyone for letting me now that I'm not crazy!

 

mommahawk- thanks, i will check out the other forum. Don't know why I didn't think of that.:D

Blessings!;)

[Aludlam]

Ok, I (finally) got dh to climb up and get the box for me. We haven't used it in WELL over a year ... probably 2 years. It made a big difference for my now dd9. She still has a little trouble with focus if she's really tired, but we have been told by one doc that he couldn't tell that she had ever had it. I can't give all the credit to this computer program, b/c I think it is something that does get better with age .... but I do know that this program was the turning point for us.

 

The box says:

 

Computer Orthoptics Computerized Vergence Exercises

Computer Home Vergence Excercises

 

I think the company name is Computer Orthoptics. My ophthalmologist gave us the phone number of the company. When I called he asked for the doctor name and then looked her name up. I guess they have different types of programs. We got the program listed under our doctors name .... if that makes any sense. So, not really prescription ... but sort of.

 

Now to reclarify, my dd9 had Convergence Insufficiency. If you have any more questions about anything, just let me know.

[Aludlam]

also wanted to add that dd9 has 20/20 vision.