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[prairiewindmomma]

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Edited November 10, 2021 by prairiewindmomma

[RamonaQ]

For us, we saw the absolute greatest gains frm the HTS program, and did minimal office visits/therapy during that time. My ds was fx with severe convergence insufficiency when we began.

[msk]

This program helped my 5yo a LOT. Her issues improved dramatically in 3 months. (Her case is relatively mild though, we haven't had any other formal therapy.) We didn't see all that much progress in the first 6 weeks, but something really clicked in the second 6 weeks. The exercises look fairly video-game-ish, so getting her to do it every day involved less whining than I expected.

[prairiewindmomma]

Thanks so much! I find your posts reassuring! Did you do reading lessons during that time, or did you just back off and focus on the vision therapy?

Do you develop dyslexia or are you born with it? I find that ds has some b-d reversal that I don't think is rooted in being a "new" reader.

[Tokyomarie]

Thanks so much! I find your posts reassuring! Did you do reading lessons during that time, or did you just back off and focus on the vision therapy?

Do you develop dyslexia or are you born with it? I find that ds has some b-d reversal that I don't think is rooted in being a "new" reader.

 

Dyslexia is a neurologically based learning difference. Often there are others in the family tree who are dyslexic to some degree. The recent research is showing, through such techniques as fMRI and PET scans, that dyslexic readers actually use different parts of their brain during the reading process than do typical, fluent readers.

[PeterPan]

Dd used the computer time in her sessions along with regular stuff, so it wasn't all the way one or the other. My only quibble would be why it's being set up as this dichotomy of $4K or a computer program. Hopefully you could find a VT place with a different pay structure to allow you to do a bit of each. There's a lot a real human therapist brings to the picture, beyond the actual activities being done. Ours would look at posture, breathing, talking through eye function, etc. But it's a process, do what you can. I'm just saying I would look for more answers besides $4K or nothing. We could pay by the session or by the month. No one asked us for so much upfront. I've seen a person or two say that on the boards here, and to me that would be concerning.

[prairiewindmomma]

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Edited November 10, 2021 by prairiewindmomma

[msk]

I don't know enough to answer your questions, sorry... But I did want to mention that this program (at least in the version we bought) had to be registered before use and is only good for a limited number of uses (180 I think) before it needs to be reinstalled (presumably for another fee, I'm not sure). This was fine since she only needed it for about half that long, but I didn't think it was made very clear when I ordered it over the phone.

 

I tried it once, to see how it worked-- I have normal vision, and it made my eye muscles a little tired! You might talk with your doctor about the reading lessons issue, but you won't want to do anything vision-intensive immediately after using the program as his eyes will probably need a little rest.

[PeterPan]

Well prairie, I'll just tell you straight. In your shoes, I would want the VT, not the software, and I would go for a farther place with less frequent appointments, lots more homework. You don't know what else you're missing by just doing the software. That's my two cents. And no, like you I wouldn't want to deal with that HUGE upfront commitment. But if you check into it and even a farther drive (say 2 hours or less, say shooting for once a month) doesn't get you any better options, then just chose from what you have, kwim?

[Dobela]

Well prairie, I'll just tell you straight. In your shoes, I would want the VT, not the software, and I would go for a farther place with less frequent appointments, lots more homework. You don't know what else you're missing by just doing the software. That's my two cents. And no, like you I wouldn't want to deal with that HUGE upfront commitment. But if you check into it and even a farther drive (say 2 hours or less, say shooting for once a month) doesn't get you any better options, then just chose from what you have, kwim?

:iagree: Prairie, I also have another concern. An opthamologist is ONLY going to address convergence. They do not assess for other issues that may be co-existing with the convergence issue. My dd's opthomologist called anything else 'voodoo science' and told me I had completely deceived myself when I believed VT helped my son with other issues. You will need to see a developmental opthamologist for a complete eval. I seriously doubt that the only vision issue your child has is convergence insufficiency. There are many things that can have a negative effect on the information the brain is receiving.

[RamonaQ]

I seriously doubt that the only vision issue your child has is convergence insufficiency. There are many things that can have a negative effect on the information the brain is receiving.

 

why do you say this? This was my ds's dx from a COVD who also has a subsequent Ph.D, clearly a well educated dr.

[prairiewindmomma]

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Edited November 10, 2021 by prairiewindmomma

[Dobela]

why do you say this? This was my ds's dx from a COVD who also has a subsequent Ph.D, clearly a well educated dr.

I was replying to the OP as I noticed that she had only seen an ophthamologist. Ophthamologists in general only look for convergence issues. They don't assess for anything else. My dd has seen 2 that call VT 'voodoo science' and my son saw 1 that told me that if it wasn't convergence, then it was behavior issues - not eye issues - preventing him from reading.

 

I base it on my exeriences with VT. Our VT has said that in 20 years she has rarely seen a child who only had 1 issue. At the very least it seems to come in pairs. However, in your case, I would definately trust that the covd you saw was giving you a correct assessment because a covd looks at way more than convergence.

[RamonaQ]

I was replying to the OP as I noticed that she had only seen an ophthamologist. Ophthamologists in general only look for convergence issues. They don't assess for anything else.

 

I see. That makes sense.

[PeterPan]

That was my point too. With our vision therapy we looked at peripheral vision, depth perception, tracking, visual perception, working memory connected to vision, visual memory, focusing, etc. Although convergence was the BIGGEST issue, it had cascaded and caused all kinds of other issues. Now see I think where some docs are coming from is that *sometimes* some kids other issues resolve once you fix one part. But that's not all kids.