Her vision is fine. Now what?!?

[shinyhappypeople]

I took DD8 to the optometrist today for her first eye exam. I expected her to need glasses for near and far. She fatigues easily while reading and has big problems with black text on white paper. If something is, for example, red text on white, she does much better. But black on white? :tongue_smilie: (This is also an issue in math, not just reading)

 

So, anyway, her vision (acuity) is perfect.

 

I am stunned.

 

The dr. said she has a very mild eye tracking [eta: actually it's eye tracking] issue, but it was so mild that he didn't see the point in referring her to a specialist at this time, and he doubted it would cause serious problems with her reading.

 

So, what now?

 

The difficulty with black on white is a red flag to me (ha - no pun intended). She can read it, but it's so much more difficult for her.

 

What do I do now? I'm googling eye exercises for eye tracking (can't hurt, right?). What else should I be researching? I'm feeling a bit out of my depth. I'm also feeling disappointed. Reading glasses were going to be the magic bullet that made her reading difficulties all better.

 

Younger DD has asked me to add these smilies to my post: :auto: :lurk5:

Edited September 3, 2011 by shinyhappypeople

[PeterPan]

What kind of eye doc was this? Just a regular optometrist? If even the regular optometrist is finding problems with her tracking, I'd go ahead and get a proper developmental optometrist eval. http://www.covd.org

[wapiti]

Was this a COVD developmental optometrist, or a regular one? Did you discuss the fatigue issue? FWIW, a developmental vision exam is usually a separate appointment from a regular checkup. Often the doc will do a screening at a regular checkup. If you still think she's having trouble with vision (which may seem reasonable considering the mild tracking problem + fatigue), then a COVD optometrist, preferrably FCOVD, would be the next step.

 

If you already saw the COVD, then maybe the problem is elsewhere (I don't know anything about it, but some time ago there were posts discussing Irlen color filters; your mention of the colors rang a bell).

 

ETA: OhElizabeth is faster :)

[PeterPan]

ETA: OhElizabeth is faster :)

 

Not only that, but I'm cuter. :)

 

Hahaha, just joking. :lol:

[laundrycrisis]

I was told our DS1 was "almost 20/20" and "tracking fine" after six months of treatment (patching and exams) for amblyopia by a normal optometrist. Then his first exam from a COVD fellow turned up major convergence problems, suppression, a fuzzy spot in the middle of his visual field, severe problems with tracking and saccadic control, and visual processing problems. He had very serious problems with his visual system....and the normal optometrist was not able to detect any of it.

[PeterPan]

I was told our DS1 was "almost 20/20" and "tracking fine" after six months of treatment (patching and exams) for amblyopia by a normal optometrist. Then his first exam from a COVD fellow turned up major convergence problems, suppression, a fuzzy spot in the middle of his visual field, severe problems with tracking and saccadic control, and visual processing problems. He had very serious problems with his visual system....and the normal optometrist was not able to detect any of it.

 

Bingo. That's why, when the optometrist actually IS admitting and catching the problems, it's a huge SIGN to get to the developmental optometrist and get the things checked out more thoroughly.

[wapiti]

Not only that, but I'm cuter. :)

 

Hahaha, just joking. :lol:

:lol::lol:

[Dobela]

Bingo. That's why, when the optometrist actually IS admitting and catching the problems, it's a huge SIGN to get to the developmental optometrist and get the things checked out more thoroughly.

:iagree::iagree:

[Susan C.]

I was told our DS1 was "almost 20/20" and "tracking fine" after six months of treatment (patching and exams) for amblyopia by a normal optometrist. Then his first exam from a COVD fellow turned up major convergence problems, suppression, a fuzzy spot in the middle of his visual field, severe problems with tracking and saccadic control, and visual processing problems. He had very serious problems with his visual system....and the normal optometrist was not able to detect any of it.

 

 

I second getting the more thorough exam. I was told just accommodative insufficiency, that everything else was fine. Dd ended up having saccadic, accommodative, and convergency issues. Its been missed her entire life. Doing vision therapy at almost 18 y/o.

[Grover]

Do you know about Irlen Syndrome? It may be part of what's going on too. I'd get her along to a behavioural optometrist (or whatever it is they're called there).

[Joyofsixreboot]

What kind of eye doc was this? Just a regular optometrist? If even the regular optometrist is finding problems with her tracking, I'd go ahead and get a proper developmental optometrist eval. http://www.covd.org

 

:iagree:

[Dobela]

I was told by an ophthamologist and a regular optometrist that my son had 20/20 vision despite the fact that he was showing nearly all of the physical signs and symptoms as well as the performance problems listed here. One went so far as to tell me that the reason he wasn't reading was because I allowed bad behavior :glare:. When I visited a COVD the exam lasted nearly 2 hours and within minutes the COVD was telling me why my son was seeing things the ways he was seeing. In adition, she discovered problems I had not expected like an inability to see in 3D.

 

You really need to find a COVD.

[PeterPan]

Oh man, gotta love the "Your kid is this way because YOU are a bad mom, don't discipline enough blah blah" and then the corollary "Your kid is doing that because he's LAZY and doesn't want to do better." Excuses for not finding the real problem.

[shinyhappypeople]

I was told by an ophthamologist and a regular optometrist that my son had 20/20 vision despite the fact that he was showing nearly all of the physical signs and symptoms as well as the performance problems listed here. One went so far as to tell me that the reason he wasn't reading was because I allowed bad behavior :glare:. When I visited a COVD the exam lasted nearly 2 hours and within minutes the COVD was telling me why my son was seeing things the ways he was seeing. In adition, she discovered problems I had not expected like an inability to see in 3D.

 

You really need to find a COVD.

 

During the eye exam, she missed a few of the 3D images toward the end and so he told her try again and I could see him sort of subtly coaching her. I was like... :confused: Either she sees the floating circle or she doesn't. I think it was just for the circles that were less raised. She didn't have any problems at the beginning of the 3-D test.

 

Can someone give me a ballpark of what it costs for an exam by a COVD? I'm pretty sure her vision insurance won't cover it. We have VSP through Healthy Families (state program). AFAIK, they only cover basic eye exams.

 

I was really hoping she just needed reading glasses. :glare:

[shinyhappypeople]

Oh, I also misspoke in the OP. She has slight eye TEAMING issues, not eye tracking. No wonder she hates to read. She can't get her eyes to cooperate. It also explains why she can read any billboard she sees -- even the long, complicated words. Sweet girl can decode like crazy. But reading up close is torture for her :(

[wapiti]

The FCOVD that dd saw about four and a half years ago charged around $125 for the eval - I'm sure it's increased since then.

 

The other FCOVD near us, who I think may be a smitch more thorough (and is also a former leader of the covd) charges $450 for a developmental vision eval that takes place over more than one appointment.

 

Also, my memory is fuzzy, but dd had tracking issues, and my understanding was that they were a subset of teaming issues.

[Dobela]

Our first visit with the eval was about $400. But that also included a pair of glasses that I don't remember how much cost. Our eval was done over 2 visits though because it sent my sensory sensitive son over the edge.

[PeterPan]

Our eval was $250 for 2 1/2 hours. I'd sell my dog and my cat and my tv and a whole lot more to get the VT. And I'm not joking.

 

Or find a more conservative approach: sell half those things and have them do half the number of sessions with more homework. I'm just saying it changed things so dramatically, it was worth the money. And some people have gotten the state to pay, so you might pursue that option. And some COVD docs have sliding scales, assistance, payment plans, etc.

[shinyhappypeople]

Our eval was $250 for 2 1/2 hours. I'd sell my dog and my cat and my tv and a whole lot more to get the VT. And I'm not joking.

 

Or find a more conservative approach: sell half those things and have them do half the number of sessions with more homework. I'm just saying it changed things so dramatically, it was worth the money. And some people have gotten the state to pay, so you might pursue that option. And some COVD docs have sliding scales, assistance, payment plans, etc.

 

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I should earmark a portion of our tax return for just this purpose.

 

I remember reading here about a book that had at-home exercises for vision therapy... but I can't remember the name. Does that sound familiar at all? It was a book for (I think) rural families who didn't have access to a doctor that does vision therapy.

[PeterPan]

Yes there is such a book. I think though that if you have access to a COVD doc, you WANT the eval and WANT to work with them. What we did was beyond what I've seen in books, and it was more than that. It was the ability of the therapist to talk with dd about how her eyes work and help her do the things. You need a new language, a way to talk about the eyes. I don't have her problems and had no experience with that, so there was no way I could have put into words what she needed. And the horrendous hurdles she had to go through (extreme fatigue, headaches, etc.) that were part of the process would have thrown me if I had just been using a book.

 

Nope, if you can at all get an eval with a good COVD doc and get good therapy, you WANT to do it that way.

[shinyhappypeople]

Yes there is such a book. I think though that if you have access to a COVD doc, you WANT the eval and WANT to work with them. What we did was beyond what I've seen in books, and it was more than that. It was the ability of the therapist to talk with dd about how her eyes work and help her do the things. You need a new language, a way to talk about the eyes. I don't have her problems and had no experience with that, so there was no way I could have put into words what she needed. And the horrendous hurdles she had to go through (extreme fatigue, headaches, etc.) that were part of the process would have thrown me if I had just been using a book.

 

Nope, if you can at all get an eval with a good COVD doc and get good therapy, you WANT to do it that way.

 

I want lots of things that aren't immediately accessible. COVD appt. might not be accessible until Feb. Until then, I'd like to do SOMETHING.

 

Nevermind, I'll hit google and see what I find.

[NCW]

There is the home vision program: http://www.visiontherapyathome.com/

 

and Kenneth Lane's book "Developing Ocular Motor and Visual Perceptual Skills" http://www.amazon.com/Developing-Ocular-Visual-Perceptual-Skills/dp/1556425953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315076551&sr=8-1

 

Neither of these is meant to address eye teaming/binocularity issues, but they may be a good place to begin work that you can't otherwise access or afford, and be a jump ahead when you get to VT eventually.

[Dobela]

Call the covd and ask them if your insurance will cover the exam. Don't wait until tax time to call. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that they are familiar with your type insurance and can bill for it. I was told by a regular optometrist that my son's state insurance would never pay for VT. He was wrong. I did pay out of pocket for the eval though. For the insurance to pay for the eval, it was about a 6 week wait for referral approval. We were so frustrated I decided to not wait. Especially since I didn't know for certain that we would find anything wrong and I wanted to move on to the next step of VT wasn't needed. Interestingly, once I paid for the eval and he qualified, I was able to schedule therapy immediately and insurance waived the initial waiting period.

[LittleIzumi]

Oh, I also misspoke in the OP. She has slight eye TEAMING issues, not eye tracking. No wonder she hates to read. She can't get her eyes to cooperate. It also explains why she can read any billboard she sees -- even the long, complicated words. Sweet girl can decode like crazy. But reading up close is torture for her :(

 

This sounds a LOT like dd. She is now in VT with a COVD practice & is actually reading voluntarily now! :svengo: :D I'd call the COVD office and ask--I didn't think my insurance covered it, but apparently they do, and this office also offered to perform an evaluation and then just give instruction for a LOT of homework for the specific problems to be done independently if the insurance didn't cover actual vision therapy.

[sbgrace]

Vision therapy was one of the absolute best things we ever did for my son and worth every penny. After he had made huge improvement we did stop. I found the book you might be talking about here? It's what our vision therapist used. But I think you need a very good evaluation to know exactly what is going on. She may need lenses or other materials for example. You could perhaps ask the therapist to have less frequent appointments and allow you to work intensely at home. We did that. The homework was extremely difficult but it was key to his progress.

[MeganW]

Can someone give me a ballpark of what it costs for an exam by a COVD? I'm pretty sure her vision insurance won't cover it. We have VSP through Healthy Families (state program). AFAIK, they only cover basic eye exams.

 

Ours was $350 for the basic 2 hour exam. And now we are in for therapy sessions at $135 per visit, and we go twice a week for 6-9 months. None is covered by insurance. Plus special glasses for another $350 (insurance paid like 1/2). Did I mention we have THREE kids in the midst of this???

 

We can't afford it (who could?), but are doing it anyway and just depleting our savings and using credit cards. My mom has what we thought was a learning disability that really impacted her life significantly, and it is the exact things that my kids are struggling with. I can't let my kids' lives be limited in the same ways, given that it is fixable. No matter what the cost.

Edited September 4, 2011 by MeganW

[MeganW]

By the way, we had the best opthamologist in the area (large city with good medical care) examine our kids, and after patching & glasses, she said that they would be fine. But I could still see issues, and she kept telling me not to worry. Turned out my kids could all try really hard and force their eyes to work properly for a few minutes in a quick exam, but couldn't hold the focus for long at all.

 

I told the dev optomotrist that I had concerns, but wouldn't tell him what they were until after he examined my kids. I was skeptical, and didn't want to "give him the answers". But watching him testing my kids made it very obvious exactly what the problems were. And his tests completely supported my suspicions.

 

My only regret is not going sooner!

[Susan C.]

Not everyone goes for 6-9 months. We are only going for 12 weeks, and at our 6 week check, it looks like we are on schedule. I don't know how you could do two appointments each week, we do one, and then 30-40 min. of exercises for homework every night. It is a lot. We doubled getting exercises last week (because we are taking this week off but want to keep the exercises going) and that appointment was packed. Dd is 17, so no problems with compliance. Although I wish we had found this earlier, we are able to do it now, she is more mature to handle it, and the doctor we have is a fellow of COVD, and is actually in practice (wouldn't have had that option 10 years ago, she was still in school!).

 

There are payment plans, and I would have done that if we couldn't pay. Vision is so important!

[Susan C.]

Oh, I also misspoke in the OP. She has slight eye TEAMING issues, not eye tracking. No wonder she hates to read. She can't get her eyes to cooperate. It also explains why she can read any billboard she sees -- even the long, complicated words. Sweet girl can decode like crazy. But reading up close is torture for her :(

 

While waiting for the appointment, get your printer ready and make her "billboards" to read, go BIG, then she will be able to continue with her reading. Also, try to build up her audio learning, read to her and discuss it.