creekmom Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 how did you know? I have a screening for my son in a few weeks, but I'm not positive he should be screened. He seems to be outgrowing a lot of the issues he was having (not tracking well, rubbing eyes a lot, etc.). The screening is not cheap, but I feel like I should at least rule it out as a potential problem with his reading struggles. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) I'd go for the COVD screening, yes. Dd is in VT right now, but it was obvious something was off. Her reading was WAY behind her other skills. She could read 4.4 grade level on the single word tests, but struggled to get through a single level 1/beginner reader page, and freaked out if you even asked her to try a page. She has mild amblyopia too, so that contributed. She has tracking and convergence issues, mainly. The VT is REALLY, really helping. Her regular eye doc (opthalmologist) said it could not be her eyes, because she could read one single letter in isolation, but he is a doc who is known to be anti-VT in general. I've seen the huge turn-around in dd's reading and writing in less than 2 months of VT. Edited September 21, 2011 by LittleIzumi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 My ds always rubs his eyes and saying they hurt. He REALLY struggles with reading and writing and so I thought he needed glasses. We took him to a regular eye dr and he told us ds needed vision therapy. He got us in contact with the nearest Dr on the COVD list (almost 4 hours away) His first app is in Oct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy-hs Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 My 7yo is in VT. She knew her letter sounds when she was 4 years old and then started reading basic words, but she could never get past that. She could read short, individual words, but a line of print was a tremendous (impossible) struggle. I kept waiting for it to "click" and it didn't. Reversals were a big problem for her as well. I kept waiting for her it outgrow it, but she never did. Things did improve as she got older, but never went away. I wondered about dyslexia, researched a bit and found that vision problems can show similar symptoms. We started her in piano lessons about that time. She couldn't follow the notes on the page and I realized it was time for an evaluation. She has been in VT for 4 weeks. We're not seeing a major improvement yet, but there are lots of little signs of progress. She is already reading and writing more easily and with less eye strain. I'm excited about the future for her. She is such an eager learner and this will open up so much for her! I'd definitely go for an evaluation. It's all very expensive (we are currently fighting our insurance company to get therapy covered), but well worth it IMO. Good luck! Melissa :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I waited too long (although we didn't have the money to do anything about it when he was younger). I saw my son improving in reading over the years & thought he was "growing out of" his issues. But spelling was awful. We started an OG program & that helped tons--reading level went up 2 grades in one year, plus spelling was improving. I still felt that it was "hard work" for him & just didn't think that was natural. But he also tripped a lot, which we thought was a problem with his feet turning out, tried correcting for that with no success. I kept coming back to the idea of VT. Finally one day (beginning of 7th grade) I was having him read a list of unrelated words--no context to guess what they were, and no similarities (like word families or anything) to help--and his frustration level with that task was sky-high. Then I knew there was something more going on. He did vision therapy & it made a huge difference for him. HTH some, Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 (edited) My kid couldn't read w/o losing his place 20 times. Writing was impossible. He hated it and it was like the lines didn't exist (turns out they were wiggling all over the page for him). He still reversed letters and numbers at age 10. Lastly the child wiggled, fidgeted, turned his head sideways. It drove me nuts. It turns out he was trying to focus his eyes with his whole body since his eye muscles couldn't do the job. I thought he wasn't trying. In 6 months it's like I've got a new child. He reads. He writes. I feel guilty for thinking he was growing out of it. He's just a boy. Maybe he's not that bright and my mama heart can't see it. It was just his eyes. Edited September 21, 2011 by joyofsix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I didn't know at all, but I had a sneaking suspicion there was something because this incredibly bright, verbal child avoided anything having to do with a crayon, scissors, or letters like the plague. I took him for an eval with a COVD doc and sure enough his eyes could not team and he had tracking issues so he had virtually no hand-eye coordination. After 18 months of vision therapy he graduated, but still has some struggles with reversals, and keeping his place on the page although it is much better. Being tired also magnifies his eye issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekmom Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 Thank you. I'll keep my appointment. School is so much harder for him compared to my other children. Several times a day he'll grab his hair, tense up and slap his forehead saying, "My brain just doesn't work right!! I need a new brain!" -Guess it's pretty obvious I need to do something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Thank you. I'll keep my appointment. School is so much harder for him compared to my other children. Several times a day he'll grab his hair, tense up and slap his forehead saying, "My brain just doesn't work right!! I need a new brain!" -Guess it's pretty obvious I need to do something... ((((Hugs)))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 My ds thought he was dumb :confused: really, he's like a whole new kid.:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 (edited) I have two kids in VT, and one on the waiting list. For the first two, it was VERY OBVIOUS they had problems. Weird head turning, so that one eye was facing toward the paper and the other was facing the ceiling to block the "bad eye" from seeing. Consistently coloring within 1/4 of the line but no closer. Walking into doorframes, tripping a lot, lots of trouble with hand-eye coordination, etc. What was really frustrating was that they kept passing the traditional opthamologist's eye exams. They are able to focus for a few minutes to pass her test - they just can't hold the focus for long. I had the other 2 kids screened recently just to ease my mind even though they have no issues that are noticeable. Our issues are genetic - my mom was labeled dyslexic, but displays the same symptoms as the two kids above. My youngest passed the test with flying colors. The third triplet is unbelievably unathletic, and as I watched the test, I could see exactly why she is so unathletic. I don't know if it is depth perception or hand-eye coordination or what, but I could tell watching the test that she had issues, so what the doctor reported didn't surprise me! #3 is on the waiting list for VT... I think if you have any reason to suspect an issue, you have to followup, just in case. Better to waste $400 than to miss something and find out later that you could have done something about it. And from what I have read, these problems often run in families, so if one has an issue, you may want to think about checking the others. Edited September 23, 2011 by MeganW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 What was really frustrating was that they kept passing the traditional opthamologist's eye exams. They are able to focus for a few minutes to pass her test - they just can't hold the focus for long. YES! Our regular opthalmologist actually understands vision processing issues, but we had a fill-in one time who didn't & it was maddening. He of course saw no sign of convergence insufficience & looked at me like I had a hole in my head. I wished I hadn't even mentioned it, he made me feel like a complete idiot. But my son loves to read now, can read without getting headaches, and can read anything he wants to (and actually does want to!). Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 YES! Our regular opthalmologist actually understands vision processing issues, but we had a fill-in one time who didn't & it was maddening. He of course saw no sign of convergence insufficience & looked at me like I had a hole in my head. I wished I hadn't even mentioned it, he made me feel like a complete idiot. But my son loves to read now, can read without getting headaches, and can read anything he wants to (and actually does want to!). Merry :-) Our regular opthomologist was SOO annoyed with me! I took them in every 6 months for several years, and kept telling her that something was wrong (based on behaviors described above) and she would test them and tell me they were fine and to quit worrying. As if I was just being paranoid. I even asked her if VT might help and she told me it was unproven voodoo science. That unproven voodoo science has eliminated the head turning, helped the coloring IMMENSELY, and the two in therapy have spontaneously started reading since we started 3 months ago. And they trip and walk into things a LOT less! It's ridiculously expensive, but it is one of those things I would have forever wondered if we had shortchanged our kids if we hadn't done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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