Susan C. Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 HI, We found out yesterday that we need to add 3-4 sessions to our original 12 week plan of vision therapy. I've seen on this forum that people go several months, so I wondered if the 12 weeks was correct. I don't know how to do a poll.... but can pick times out from posts. Dd17 had problems with eye movement, convergency, focusing, and 3D. At six weeks, her focusing tested normal (but is not automatic yet) and 3D tested normal. We had just started the convergency exercises so there was little improvement there. We just went to week 9 yesterday, and the vision therapist has too many exercises left for just three more weeks. There is no way to step it up, the exercises for convergency are making dd's eyes very sore. We have to repeat a few this week because they were so difficult. The convergency is the worst of her problems. Even though it is a lot of driving, I don't want to stop short. I did say I might need to go every other week for sanity's sake (it is 6 hour+ round trip). It is making a mess of dd's senior year, we feel like we are always playing catch up, and inbetween that dealing with tiredness and sore eyes. But we are thankful to have finally found the problem and have ways to deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinNY Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 My dtr went from last week of November to May. No regrets but glad that 2x a week drive is over:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence1978 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 We did 36 weeks of therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer-72 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 We were in therapy for about 8 months. Ds had problems with focussing and tracking that were resolved pretty quickly (probably 2-3 months). The rest was for visual processing and visual motor integration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 The first 3 months of our therapy was for that basic stuff (convergence, focusing, depth perception, etc.), and the rest was for visual processing. We didn't actually nail the depth perception during that first three months. They had quoted us 3-4. It's not surprising to me that you need a bit more. Stay the course and keep going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 My dd did 18 weeks, I believe, last year. I will be scheduling an eye exam soon to see if she needs another round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 My dd went weekly for 6 months. Her problems were pretty severe though. The only one of the vision tests she passed was the eye chart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 My son had 18 months of VT. He had several very significant issues that had to be corrected. His VT had to get preapproval from insurance for sessions so ds was given small assessments to determine progress/deficits every 6 weeks or so (depending on how many sessions were approved). At one year he redid the big assessment as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemom22boys Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 My dn will be in VT for 2 years in December. The first 7 months were in-office with daily exercises at home. For the remainder of the time, she has done exercises at home with an in-office visit every 3-6 months to check her progress. The severity of dn's symptoms and the fight we have with her to do the exercises has probably played a large role in the time frame. She had weaknesses in eye motor coordination and dexterity, visualization, attention and processing speed, reversal frequency, visualization, stereo vision, exophoria at near point, convergence insufficiency, suppression of the right eye, and tracking below age. At her first eval, it was determined she would need 12 to 36 hrs. of in-office visits and 50-200 hours of VT. I am so burned out with the entire process. :ack2: Gina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Wowsers Gina, that's a lot! Bless your soul, I can see why you're burnt out! Can they pick up and do some of it in the office for you, or is it a financial thing? Our place always seemed to accomplish in one hour what took me a week to do with her at home. And yes, they work better for someone else. And yes, we used a LOT of bribes, ugh. Have you seen progress for your efforts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks everyone! So it looks like 3-4 months would be the norm for what we are dealing with. It doesn't look like there are processing issues for dd. Yes, it is running us ragged. The trip day is the least of my frustration. Its the every day of dealing with a teen in transition.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 It's a thankless job, eh? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) Four years ago, dd10 did VT for tracking, 24 weeks. But.... *sigh* we just now returned from her checkup with the other FCOVD, whom I had planned to take her to next time she needed a prescription change. She needs another big prescription change for distance (last one was only last March). And, they scheduled her for the developmental vision analysis. On the accommodative issue, her new glasses will not be bifocals ("bandaid") but we're looking at VT. :glare::glare: They are also going to take a close look at vision processing, which has never been looked at before, and which might be a problem. The tracking was pretty good, fortunately, though she needs a smitch of brushing up. I'm not at all surprised, just annoyed that this is necessary (I'm allowed, right?). Of course the developmental exam is more expensive than ever ($545) but these people are very, VERY thorough. Just the regular checkup took an hour. I asked about timeframe, which of course they can't give until after the developmental exam, but I think he threw out a ballpark of 6-9 mo - hope he's wrong. :tongue_smilie: ETA, I think that would include VT for processing. He said the focusing issue was a relatively quick fix. Edited October 5, 2011 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 How do you know there are visual processing issues? So far, dd's schoolwork is going faster and it is easier for her to process it, it is improving at about the same rate as her eyes are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Susan, they can't tell you FOR SURE till you get done with the regular stuff. Some kids' visual processing kicks right in once the eyes start working right. Some kids have to go back and work through it more explicitly. If it's any consolation, the visual processing stuff is less intense, less painful, and sometimes just plain fun. Wapiti, I'm sighing with you. I've wondered to what extent the tone issue is involved here, ie. you get things better but are going to find it slipping and needing a little work. They make it all sound like it's lack of wiring, but I think it's probably both. Our doc, after she gave dd her scrip, suggested she go back and redo some of the exercises after she has had the scrip a month. Joy. Guess it's been a month. Right now I'm just flabbergasted that she is playing the bells for band. Not astoundingly mind you, but she's crossing the midline, looking up and down, working REALLY HARD to try to read the notes and play. People might remember our piano flopping, so this is nice just to get a little headway here, even if it is simple to others. Yes, right now she's playing "Twinkle Twinkle" on them. :) PS. Susan, don't flip out at all that. My dd and ds and I (and I think also wapiti's kids?) are low muscle tone. If your dd doesn't have that, what we're talking about is an utter non-issue for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 What is low muscle tone? I'm going to be so smart! We didn't do developmental. The eye doctor did an extensive three hour exam and knew exactly what was wrong. I don't care about before and after numbers, although we do have some from the eye doctor's exams. Dd is older and can elaborate what is going on, and we communicate regularly with the vision therapist and eye doctor. The eye doctor tests dd every five to six weeks to measure progress. (Maybe that is developmental, I don't know, it looks like an eye exam to me). Also, with having dd at home for school, we both are very aware of what she can and can't do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 How do you know there are visual processing issues? So far, dd's schoolwork is going faster and it is easier for her to process it, it is improving at about the same rate as her eyes are. It's a long story - we don't know for sure until we do the eval. The last time we did testing with the ed psych, the ed psych noted that there might be some vision processing issues based on dd's performance on some subtests and considering that she had already done VT. As for the doc today, I have no idea why he brought it up :001_huh: - it was one of those conversations that rolls really quickly. I've wondered to what extent the tone issue is involved here, ie. you get things better but are going to find it slipping and needing a little work. They make it all sound like it's lack of wiring, but I think it's probably both. Our doc, after she gave dd her scrip, suggested she go back and redo some of the exercises after she has had the scrip a month. Joy. Guess it's been a month. Right now I'm just flabbergasted that she is playing the bells for band. Not astoundingly mind you, but she's crossing the midline, looking up and down, working REALLY HARD to try to read the notes and play. People might remember our piano flopping, so this is nice just to get a little headway here, even if it is simple to others. Yes, right now she's playing "Twinkle Twinkle" on them. It's really great that she's motivated about the bells! As for my dd's tone, I have no idea. The tracking now seems to be not that big of a deal, maybe just a touch rusty. However, I'm sitting here laughing because I just remembered the doc talking about input, processing, and output, and I sat there nodding thinking tell me something I don't already know LOL. He could be a guest lecturer over here. I haven't given dh the news - first question will be "how much is it gonna cost me." What is low muscle tone? Low tone is just... low tone (hypotonia). I can't think of how to explain it right this second, but it's nothing that you need to worry about. We found out about it when dd was a baby. We didn't do developmental. The eye doctor did an extensive three hour exam and knew exactly what was wrong. As far as I know, there isn't any one name for it, but we're talking about the same thing. My place happens to call it a developmental vision analysis, but that's what you had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/geneticmedicine/Clinical_Resources/Hypotonia/Definition.html Susan, if you actually want to know what hypotonia is, there's your link. Functionally, it's pretty easy to spot in people, once you know what it looks like. A neurologist can quantify the extent, and the greater the severity the stronger the resulting label you get. (ranges from benign to cerebral palsy to...) Then they can start digging for the cause in the person, for which they have several methods (genetics, muscle biopsy, etc.). Then you start pondering treatments, whether you want/need to do anything about it, etc. But that's just for your general information. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Wapiti, are the things they'll do with her in VT such that you could keep them recorded in a notebook or something and repeat them again later? Dd had SO much pain with her VT work, I've wondered in retrospect to what degree it meant that she needed the glasses she now has. I don't know. And we've been so busy I haven't had the guts to try anything again. There's a certain sense in which some of it, the actual skills, should hold simply because they get USED. What might not (to my mind) hold is tone or anything that wasn't FULLY developed yet. So we'll see. Like I said, we would need some time and a big chunk of courage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 (edited) Wapiti, are the things they'll do with her in VT such that you could keep them recorded in a notebook or something and repeat them again later? Dd had SO much pain with her VT work, I've wondered in retrospect to what degree it meant that she needed the glasses she now has. I don't know. And we've been so busy I haven't had the guts to try anything again. There's a certain sense in which some of it, the actual skills, should hold simply because they get USED. What might not (to my mind) hold is tone or anything that wasn't FULLY developed yet. So we'll see. Like I said, we would need some time and a big chunk of courage. Last time, with the old VT, we had sheets of paper describing each exercise that they switched out of a folder at each appointment. At the beginning, I was scanning them into my computer, but after a few weeks I fell off the wagon. I'll have to take a look at the external drive later to see if they're still there (that was like 2 computers ago :tongue_smilie:). I have no idea how the new place operates, but keeping a notebook is a great idea. Interesting about the pain. Dd had a really rough time with VT when she first started, and then we took that long break for a short, intensive OT program for the SPD, and that made the huge difference. The new place has an OT on staff, and I believe they consider all angles. It'll be interesting to see how this eval turns out. I also decided to bring dd2 in for a checkup while dd10 is doing her eval, because dd2 has this funny look about her eyes as if one is turned in ever so slightly. I'm hoping it's just the appearance; I've procrastinated long enough (since she was born, basically) and I'll be kicking myself if they find something, but I suppose it's better than waiting even longer. Oh, I just remembered something! The doc and assistant noted that dd was suppressing vision in one eye at some point - where they ask her whether she can see two or one, and tell them when it turns into two - she kept losing the two when she was supposed to be seeing them ("wait! it was there for a second!"). What IS that - is that processing? or convergence? ETA, I think it was when the giant lens mechanism was in front of her face, and she was supposed to see the row of letters on top of each other, in double. Edited October 6, 2011 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 9 months for older son (at age 8-9) 14 months for younger son (at age 5-6) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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