?Developmental Ophthalmologist?

[nitascool]

My ds's OT seems to believe that some of His Sensory Issues may be due to some sort of vision problem. His visual processing is very low and his handwriting skills are still not close to where they need to be after 5 months of OT. He is improving, but she seems to think that it's going to take quite a bit longer for him to have significant improvement. And that she doesn't think she can address some of the vision issues. So have any of your children been to a Developmental Ophthalmologist?

After looking it up online I saw that many children with Developmental Vision problems are labeled with ADHD, which is one of his dx's. My next step is talking with his PCP again about getting a referral. But I sure would like to know more about what exactly I'm asking for, before actually asking for it. :) So any BTDT would be great.

[kRenee]

I don't think that sensory issues cause vision problems - instead, the same problem that causes sensory integration also seems to affect the vision. Most SPD kids seem to need vision therapy along with OT.

 

Many of us have been through vision therapy so you are in good company. I don't know about the ADHD diagnosis. My ds isn't and I've never heard of an ADHD connection with vision deficits.

 

If you visit http://www.covd.org I believe you can get a list of Developmental Optometrists in your area that can test for vision deficits and provide vision therapy. Vision therapy is well established, but if you have to explain it to anyone, you can emphasize that it isn't about accuity - it has more to do with the muscles of the eyes and how they work together.

[Kathy in MD]

Opthamologists have entered vision therapy only recently and are reinventing the wheel. Developmental optometrists have been developing the therapy for decades. I would tend to look for a dev. optometrist because of their experience.

[Twinmom]

My DD is 1/2 way through her evaluation with a dev. optometrist (last session is Tuesday!), and it has been very enlightening. She has perfect 20/20 vision...but still can't see properly! I didn't know that was possible until recently. Vision is so complex, it is definitely worth going in to see if this is going on with your child. There are a variety of visual processing and ocular motor things going on with DD that are causing her to be unable to consistently read well, which of course affects everything else. She gets stressed out, has headaches and tantrums...all of which can be traced back to the vision issues, IMO. We start vision therapy probably next week.