Just got our dd's VT results...

[Gentlemommy]

And they were worse than I suspected. :confused: How could I have missed it??? And I got so frustrated with her so many times, and the poor kid, she was trying as hard as she could. I feel horrid. :(

I'm glad though, in a way, because now she will get the help she needs. And my once doubtful dh is all for doing the therapy, even at the $3,600 :001_huh: price tag.

 

I'd really love to hear your stories...I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now, and could use the reassurance that she will be ok and that VT will help her.:bigear:

[PeterPan]

VT was AMAZING for my dd. It generally is. It can vary with the practitioner, so make sure you feel pretty confident you've got a good one (one who does it a lot, one who is experienced with the degree of your problems). But as long as that is in order, it's going to be fine. It's a lot of work. How old is your dd? I've forgotten, sorry. It's going to be a process, so give yourself freedom and flexibility to do that and not stress about everything along the way.

 

The VT sessions made my daughter very headachy and tired. We sometimes did field trips after them, and sometimes she just slept. We didn't do much academics during that time. We started seeing significant changes within two months.

 

Well I'm just glad you have answers! So what all did they find? In what way was it worse than what you expected? Can't be much worse than what happened with us. Went in with my bright daughter, then age 10, almost 11, and she tested with the visual memory of a *2 yo*. No wonder spelling wasn't working!! Did they find something worse than the norm?

[Gentlemommy]

:grouphug:Good to hear about your success with VT. I have high hopes, and I absolutely LOVE the doctor. So does Abby, which is huge.:001_smile:

Here were her results, maybe someone with some experience can help me think of some better ways to incoorperate out curriculum, or find something else that will be a better fit for her.

 

 

Accommodative Skills (focusing)-Inadequate

Binocular Skills-Inadequate

Depth Perception-Adequate

Ocular Mobility-Inadequate

 

Gardner Letter Reversal Execution-12% very weak

Visual Form Constancy-37%

Visual Automaticity-25% very weak

Developmental Eye Movement-10% very weak

 

Her sight word decoding and visual memory was average, and her visual sequential memory and auditory perceptual skills were both above average.

 

So, what does this mean for her? The doctor did explain to us how her eyes were functioning, they basically cross over each other, and she has terrible tracking abilities. Reading a page of 100 numbers, she made 294 eye movements, and 78 reversals. We watched the computer image of her eye movements and I got dizzy! She is all over the place when 'reading' words/letters/or numbers.

 

I guess I am not sure what to do school wise? The doctor recommended we give her as much time as necessary to complete her work, allownher breaks, and keep her lessons short...all of which we do. So far, what we have seems to be working ok, but I am wondering if there is something I should change?

 

Currently we are using-

AAS 1

ETC 3

Copy work through FLL 1 and history

OPGTTR...although we do not do this daily because she doesn't like it. I basically read through the lesson myself, quickly tell her the 'rule' and write the sentences/story on the white board. So far, because we are going slowly, she hasn't had too much trouble with this method.

And she reads aloud from an easy reader type book for ten minutes per day.

 

I have WRTR, but haven't really done it with her. I think this will be a good program, but its hard to fit another thing in, kwim?

 

I'm wondering if I should not have her read aloud to me for a while. From what I understand, the first few sessions of VT basically consists of deconstructing all the bad habits she has gotten in to, so reading and school work will become even HARDER for a while. After the mid way point, is when it is supposed to finally start clicking for her. So, three months. Right now, she is sensitive to reading, because it SO very hard for her. I don't want to frustrate her, BUT she is FINALLY at a point where she will attempt to read something, and is succeeding. So maybe I should keep doing that? I don't know.

 

Would something like Barton be beneficial? It's very pricey, but I will make the sacrifice for her if it will help. Thank you so much for your advice.

[PeterPan]

Wow, you've been working HARD on this! Could I suggest that you just stop? (I don't mean any of this snarkily. I'm reading what I wrote and it's coming across too strong.) I mean seriously, she's telling you it's too hard. You've seen the eyes aren't working right. When the eyes work right, ALL THIS WILL FALL INTO PLACE. I worked my butt off with my dd for years and years. After 2-3 months of VT she started asking me questions like (and she was 11 at this point, having had YEARS of SWR): "What does the letter C say Mommy? I know you taught me that once."

 

Drop dead, jaw drop, silence. Yeah, like not once but a MILLION TIMES over!!!!!!!

 

It does absolutely positively no stinkin' good to beat up yourself and your kid over something that isn't physically working right. You wouldn't ask a man with broken arms to lift weights, would you? When his arms heal, he'll be able to work back up to his weight lifting. Yes he'll get weaker with time off from the exercise, but it will work BETTER and not HURT him.

 

What would I do? How old is this child? I would do your phonics with kinesthetic methods. (jump while spelling orally, visualize the words using Freed's techniques in "RightBrained Children in a Left-Brained World." I would do audiobooks, lots and lots of audiobooks. I would do restful, peaceful things that she enjoys. What does she like to do? Legos? Crafts? Music? Whatever she likes, I would milk that. I wouldn't hesitate to pause stuff that's not physically practical right now. Two or three months off won't hurt her in the long run, and she'll probably have a big bounce when her eyes are working better.

 

I don't think you need to buy Barton right now. You have no clue where she's going to be in a few months. Ride this out, do the therapy, and see what you're left with when you get there.

 

I wouldn't make her read out loud. I would have books around that have large print. I would read to her. I would put on audiobooks constantly. You could do things like Pop Arty beads or polymer clay or sculpting, things that work her fingers so she'll be strong and ready to write when her eyes are ready. It's not like you have to do the exact school skill to keep working on it, kwim? When you do audiobooks, you're boosting her vocabulary so she recognizes the words when her reading kicks in. When you do things for finger strength and fine motor (fun stuff, crafts, games), you're keeping her hands ready to write for when her eyes kick in. I don't think you have to rush this or torture her. If something works, that's fine. But if it's not working, back off.

 

That's my two cents. It seems like a long time, but the therapy will go by very, very quickly. After VT it was like I had to go back and re-teach things so she could re-see things and re-process with her new eyes. I wouldn't stress about cramming stuff in now.

 

For the things you want to do during this time, remember that anything where they don't have to *focus* is less straining. Do you sew? Want to learn? You could make history costumes to go with the history you've been studying. So you read her the history and then spend a few days making costumes and making the food. My daughter needed to do things after her VT sessions and homework that let her eyes rest, things that didn't require close focusing. Some people manage to milk some academics out before. More power to you. I wouldn't stress over it though. Anything you don't do for the next few months is easily caught up later. Make a plan that is practical and it will be fine.

Edited March 2, 2012 by OhElizabeth

[Gentlemommy]

Thank you again for taking the time to respond. Yes, you are absolutely right, I do need to just relax. It's hard, she is my first and I don't want to mess her up, kwim? She is only 6, turning 7 at the end of March. She loves audio books, and she actually scored highest on auditory perceptual skills, so this will be a great way for her to learn.

So, aside from not making her read aloud to me, what else? I have been having her sit at the smaller table on a yoga ball, that seems to help a little. I like AAS, because she uses the tiles or we use the white board.

Uh oh, baby crying, gotta go but I'll be back in a bit lol.

[mamakelly]

ITA with OhElizabeth. There is *no way* your daughter will be able to do VT and all that heavy schooling. VT is exhausting. Marlie was tired, and had headaches after we did the homework. Blake not so much, but his issues weren't nearly as bad as Marlie's. There's no reason to do Barton or any other "teaching reading" things while doing VT. You never know where she will be when you are done. When Marlie finished VT, I didn't have to go back and re-teach anything. It was like all the pieces to the puzzle finally fit together for her and her reading skills exploded. Read to her, let her do fun projects, give her brain and eyes a rest, because they will be working so hard doing VT.

[Susan C.]

I only skimmed, but with her only being six, I would trim school down to almost nothing. When she can see well, you won't be able to stop her!

 

I took dd18 this year, we couldn't stop schooling because of a graduation deadline, it was brutal.

 

Really, it is spring. Do the vision therapy, her favorite read alouds, and talk only (not write) about it, a few fun easy math workbooks, call it until fall. Really! Sore eyes are no fun and they make one cranky and very tired. But its so worth it to have them seeing well at the end!

[Joyofsixreboot]

I only skimmed, but with her only being six, I would trim school down to almost nothing. When she can see well, you won't be able to stop her!

 

 

:iagree:

[Gentlemommy]

I so appreciate hearing your success and advice concerning VT! And when I told my dd this morning that she wouldn't have to do reading aloud to me until VT was done, she was ecstatic. ;) I've decided to continue our math (Miquon and MEP), FLL (because she likes it!), AAS (again, she likes it), and continue reading aloud for history. She loves all things science, so we will continue our weekly experiments, discoveries, and do some animal lap books.

 

Also, for the next two months, our focus for school is going to be (mommy) read alouds. I have hundreds of books I've bought over the years, and while we do read every night before bed, I am taking the next few months to read a TON to them. All day long, I'll have books out and I'll read when ever they ask (well, so long as the toddler isn't destroying something!). :D I talked with dd about our plans for the coming months and she was so happy. She loves me reading to her, and I know she is learning a lot that way.

 

Again, thank you all so much for your reassuring posts, and encouraging me to really give her a break during this time. :grouphug:

[PeterPan]

And when I told my dd this morning that she wouldn't have to do reading aloud to me until VT was done, she was ecstatic. ;)

 

Sounds like we've done our good deed! I'm happy for you that you're feeling good about your plans. Keep us posted on how it goes! :)