Vision Therapy Cost and Questions

[susancollins]

I have seen some books on Amazon that have vision therapy exercises. Can this been done effectively? I talk to one doctor who quoted me $3000 for vision therapy and that didn't include testing. Has this been done by a parent at home if so what book did you use? Jackson is seven and is having trouble reading. I know he needs vison therapy. Thanks for any and all input.

[wapiti]

You might post this on the SN board, where VT is discussed frequently and in detail.

 

Short answer: the book may be better than absolutely nothing, but it is not a substitute for working with a professional. At the very least, I'd get the evaluation first (with the most experienced covd you can find). Different problems require different exercises, and often there is more than one type of problem going on.

 

Also, you can call around for other estimates.

[Joyofsixreboot]

VT is expensive but was totally worth it for my ds.

[shinyhappypeople]

OP, I'm right there with you. I'm pretty sure my 8 yo needs vision therapy but there is absolutely no way we can possibly afford it, insurance doesn't cover it, so she's having to do without. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip. It completely stinks :(

 

Sorry, no advice, just sympathy.

[MerryAtHope]

You might post this on the SN board, where VT is discussed frequently and in detail.

 

Short answer: the book may be better than absolutely nothing, but it is not a substitute for working with a professional. At the very least, I'd get the evaluation first (with the most experienced covd you can find). Different problems require different exercises, and often there is more than one type of problem going on.

 

Also, you can call around for other estimates.

 

:iagree: I contemplated just using a book or two, but I'm glad we found a way to make VT doable here because the experience is totally different from what it would have been--I can't imagine trying to navigate these waters with a book personally. We were able to do it for about $1200 because we found an office that was farther away but was willing to work with us. We went once per month instead of weekly or twice-weekly, and we did the exercises at home. It may have taken a bit longer, but then again my child needed extensive work with some of the primitive reflex exercises before we could get into the VT work--the actual VT went pretty fast after that! Call around, see if someone will work with you a bit on this. We drove 2.5 hours each way once a month, but that was much more doable for me than weekly visits. Anyway, just a thought, it was a huge help here, and I only wish we'd had the funds to do it sooner.

 

Merry :-)

[Citrusheights5]

My son is in vt. We were not going to go ahead with it because of the cost. $3200, up front for a block of sessions. It is insane. We found another who did the eval for 200.00. We talked about it, and decided that we would cut cable, cut food down and eat beans and rice if it meant he would read. Mind you the other five kids didn't agree. The therapist said he needs 32 weeks of vt, done weekly, I just couldn't do it. No way.. Finally I found a therapist an hour drive away, who let's us pay as we go, no upfront payments, as many times a month as we can.. Last month my son went twice, at$105. Each visit. This month we will only go once. Yes it sucks, yes it's harder than just going every week, but it's what we can do..and it's worth giving up everything, even moving to a smaller house, if at the end he can read. With my son, I see a difference every day. Not many get the immediate feedback I do that it is money well spent. It is worth every thing in my home, to include any curric I would have bought, (and yes he is not doing any school other than mcgufffey reader primer)because for my son it would have been wasted since he could never get past cvc words.

 

Look around and see if you can find some one who will work with you once a month even, if this is what your child needs I promise you will not regret it.

 

At the very least, you need the eval to know what to work with at home, with the book.

[AuntieM]

Have you checked the COVD web site?

 

Our developmental optometrist does not charge for an assessment (initial visit/diagnosis). Therapy is paid by the session. At our office, there is a big discount for clients who can come during the day (school hours). That's a great help to home schoolers with a flexible schedule!

 

In a good VT program, your child will develop a relationship with the occupational therapist. It provides not only an expert to coach you (the parent who will be doing "homework" with the child all week), but both a cheerleader and accountability/authority figure for your child. Our OT was terrific - our child's biggest cheerleader and challenger. It's a role I could not have fulfilled (ymmv).

 

We had to work out the financial details. It was partially covered out of our medical savings account, but it took a while for us to get the reimbursement cycle rolling, so at the beginning we went every other week instead of every week. We started slow, but at least we were doing something.

 

After 26 weeks, we were shocked at the improvement. The biggest benefit was my child's mental attitude. For few years, this child had been quietly thinking he was "just dumb." What a light for him to realize that it wasn't his intellect that was insufficient, but a physiological condition that could be fixed. In addition to eye exercises, we worked on gross motor skills and reflex development that had no apparent connection to vision. I know the VT was successful for his actual visual discrimination issues, but more importantly, it was a boon to a healthy self-image.

 

If you want to go it on your own, I agree that is better than nothing. However, there are different ways that vision can be impaired (tracking, eyes not working together, visual discrimination, visual memory, just to name a few). I would think that you need at least the initial exam by the developmental optometrist to pinpoint what type of specific issues your child has.

 

:grouphug: to you. It's hard to know what your kids need yet not be able to provide it due to lack of cash. We had two kids in therapy for different reasons that year. We ate a LOT of beans and peanut butter.

[PeterPan]

Like the others, I would recommend you see if there are more options for developmental optometrists. You should NEVER EVER pay $3K upfront. Ours was around $500 a month and we did it 6 months. Our eval was $250 (not including a regular vision exam). So it came to the same amount you're talking about, but we paid by the month. There are *too many* stories of people getting burnt by docs who ask for lump sums upfront.

 

The better way to make it affordable, assuming your doc is NOT asking for that lump sum upfront, is to pay by the session and only go once a month. Have them do an hour long session once a month (or two half hour sessions with a 1/2 hour break between so he doesn't get worn out) and LOTS of homework. This will work JUST FINE and will give you quality care. The results you'll get doing that will be WAY better than if you just buy a $25 book from amazon. That book is fine, but you really don't know how to target it, how to get over bumps, how to interpret what you're seeing. You also won't have the flippers and patches and things. You won't have someone checking your dc for sensory integration, retained primitive reflexes, and other things that can radically affect whether the VT sticks. If you can get a good COVD doc who will work with you and space the appointments to keep it affordable, you're going to be SO much happier.

 

Therapy (OT, VT, you name it) is recommended every week and done entirely by the professional because parents are often BUSY, intimidated, and not able to work with their kids. We're USED to working with our kids and willing to LEARN how to do this stuff. You just have to find someone who's willing to work with you that way. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Find a practitioner who will work with you and let you do as much at home as possible. If they structure their program well and give you homework, it's going to be FINE, absolutely fine. We ran into so many bumps along the way with headaches and symptoms we didn't know how to interpret, I honestly would NOT have wanted to go it alone. Don't do that. Find someone to help you on terms you can afford.

 

BTW, the place we used has sliding scales based on income and also Care Credit which is affordable payment plans. Their goal was that everyone who walked in got the care they needed. Keep looking for someone you can afford who will work with you. And yes, come over to the SN boards. Lots of VT talk there. :)

[NCJessieRN]

VT is expensive but was totally worth it for my ds.

 

:iagree: We were willing to sell, work extra or do whatever to pay for this! After 7 months of therapy, all of my dd "reading problems" disappeared! I would do it all again in a heart beat!

[herekittykitty]

Ours is about $100/session and we are doing 32 of them. No insurance coverage. We can swing it, but the cost sure stinks. I do think it's worth it if your child needs it. My son sees double a lot due to convergence insufficiency, and because of that he suppresses one eye a lot try to get rid of the second image he sees. Clearly that needs addressing! Good luck whatever you decide. I can't remember but I swear someone recommended a book on the SN board that had good exercises you can do at home. Also try the web site eyecanlearn.com. Definitely not as good as a professional vision therapist IMO but much better than nothing.

[MerryAtHope]

Like the others, I would recommend you see if there are more options for developmental optometrists. You should NEVER EVER pay $3K upfront. Ours was around $500 a month and we did it 6 months. Our eval was $250 (not including a regular vision exam). So it came to the same amount you're talking about, but we paid by the month. There are *too many* stories of people getting burnt by docs who ask for lump sums upfront.

 

The better way to make it affordable, assuming your doc is NOT asking for that lump sum upfront, is to pay by the session and only go once a month. Have them do an hour long session once a month (or two half hour sessions with a 1/2 hour break between so he doesn't get worn out) and LOTS of homework. This will work JUST FINE and will give you quality care. The results you'll get doing that will be WAY better than if you just buy a $25 book from amazon. That book is fine, but you really don't know how to target it, how to get over bumps, how to interpret what you're seeing. You also won't have the flippers and patches and things. You won't have someone checking your dc for sensory integration, retained primitive reflexes, and other things that can radically affect whether the VT sticks. If you can get a good COVD doc who will work with you and space the appointments to keep it affordable, you're going to be SO much happier.

 

Therapy (OT, VT, you name it) is recommended every week and done entirely by the professional because parents are often BUSY, intimidated, and not able to work with their kids. We're USED to working with our kids and willing to LEARN how to do this stuff. You just have to find someone who's willing to work with you that way. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Find a practitioner who will work with you and let you do as much at home as possible. If they structure their program well and give you homework, it's going to be FINE, absolutely fine. We ran into so many bumps along the way with headaches and symptoms we didn't know how to interpret, I honestly would NOT have wanted to go it alone. Don't do that. Find someone to help you on terms you can afford.

 

BTW, the place we used has sliding scales based on income and also Care Credit which is affordable payment plans. Their goal was that everyone who walked in got the care they needed. Keep looking for someone you can afford who will work with you. And yes, come over to the SN boards. Lots of VT talk there. :)

 

YES YES YES! Elizabeth explained so well the difference between just a book and a therapist. If I'd had just the book, I'd have thought it was bunk half-way through and quit because we hit some MAJORLY hard issues and I wouldn't have known to push through them or how to adapt and adjust.

 

And the primitive reflex issues are HUGE for vision therapy--so much so that I wouldn't do it without them. I've heard too many stories of VT not working for people who didn't go through evaluation and therapy for reflex issues, so that was one of the things I was looking for in a VT. The one we ended up with said it's not worth doing VT without checking to see if those cause issues. We spent long months working on those, much longer than I would have thought necessary on my own--but when everything was in place finally, the VT it self went quickly.

 

Hope you can find a workable solution. Merry :-)

[Mukmuk]

I have so many questions about VT, I don't know where to begin.

 

In any case, to the original poster, this is the website I was given by the VT:

http://visiontherapyathome.com/

 

There is even a segment on retained reflex, which comes free with the vision therapy segment.

 

This is cheap and doable from home, with supervision from a certified FCOVD.

 

BUT. I have to say, it wasn't all that effective for us. Im not sure what we did wrong. The exercises, especially those with the ball, are tough for my son, and the monthly supervision visits (we did skype sometimes) just wasn't enough. Perhaps its the same issue as with a book. We already gave up and will look to go to a VT on a weekly basis. But it may be a cost efficient method for others. Do ask your VT about what they think.

 

Good luck!

[Arcadia]

I have lazy eye (strabismus) and had vision theraphy both in school and at the eye specialist clinic. Mine did not affect my reading but did affect my motor skills badly. It is so bad I did VT while my classmates did their PE lessons.

 

For theraphy not covered by the school district, we were advised to get a referral from our kids paediatrician as insurance would be more willing to cover than if we were to go direct.

 

Even for homeschooling, I would check if the school district would cover the VT since it is affecting your child's ability to learn.

 

Getting a proper diagnosis is the first step and my VT was kind enough to teach me all the VT exercises I need to do daily during the 1st session so that I made good progress even though I went once per quarter.

[momsuz123]

We are so glad we did this for our dd. it has made the biggest difference in not only her reading but her math, self esteem, ability to concentrate , etc. It is a complete transformation for her. It is expensive, yes. It is also a lot of work for both you and your child, but it was so worth it for us. Good luck. I hope something can work out for you. Do make sure though that you go to someone who really knows what they are doing. As with anything int the health care field, there are some good ones and bad ones.

[mhaddon]

I wondered if anything else was available. My husband work is dependent upon the weather so we do not know what he makes one week to another and he's usually laid off in the winter. So for us we really would have to do without food and a home in order to pay for it. The only extra we have right now is internet.

[shinyhappypeople]

I wondered if anything else was available. My husband work is dependent upon the weather so we do not know what he makes one week to another and he's usually laid off in the winter. So for us we really would have to do without food and a home in order to pay for it. The only extra we have right now is internet.

 

I think this is what is hard to understand for some people. If it's a choice between food and VT.... well, food wins. It's so hard to see our kids struggle, but you can't give what you don't have. It totally stinks.

[shinyhappypeople]

Does anyone know why public schools offer speech therapy but not vision therapy? That would be amazing if we could access VT through the school system for free.

[wapiti]

Does anyone know why public schools offer speech therapy but not vision therapy?

 

My two cents on why:

 

- VT is still very controversial. Schools will not pay for anything that's "unproven" (e.g., while schools offer OT specifically for fine motor, typically they will not do OT for SPD because it's controversial).

 

- VT is expensive.

 

- Schools don't even pay for glasses.

 

- VT should be done under the supervision of an optometrist.

[Jaz]

I'll encourage you to work on it at home first. My ds needed vision therapy (after being evaluated by a developmental optometrist). We decided to try the vision exercises in Dianne Craft's Brain Integration Therapy for 6 months then move to work with a therapist if he didn't make enough progress.

 

After using it exactly as written for 6 months, we had our ds reevaluated. He no longer needed vision therapy! Plus, he picked up reading very quickly. :)

[RootAnn]

If you don't find a VT that is willing to work with you on the first try or flexible (with payments or how often you need to visit), keep looking.

 

There are two VTs within an hour and a half drive from us. Neither has worked out for us (dd#1 & dd#2) for completely different reasons.

 

Fortunately for us, their vision-related issues aren't huge enough to warrant looking further out. However, if ds#1 or ds#2 looks like he needs a VT eval at some point, we'll go further out than 1 1/2 hrs. It is worth it if they need it.