Is there a THREAD, and what is visual perceptual testing measuring?

[Janie Grace]

Help? I'm new to this "world," and I'm finally getting some answers about my 9yo ds who has always seemed different in ways -- some just quirky, some concerning and confusing. So far, he has diagnoses of hypotonia, developmental coordination disorder, sensory processing disorder and inattention. He is being tested for auditory processing disorder next month.

 

First off -- is there a thread that connects things like this? Honestly, I'm a bit alarmed by the number of things he "has"... I guess I thought there would be one diagnosis or label that would explain everything. So, those of you who are familiar with these kinds of issues... might there be some connection between these various things, and if so, what? Why does he have these struggles and none of my other kids do? I'm sad for him. His IQ is above average, but he really has a hard time with things that are just easy for everyone else in the family. :(

 

Also, what is the purpose of visual perceptual testing? What are they looking for? That's something his OT wants done soon.

 

Thanks in advance!

[PeterPan]

Oh that's too funny. I was just suggesting in your other thread that you head on over to a developmental optometrist as your next step. :D

 

COVD is where you find a developmental optometrist. The eyes are of course controlled by muscles, and I've just noticed informally that a lot of kids with low tone end up having issues with vision as well. Actually, there was something more formal I read on that, something about an opthamologist study showing the percentage of people with I think it was mitochondrial disorders who end up also having opthamologically diagnosable issues by a certain age. Mito can be behind hypotonia, yes. We've had other threads on digging deeper into your hypotonia. There are neurologists and metabolic neurologists and geneticists and all sorts of options you have.

 

In your position, if you're absolutely CERTAIN nobody else in the family has it, then yes that to me raises a few eyebrows. Someone else here would know more options for you on how to pursue that. Or search the boards for some of our past threads on it.

 

So with a developmental vision exam they're going to check all the aspects of vision development and function. It goes way beyond a regular vision exam. They'll look at convergence, focusing, depth perception, etc. They can then do therapy to get back on track anything that isn't working right. My dd has done VT (vision therapy), and actually I'm getting it myself right now. My dd, my ds, and I are all low tone, and we all have issues with our eyes. Mine just aren't as severe as hers. Why is one kid's worse than another? That's a theological question, mercy. I can't tell you why. I can tell you my dd just plain appears looser and lower tone than my ds, but my ds got stricken with apraxia (wouldn't have learned to talk without therapy), where she's always been fine and functional in that department. So why one or another, why this or that? I don't know. Sometimes with apraxia there's oxygen deprivation in birth or vaccine exposure. But once you start talking low tone and the whole list of things, that's not something you did or ate but a way they were born, genetics, destiny.

 

I don't mind the fact of my existence, and I suggest you think long-term with all these labels. He's still the same child, and if you handle it all very calmly and matter of factly and don't turn him into a GUINEA PIG, he's going to come out of it just fine. There are lots of low tone people and adhd people who don't even realize their problems. They just accept themselves and their limitations and move on. He's been given the GIFT of finding out about them. So you want to help him where you can be focus on the positives and stay as positive in tone as possible. He's still going to blossom into this amazing human being, I promise.

 

As far as the # of labels, well I think that's because the dsm and people don't really have a clue why any of this happens ultimately. So they just keep labeling parts. ;)

 

Well sounds like you've got a good team of people helping you sort things out! Welcome! :)

[Janie Grace]

In your position, if you're absolutely CERTAIN nobody else in the family has it, then yes that to me raises a few eyebrows. Someone else here would know more options for you on how to pursue that. Or search the boards for some of our past threads on it.

 

So with a developmental vision exam they're going to check all the aspects of vision development and function. It goes way beyond a regular vision exam. They'll look at convergence, focusing, depth perception, etc. They can then do therapy to get back on track anything that isn't working right. My dd has done VT (vision therapy), and actually I'm getting it myself right now. My dd, my ds, and I are all low tone, and we all have issues with our eyes. Mine just aren't as severe as hers. Why is one kid's worse than another? That's a theological question, mercy. I can't tell you why. I can tell you my dd just plain appears looser and lower tone than my ds, but my ds got stricken with apraxia (wouldn't have learned to talk without therapy), where she's always been fine and functional in that department. So why one or another, why this or that? I don't know. Sometimes with apraxia there's oxygen deprivation in birth or vaccine exposure. But once you start talking low tone and the whole list of things, that's not something you did or ate but a way they were born, genetics, destiny.

 

I don't mind the fact of my existence, and I suggest you think long-term with all these labels. He's still the same child, and if you handle it all very calmly and matter of factly and don't turn him into a GUINEA PIG, he's going to come out of it just fine. There are lots of low tone people and adhd people who don't even realize their problems. They just accept themselves and their limitations and move on. He's been given the GIFT of finding out about them. So you want to help him where you can be focus on the positives and stay as positive in tone as possible. He's still going to blossom into this amazing human being, I promise.

 

As far as the # of labels, well I think that's because the dsm and people don't really have a clue why any of this happens ultimately. So they just keep labeling parts. ;)

 

Well sounds like you've got a good team of people helping you sort things out! Welcome! :)

 

Thank you! Such wisdom here... esp. about not turning him into a guinea pig, just staying calm and accepting each piece as part of who he is. I think all the labels were starting to freak me out.

 

Interesting about you being low tone. I have never considered that, but I am very muscularly weak. My 11yo ds is stronger than I am. I am naturally thin and have just never been very strong. I wonder if I am low tone. Hmmm.

 

When you said "if you're certain no one else in the family has it" -- did you mean hypotonia or a mitochondrial disorder?

[peacefully]

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[PeterPan]

Thank you! Such wisdom here... esp. about not turning him into a guinea pig, just staying calm and accepting each piece as part of who he is. I think all the labels were starting to freak me out.

 

Interesting about you being low tone. I have never considered that, but I am very muscularly weak. My 11yo ds is stronger than I am. I am naturally thin and have just never been very strong. I wonder if I am low tone. Hmmm.

 

When you said "if you're certain no one else in the family has it" -- did you mean hypotonia or a mitochondrial disorder?

 

I'm surprised the OT didn't look at you as well, just informally. It's very easy to see in people once you know what it looks like. There are degrees obviously, so you could be mild. My tone definitely isn't as low as my dd's, mercy. As it increases, it makes them more floppy. It loosens joints so the ped can pick up my toddler by his armpits and see it. My dd just flops over the couch a lot. You'll see it with W-sitting (very hard on the lower back, don't let them), elbows that extend farther than normal when you straighten your arms, etc. You could google for symptom lists or see if there are any images on google image. John Hopkins has info on their website also.

 

Strength and tone are not one in the same. You can be quite strong but have low tone. Our OT suggested Michael Phelps (the Olympic swimmer) is low tone. Strong, but low tone. Don't know if he is or not, but it's interesting to ponder.

Edited July 31, 2012 by OhElizabeth

[Dobela]

 

We also remediated his auditory working memory function over the course of a year to within age level norms. That made an astounding difference in the way that my son learns. Here's one example: Ds could not count even to ten with any accuracy when he was 6. He could do it about half the time, even though he knew the rote sequence of numbers to ten perfectly. He was so scrambled by his poor working memory that he pretty much forgot what objects he had already counted. He couldn't remember or think through even simple addition facts like 3+2. He would often forget in mid-stroke which letter he was writing. We started speech therapy which addressed his working memory, and his speech and language pathologist told me that when he reached a certain level of function in his working memory, I would see some very specific changes in his academic performance—she mentioned reading comprehension, math facts and spelling specifically. It was exactly as she predicted. When he reached a particular level in his working memory function, he finally developed one-to-one correspondence, the ability to count and count-on, and remembering math facts. It was like some sort of switch flipped. He is actually accelerated in several areas now.

 

 

I don't mean to hijack, but how did you do this? This describes my dd so incredibly well. She is in speech, but I am not certain how they are addressing the working memory.

[Dobela]

Help? I'm new to this "world," and I'm finally getting some answers about my 9yo ds who has always seemed different in ways -- some just quirky, some concerning and confusing. So far, he has diagnoses of hypotonia, developmental coordination disorder, sensory processing disorder and inattention. He is being tested for auditory processing disorder next month.

 

First off -- is there a thread that connects things like this? Honestly, I'm a bit alarmed by the number of things he "has"... I guess I thought there would be one diagnosis or label that would explain everything. So, those of you who are familiar with these kinds of issues... might there be some connection between these various things, and if so, what? Why does he have these struggles and none of my other kids do? I'm sad for him. His IQ is above average, but he really has a hard time with things that are just easy for everyone else in the family. :(

 

Also, what is the purpose of visual perceptual testing? What are they looking for? That's something his OT wants done soon.

 

Thanks in advance!

Sometimes the labels are overwhelming. My daughter has gathered several in the last year. and while we expected some of it because of her micro-preemie birth, it has been overwhelming at times. The learning curve is steep and at times exhausting. The labels are opening doors and helping us help her reach her full potential however. But all those labels don't change the delightful child she is, or how much love and joy she brings to our lives.

[peacefully]

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