Anyone deal with strabismus and vision therapy?

[matrips]

DS has strabismus, and had it since he was four. Almost 5 years ago. I researched vision therapy some at the time, but it seemed so controversial, and all our ophthalmologists were of course against it. I finally found a dr I liked that put him into bifocals instead of signing him up for surgery and he seemed to be improving.howver, we moved last year, found a surgery happy doc down here, and haven't been back since. Trying someone else in two weeks. His eye turn, with glasses, had gotten to 8-12, for those who know what that means and seemed to regain depth perception as well ( based on those little 3d tests). He had 20/20 vision; he was farsighted. He switched eyes apparently which prevented amblyopia. Hoping this is still the case since it's been a year now.

 

Anyway, I'm looking into vision therapy again and wondered if anyone with strabismus has successfully done it, and the side effects, negatives of it. He was an early reader and loves to read, great student, loves sports, can play baseball, golf, basketball etc. was an early bike rider...

So not the usually checklist of candidates for vision therapy. And I'm terrified of messing of what he has going. Either by causing double vision or who knows what. He seems to have compensated well for his strabismus. So please, any and all stories. I don't mind trying it, but not if I could mess him up.

 

Sorry this is long. I've been googling for eons and not finding what I need. Thanks.

[bettyandbob]

Here's my VT experience.

My ds was an early reader -- just before 4th birthday I realized he was reading. He read all the time. He was never good at sports. Never ball sports. He had sensory issue and motor skill problems, so I had a lot of othe junk to worry about and figured reading = vision fine. Ophthalmologists always said vision fine eyes healthy. But ds complained that he could only see red with 3 d glasses (meaning he could only see out of one eye). This was the first sign his eyes were not working together. He was 8. At 10, he was in a private school with a significant work load. He wasn't finishing work and getting headaches. Then, I would look at him and his eye would vibrate or roll around. I researched. Every ophthalmologist wanted surgery, but surgery didn't make sense. Vision therapy teaches muscle control of the eye. I couldn't go with the first optometrist we saw-- the amount of therapy ds needed with a traditional in office exercises was too much 3x week in traffic with siblings in tow. I found another guy. Ds did traditional exercises and computer based work. Ds was highly motivated. Reading was his favorite activity. In less than a year head aches were gone, no eye rolling, no eye vibrating. Both optometrists were shocked that ds was a strong early reader. On initial testing his eyes did not work together at all. I'm very happy we did not do the more invasive surgery intervention.

[dbmamaz]

not sure if its helpful, but when my son was having surgery recommended, I asked the doc about vision therapy.  She said if his eyes drifted, it could help, but his eyes were perfectly fixed at the wrong angle, and for those cases, therapy didnt help.

 

I would try talking to vision therapists and getting a feel from them if they think there is any risks.  I mean, someone i would trust with my kid would have to be open about risks

[GoVanGogh]

DS had surgery for strabismus at age 6.5 so over five years ago. He does have a neuromuscular disorder, which we didn't know at the time of surgery. (If I remember right, 50 percent of strabismus cases are cp related?) We have never, ever regretted surgery but regret we waited so long. (Wanted to research all options and find the best doctor, which took quite a while) We wouldn't have done surgery if we didn't trust this doctor totally. We went to a number of specialists and were always told vision therapy wasn't an option. (Eyes fixed out of alignment)

DS was an early, self-taught reader but could not track to read. He woke up from surgery and was tracking to read within a few hours.

[kbutton]

With all the information and history you have, a phone call to a COVD doc might give you some great information. The COVD website has a list of docs. They might want to see him in person, but having the information you have should give the doctor an idea where he falls on the likely/unlikely spectrum of who is helped by VT before you go into the office. You might ask if VT can make symptoms worse before they are better. We were told my son had strabismus (intermittent, maybe?), but the regular optometrist gave us next to no documentation and acted like it was no big deal. I read up a bit and realized my son probably had convergence/eye teaming problems, and we figured out that he could not cross his eyes at all--one eye would not cooperate. That led us to see the COVD doc, and he's mostly asymptomatic, but had significant enough trouble to warrant a VT trial. The eye exercises at home helped a great deal, and we didn't have to commit to office therapy. He can now cross his eyes, and it seems to help with catching a ball, etc. The doctor should be able to explain why your son would or would not be a good candidate.

[gardenmom5]

me.  strabismus, amblyopia, a dr who the only good thing I can say about him was he saved the vision in my left eye.  my eyes are more complex than when I was younger - and more complex than most people my age.

 

binocular vision develops at a very young age.  your son is rapidly passing that gateway.  the best surgeons generally do this surgery before age 2. They generally don't do it with the goal of binocular vision later, though it will still help.  (though it did reduce my eye strain and other side effects.).

 

I wasn't taken to a developmental until I was 16. (actually one of the better one's in the country. he had patients come to him from other states.)  too late for me.  he did put me in prisims - I had no clue how much eyestrain I dealt with every single minute of every day that I was awake.  it was immediately gone as soon as I put them on.  when he got in for surgery - he said the muscles weren't even attached where they were supposed to be.

if he's responding to VT- then go for it and be excruciatingly diligent.  get a good developmental eye dr who will work VT with him.

[ChristusG]

I just wrote a long thing and the internet ate it! UGH!!!

 

What I said was that we have strabismus and vision therapy, but with two different kids LOL.

 

DD9 did vision therapy when she was 6/7 years old for over a year due to tracking issues. She was having lots of trouble learning to read and we found a highly recommended doctor. We did weekly visits and daily homework. I'm not sure how well it worked. After a year we ended up quitting all schooling except for math and reading to focus on learning to read. I think that, maybe with help from the therapy, finally got her to break through. Now she reads well and doesn't seem to have any other issues. She doesn't need glasses either.

 

DD6's eye began turning outwards when she was late 2 years old. Her ped sent us to a great pediatric specialist and she was diagnosed with strabismus. She never pushed for surgery but actually recommended other things first. DD(then just turned 3) was immediately fitted with glasses and we began daily patching as well. We patched for over a year. When that didn't totally correct it, we tried vision exercises at home.....but it's really hard to get a then-4 year old to cooperate and do vision exercises. So her doctor finally suggested that surgery was probably the best thing for her. We did it last year when she was 5 and it was a breeze! So easy, relatively pain free afterwards, and no more eye issues. A few weeks ago she just had a check up with her specialist and she said that since it has been 14 months post-surgery and her eye muscles are holding steady, she has a great feeling that it was a total success. Of course, there's always the chance that strabismus can return at any point in life, but it is looking good for DD. She does still wear glasses and always will due to a pretty large astigmatism. I'm really glad we did the surgery though.

[PentecostalMom]

My 7yodd has strabismus and amblyopia.  I am having a difficult time finding good care locally.  I have a call in to the only pediatric opthamologist in town (amazing when there is a teaching hospital that specializes in pediatrics here).  I will check in with them tomorrow to see how soon they can see her.  She hasn't been seen in several months and has recently begin complaining of intermittent headaches and she cannot corss her eyes either, but I did not realize this was a symptom of anything.  I will inquire about VT as the closest COVD doc is over an hour away.  I will certainly go if I need to, though!

 

We had great struggles learning to read as well, I am sure due in part to her vision.  She has a difficult time catching a ball and is quite clumsy.  I just wonder if these things can be related back to her vision.  I will be on the phone first thing in the AM.  OP, didn't mean to hijack your thread, all these responses are very helpful to me!  Thank you!!

[Jilly]

My son has strabismus and amblyopia. We figured this out when he was two and his eye permanently drifted inward. We were lucky to find a wonderful specialist near us. My son had to patch daily for over two years while being checked monthly. He made a great deal of progress and then he just stopped, so we had surgery at 4. This surgery helped a great deal, but he still patched up until age 9. Today he still needs glasses and is checked yearly at the ophthalmologist because his is a somewhat severe case. He may need surgery again, and he still does not have any depth perception, but when he wears his glasses and when he takes them off his eyes do not wander or turn in. He and I are both happy about that. 

 

I would recommend finding a highly rated specialist in your area and see what they recommend. Sometimes surgery is the best option, but sometimes it is not. Our doctor only used it as a last resort, and I appreciated that. I knew when he finally recommended it, that it was time. 

[Slartibartfast]

I had vision therapy for strabismus when I was in about second grade. I couldn't read well before having eye therapy. It worked well for me, my reading improved dramatically and I was reading beyond high school levels in grade school.

 

I don't know about your ds' situation. is the strabismus noticeable? What problems is he having? 

[Kipling]

Here's our story, FWIW. My son was diagnosed with strabismus at four and put in glasses. His first opthalmologist suggested surgery after 6 weeks in glasses because the glasses weren't fixing the problem all the way. We were very uncomfortable with that, and we found a new opthalmologist, whom we ended up loving. He understood our desire to try other methods before surgery, so for a year and half, he had my son in glasses and wearing a patch over his strong eye for a few hours each day. As my son was getting ready to turn 6, the doctor said that the glasses and patching were not correcting the problem 100%, and he was concerned about permanent vision loss in his weak eye and development of depth perception. By this time, we trusted the doctor and his decision, so my son had the surgery done. Recovery was quick, and it has made a big difference for him. He still wears glasses because he is slightly farsighted, but his eyes don't turn in ( with or without the glasses), he now has depth perception, and he uses both eyes. At his latest checkup (with a new opthalmologist because we moved out of state), he said that my son's eyes and vision were doing very well. We are very happy with the route we took.

[matrips]

He's not having any problems that I'm aware of. He does great in everything, school and sports, and does not complain of headaches or anything. His turn is sometimes noticeable, but not to anyone else. Everyone was floored when he got glasses for crossed eyes. All the doctors had told me the goal of surgery is to get his eyes close enough so hopefully they might work together; no talk of therapy to encourage that. And his eyes have been close enough for that to happen if it was going to. His turns were within the goal the surgeons shoot for anyway was what his ophthalmologist told me. And he had regained depth perception, but may have lost that. He was improving on some of the 3d tests in the office. I guess I'm just still just trying to figure out what more to do.