Did vision therapy help your child?

[Mom2TheTeam]

My 8 year old son has been recommended for vision therapy. He has an issue focusing on things that are close up and tracking. She gave him glasses that are supposed to help.  He is supposed to be able to correct the problem with therapy and not need the glasses after 6-9 months or so. They are like a band-aid. They do seem to be helping.

For some reason I'm struggling with being slightly skeptical. I had someone tell me their ophthalmologist (I think that is the spelling.  MD for eyes rather than a someone who prescribes glasses.) doesn't believe in vision therapy and thinks it is a waste of money. She wasn't positive, but she thought that was a blanket statement, not just for her son. I was feeling slightly skeptical before. Now, I'm even more skeptical.  I wish I wasn't. :(

However, that said, we are planning to go through with it because I can't imagine not doing it and committing him to glasses for the rest of his life if he doesn't actually need them. That would be mean. It's worth a try at least. If it doesn't work, at least we did everything we could. It's expensive and I'm struggling with being skeptical, but we are going to go ahead with it.

I'm looking for some positive stories to help me feel better about it.

If your child had vision therapy, would you share your experience with me?

Thank you!

[Kim in Appalachia]

Yes!  My dd19, did vision therapy, as recommended by our eye doctor, for several months.  She really noticed a difference.  She did the eye exercises for a few minutes everyday for months, then took a break and started again.  

 

I also did some eye therapy for awhile, but I was not good about keeping it up.  I did notice a difference, and even better, I finally learned what my real vision issue was.

 

It does work.  Think of it as PT for your eyes.  The eyes are a muscle.  They can be strengthened.  If your doctor recommended PT for an injury you would not think it strange. 

 

I will add that our doctor told us, (and showed us) how to do the exercises.  We did not go to a vision therapist, or pay extra for his advice.  There was no added cost or risk.  

[Tess in the Burbs]

Dd is doing it right now.  She had glasses b/c she is far sighted and reading was giving her headaches.  But even with the glasses the headaches continued.  SOOO, I mentioned to the eye Dr who said therapy would help.  I went to a specialist in this area and their testing was so much more than the normal eye Dr.  They were able to get her issue down to a specific point in looking at words and even I could see her focus and then lose side muscle strength...her eyes moved just slightly but sure enough, after the muscles relaxed slightly she said it went blurry or double.  

 

She's done in house therapy training every other week.  It's interesting what they have her do.  A lot of tracking exercises.  Also being able to pull images together and pull apart.  She's also had the flipper thing at home.  She reads 20 min a day with that, flipping from a positive to negative every paragraph.  One makes it larger, one makes it smaller.  She's training the muscles to focus longer than before.  

 

The headaches went away with reading in a week if not less.  She can read longer now.  We are doing the last session this week. 

 

Except yesterday she had a headache.  Of course it could be weather or a cold and such.  And I hope that is the issue.  

 

It's been expensive.  Insurance doesn't pay for it.  I negotiated a lower price.  Haggle!  

 

But I have seen results.  I suspect she will need to use this flipper thing from time to time to keep the muscles ability to stay focused.  We hope the results will be long term, but I have read often they are not. 

 

For my dd it's enabled us to school again with no issues.  It's been worth the effort!

[Gentlemommy]

Yes! I would go so far as to say it changed her life. She went from crying over reading a Bob book, to reading chapter books. I stopped all reading instruction during that time, so ALL we were doing for six months was VT exercises. She used to hate reading. Hate it. And her confidence was horrible. She now says reading is her favorite and best subject, and will read for hours everyday, on her own. She too, was given glasses to use during the time we did VT, but doesn't need them now. She has 20/20 vision, so it wasn't something that could be corrected with glasses. I honestly do not understand why people are so critical. Not all therapy works for everyone. However, there are a ton of success stories with vt, and it absolutely makes sense when you understand what their eyes are doing and what they are supposed to be doing.

[Teacher Mom]

My daughter had vision therapy for 3 years, from age 7 to 10, in 2 different states. She had amblyopia in both eyes. She could not tell an eight from a three or a five, could not climb a ladder, could not balance on a bike, a step, a log, etc. We actually got three opinions because our insurance would not cover it and it would cost over $10,000.

 

All I can tell you is that the therapy changed her life. She blossomed. She is the reigning dart queen in our neighborhood. She still wears bifocals but the bottom is only a slight magnification because she reads so much. I am so very glad that we spent that money.

 

Therapy was very hard on her, though. The exercises, especially the ones with the prisms, hurt and gave her headaches. The improvements would come in weird increments -- first nothing, than a great improvement, then a small improvement--then, finally, consistent improvement. 

[Dee22]

Yes, my dd has been using vision therapy on and off for the past four years. It has helped her greatly.

[SKL]

Yes, absolutely, unequivocally, and it also helped my sister's kid (who is not a blood relative), and my second kid is about to start VT tonight.  :)

 

I also had an ophthalmologist try to talk me out of it, after doing nothing to help my kid for over a year and happily pocketing hundreds of my dollars (which were mostly out-of-pocket for me).  I never went back to him, never will recommend him, and will pretty much never go to another ophthalmologist unless my kids' current eye doctor talks me into it!  I assume they are in competition - if VT will fix the problem there will be less need for surgeries etc. etc.  The ophth. was happy to watch my kid's eyes get progressively worse and let her struggle and fail in school before considering it worthwhile to even address the issue.  Bah.  Don't get me started.

 

I have heard that VT doesn't work for everyone, but it works for many kids for sure.  The special needs board periodically has a thread about this.

[Karen in CO]

My youngest had vision therapy last year - she should have gone for more than we did, but circumstances changed, and we had to quit after 6 months.  It helped a lot.  She had a mid-line jump and serious tracking issues plus a few other things.  The therapy helped noticeably.  I am always skeptical and part of me is certain that she would have "outgrown" the vision problems, but I don't at all regret the time and money we spent on the therapy.

 

 

 

[all4ramseys@msn.com]

DS, now 11, did 27 weeks of vision therapy at 9 and it changed his life. He had significant tracking issues and a restricted field of vision in one eye. After the therapist explained his diagnosis, he looked at her and said, "So I'm not stupid?" I almost cried. 

 

It does not work for all issues and you do need to get a second opinion if they ask for too much money. The first therapist we saw wanted something like $5500 - up front. I ended up paying around $1500 (plus glasses) with a different person. Therapy also requires hard work and you may need to lessen your child's academic load while they are in the thick of it. I suggest you try all the exercises so you understand how taxing they are.

 

Holly

 

[Mom2TheTeam]

Thank you everyone!  This has been so helpful to me.  I feel so much better about going forward with it.  :D

 

Yes, absolutely, unequivocally, and it also helped my sister's kid (who is not a blood relative), and my second kid is about to start VT tonight.  :)

 

I also had an ophthalmologist try to talk me out of it, after doing nothing to help my kid for over a year and happily pocketing hundreds of my dollars (which were mostly out-of-pocket for me).  I never went back to him, never will recommend him, and will pretty much never go to another ophthalmologist unless my kids' current eye doctor talks me into it!  I assume they are in competition - if VT will fix the problem there will be less need for surgeries etc. etc.  The ophth. was happy to watch my kid's eyes get progressively worse and let her struggle and fail in school before considering it worthwhile to even address the issue.  Bah.  Don't get me started.

 

I have heard that VT doesn't work for everyone, but it works for many kids for sure.  The special needs board periodically has a thread about this.

 

I don't know, but part of me feels like this ophthalmologist my friend is seeing is doing her son a disservice. The dr. told her it would be a total waste of money and time to even try or look into it. He is saying he will need surgeries later on and not to bother with therapy, but I feel like if I were his mom, I would absolutely be at least trying therapy.  I can't hurt and would be better than surgery or life long struggles.  But, they struggle financially a lot more than we do and she isn't as proactive about medical stuff as I typically am.  So, different strokes I guess.  But, I wish she would at least give it a try.  Anyway, without even knowing the dr, I have a negative impression of him. Thank you for your input!!

 

 

My youngest had vision therapy last year - she should have gone for more than we did, but circumstances changed, and we had to quit after 6 months.  It helped a lot.  She had a mid-line jump and serious tracking issues plus a few other things.  The therapy helped noticeably.  I am always skeptical and part of me is certain that she would have "outgrown" the vision problems, but I don't at all regret the time and money we spent on the therapy.

 

"outgrowing" it is what I keep thinking.  He really struggled to read.  But, just as I was going to make him an appt, he picked it up.  He doesn't read constantly, but he reads enough now that I'm not super worried about it affecting his reading.  However, he was really, REALLY complaining about math even though he has a math brain...tracking issues!  The bottom line is overall, he isn't having any real school issues because of this.  We've been working on the math in other ways and I'm already seeing improvement without the therapy in that area.  However, I think he would read more if he didn't have tracking issues.  He also gets tired and starts struggling when reading for more than a few paragraphs outloud to me.  Yet, his comprehension when he reads to himself is amazing.  So, I just keep wondering if he would just get better and better on his own. 

 

That said, he clearly has tracking issues.  The therapist showed me a test she did with him (the one and only that I missed seeing him do. Ugh!) for tracking.  I took one look at it and said, "there is no way *I* could do that."  Then, I took it in my hand and proceeded to score 100% on it.  :blush:  He did horribly, actually getting a 0! (he did okay at the top and then got tired, started to lose it and then ended up not even finishing because it was too hard to continue.)  He also has some issues with his binocular vision (the two eyes working together).  So, clearly he has issues.  It's just hard to see it in everyday life because he compensates well. 

 

Anyway, I've had the same thought of possibly outgrowing it, but I think we need to go ahead anyway.  I'm glad it worked well for you and I'm very glad to hear that even though you wondered about it you don't regret it.  I figured I won't regret doing it, but I might regret not doing it.

 

 

DS, now 11, did 27 weeks of vision therapy at 9 and it changed his life. He had significant tracking issues and a restricted field of vision in one eye. After the therapist explained his diagnosis, he looked at her and said, "So I'm not stupid?" I almost cried. 

 

It does not work for all issues and you do need to get a second opinion if they ask for too much money. The first therapist we saw wanted something like $5500 - up front. I ended up paying around $1500 (plus glasses) with a different person. Therapy also requires hard work and you may need to lessen your child's academic load while they are in the thick of it. I suggest you try all the exercises so you understand how taxing they are.

 

Holly

 

I almost cried just reading that!  I think my son had a similar enlightening experience, though he didn't say it like that.  He was surprised to find out that we don't all struggle to see the words on the page.  Once we got the prescription for the glasses, he keep asking when we would be able to pick them up. 

 

As for getting a second opinion, they are asking for a lot, but I'm not sure it's more than is standard here.  We live in a high cost of living area.  The other problem is that I don't know where else we would go.  We are already having to travel an hour to get there.  It's going to be a struggle.

 

Good idea to try the exercises.  We are actually going to be doing most of them at home.  Because it is so far away and I have 5 other children younger than him, we will be going there once a month and doing most of his therapy at home.

[J-rap]

This is interesting to read, because I'm looking into this for myself for a daughter who has constant headaches.  So, it's helpful to read what you all have to say about it!

[nrg]

Vision therapy helped me! I got therapized when my husband was in optometry school. I never know that everyone didn't see double, get sick taking notes from text, and had blurry vision until well into the morning! I was always an excellent student, so nobody paid any attention to my visual issues. My latent hyperopia, convergence insufficiency and oculomotor issues are no more!

 

Of course, now I am presbyopic and working on my therapy activities again.

 

Oh, and I retired from education and am now a vision therapist myself. It works. It's real. It's life altering.