Eye Tracking

[lulalu]

DS, 8, has always skipped lines while reading. He has a stubborn side to him so mom telling him for the past 3 years to use a finger while reading is met with defiance. I gave up trying to force it. He has one eye that drifts slightly when tired. He has glasses. However, we live in a place that really doesn't work on things like this. OT is an option here. The Dr. said the glasses should help the eye. 

I had eye exercises that I did when I was a girl. I have seen videos for the eye eights exercise. I have started this and some of the things I had to do. 

He has started reading Harry Potter, it is just a little too hard on his own. So I am having him follow along while listening to audible. I figure this will help him track better right? 

He also reads over long words fast. I can't tell if it is his eyes, or is this something to worry about dyslexia? He doesn't do reversals or have problems reading other than 4 or 5 syllable words. And if a word starts like another word he knows he sometimes just glides over it and says the wrong word. We have an educational consultant over here to help expats and she gave a reading test last year and he was a little above level (end of 1st tested at middle 2nd). He has grown a lot with reading this year. I feel like he would be one that no one would question about dyslexia, it is just very small things that make me question. 

Any other things we can do to help him track to the next line? 

He also has many many signs of dysgraphia. We have been working on writing 8s from Diane Craft and that is helping a lot with spacing and sizing of his letters. His spelling has improved using Dictation Day by Day. Although we are still working on all of these things. 

 

[PeterPan]

Dysgraphia and dyslexia are not vision problems. What are your options to get vision therapy? Obviously glasses are not a replacement for therapy. Some OTs know how to work on vision, but very few. If they aren't advertising that they do it, at least around here it means they won't be helpful. 

Usually developmental vision problems are preceded by retained primitive/neonatal reflexes. Those retained reflexes glitch the development of the postural and vision reflexes. So something you can definitely do is get a list of the primitive reflexes and start working through the tests and exercises. We've had threads on this. 

https://www.brmtusa.com/what-are-reflexes

https://www.pyramidofpotential.com/primitive-reflexes/  There's a $35 option if you search around this site. PoP is what our PT used for integrating reflexes, worked great.

My dd's reading of multisyllable words was connected to working memory (an ADHD thing) and as you say the tracking. So I would see how it improves after you get a proper diagnosis and vision therapy. The problem is that usually when people talk vision therapy they're saying for convergence. I think you're describing amblyopia, which would benefit from a more experienced vision therapist. If you absolutely can't get access to a developmental optometrist who is qualified, then 

https://www.amazon.com/Developing-Ocular-Visual-Perceptual-Skills/dp/1556425953/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=lane+vision+therapy&qid=1590851879&sr=8-1  Lane also has a series sold by RFWP. This book I'm linking is more specifically the vision therapy exercises. But I'm *not* saying it would be your solution or complete solution, because I know zilcho about more complicated vision issues. If you can come back to the States and get a good developmental optometrist and be here for 1-2 months, you could probably nail it. If you were here for 1-2 weeks, you could get started and continue by skype. Some places work everyone through a therapy notebook and some don't. So that would be the variability. I would be looking for a Fellow with COVD. 

We have, on occasion, had people internationally who found options. I don't think you're going to find the typical OT a replacement for someone specializing in developmental vision. But, you know, you could strike lucky. There's just a lot they're not being taught in schools. It's more just are they taking up that specialty later.

The more interesting question would be whether therapists doing VT in the States are finding ways to do this via tele. If they are, that might open up some options. You might try some larger practices and just see. That would be a total long shot, but who knows.

Edited May 30, 2020 by PeterPan

[lulalu]

Sorry typo OT is NOT an option here at all. We are in Central Asia with little health care options. 

[lulalu]

Thanks for the links, I will look over them. 

I know it is not ideal to not have an exam, but it is where we are. 

We may have time in the states, just not sure when. We usually go for a few months to get the most bang for our buck. 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, lulalu said:

We usually go for a few months to get the most bang for our buck.

Then I would look for the developmental optometrist you want to use when you return and in the mean time work on retained reflexes and the Lane materials. 

[lulalu]

Thanks for your help! You are a wealth of resources. 

[ElizabethB]

From my dyslexia page:

In her example of treatment of Linear Dyslexia with a cover card, she talks about how the use of a card below the line, while often used, is actually not the best method of treatment. Instead, she explains: 

"A folded piece of paper or, much better, an unlined card should be held above the line the child is reading, not beneath it. This is the so-called Cover Card Method of treating Linear Dyslexia. The reason for this position of the card is that it can steady the eyes, which have a tendency to wander above and not below the line being read, and it can connect the end of one line with the beginning of the next, thus indicating the return sweep and making it easier on the child's eyes. By blotting out all the text that has just been read, the cover card helps the child to concentrate on just that one line he is reading. By holding the card at a slant with the left corner slightly lower than the right, and by pushing it down while he reads, the child steadies his gaze and at the same time pushes his eyes from left to right and down via a correct return sweep from one line to the next. This is by far the simplest, cheapest, and most effective treatment for Linear Dyslexia."[24]

24. Mosse, Hilde L, M.D., "The Complete Handbook of Children's Reading Disorders," 1982. Vol I, p. 130

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I have no idea for his eyes, but wanted to make sure you know that on audible, you can slow down the reading speed.  If you want to use audible to help track with reading, I would make sure to slow the narration pace down to the same pace he can read.  

My other suggestion is a kindle, where you can choose a page layout with extra large line spacing.  

[ekb88]

I've been digging into issues related to my son's dyslexia, and found this page that discusses various causes, including eye tracking.  Maybe something here might be useful to you - https://dm-ed.com/info/eye-tracking-difficulties/

[lulalu]

On 6/20/2020 at 12:19 AM, ekb88 said:

I've been digging into issues related to my son's dyslexia, and found this page that discusses various causes, including eye tracking.  Maybe something here might be useful to you - https://dm-ed.com/info/eye-tracking-difficulties/

Thanks! 

[sbgrace]

I did vision therapy with my son for convergence and tracking.

We worked with a provider, but he was kind of impatient--my son was young, with special needs, and had lots of issues. So the provider set our goals and I did all of it at home.

It was hard. My son could hardly do anything else honestly--it was just exhausting.

One thing I remember that we did a lot was hold an item in front of him and have him track just moving his eyes as I moved the item from left to right (the provider suggested a pencil with eraser on the end initially, and he just couldn't do it--we had to start with a large stuffed animal and gradually move toward small things like pencils!) It took a long time for my son, but once we finally mastered that, everything fell into place quickly after that. Nothing else sticks in my mind, because nothing else was as difficult, or time consuming, as that first step. 

The Amazon link PeterPan linked--Developing Occular--was used by our provider. A lot of what we did came from that or was similar to things in that. I have the book. It can be overwhelming, but is thorough. 

[lulalu]

On 6/21/2020 at 9:00 PM, sbgrace said:

I did vision therapy with my son for convergence and tracking.

We worked with a provider, but he was kind of impatient--my son was young, with special needs, and had lots of issues. So the provider set our goals and I did all of it at home.

It was hard. My son could hardly do anything else honestly--it was just exhausting.

One thing I remember that we did a lot was hold an item in front of him and have him track just moving his eyes as I moved the item from left to right (the provider suggested a pencil with eraser on the end initially, and he just couldn't do it--we had to start with a large stuffed animal and gradually move toward small things like pencils!) It took a long time for my son, but once we finally mastered that, everything fell into place quickly after that. Nothing else sticks in my mind, because nothing else was as difficult, or time consuming, as that first step. 

The Amazon link PeterPan linked--Developing Occular--was used by our provider. A lot of what we did came from that or was similar to things in that. I have the book. It can be overwhelming, but is thorough. 

That sounds like what I did as a girl. 

Thanks.