Could my daughter need vision therapy? (Asperger's/headaches)

[Misty]

I have an 8yo daughter who has possible Asperger's (she has siblings with it and she shows many signs). She has almost daily headaches for the past year. She had a CAT scan in July of last year that revealed nothing. I think she has some visual or depth perception issues because she is very clumsy, falls down a lot, spills things, etc. She also has some dyslexic tendencies and is somewhat of a slow reader, though she reads at grade level or above. My main concern is her daily headaches. Could vision therapy resolve all of this for her?

 

Thanks!

[farmgirlinwv]

Someone wiser will respond, but....I say definately get her checked. My dd w/ aspie tendencies also has vision issues, convergence, depth. She can read about grade level as well. I think covd.org has a way to check for a dev. opth. in your area.

 

Lisa

[ChristineMM]

You would need to have her evaluated by a Behavioral Optometrist who can check for visual processing disorders like eye tracking problems. Those symptoms are on lists for different eye tracking LD diagnoses although they are symptoms of other things also. According to a book I read published last year a number of kids on the Autism spectrum (incl. Aspergers) do suffer also from visual processing disorders.

 

My older son was diagnosed with one called convergence insufficiency. He had light therapy instead of 'eye exercise vision therapy' and also a prism lens in eyeglasses. His reading has taken off. This is after me missing symptoms that I thought were just laziness or lack of motivation to read.

 

If you want more of our personal story and to read links that I blogged go here. http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2008/04/ive-been-learning-about-convergence.html

 

 

here is my long link list

 

http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2008/09/eye-tracking-problem-links.html

 

Hope this helps.

[Twinmom]

My daughter was diagnosed with a visual processing disorder, and headaches were a major symptom for her. She also had frequent car sickness, dizziness, visual stress, panic attacks when doing schoolwork and her reading was below grade level. She completed VT this summer...no more headaches or car sickness! She's reading above grade level now...definitely more on par with her IQ. It was a God-send for us.

 

I'd say it's worth at least the evaluation to see if this is what the issue is. You can find a developmental optometrist at www.covd.org. Well worth the time and money if you have any concerns. For my DD, it was the difference between school phobia and school success, as well as a major stress reducer.

[Misty]

Thanks ladies... Your responses were helpful. I will be having her evaluated very soon.

[Rod Everson]

I find it interesting that vision therapy is finally getting the recognition it deserves. For the past six or seven years I've taught phonics to kids who've gone through vision therapy and have seen how much it can benefit them. Parents routinely make the sort of comments Misty received above.

 

One point I would add is that if a child is reading poorly (this is often the reason a parent ends up investigating vision therapy) then just addressing the vision needs sometimes isn't enough. If the child doesn't have a good grasp of phonics, they will still struggle with reading, particularly if they became proficient at guessing when they were learning to read.

 

The correct order of addressing the reading problem is to first get the vision exam by a developmental optometrist, preferably one who oversees a vision therapy department, then address the vision needs and then get the phonics into the child's head. If no vision problems are uncovered, go straight to the phonics instruction, but a large percentage of poor readers do have vision issues that have gone undetected, in my opinion.

 

Rod Everson

OnTrack Reading

[Ottakee]

Has she been evaluated for seizures/migraines? My 12dd has what they call migra-seizures and she would fall down, trip, etc. and also had headaches. The neurologist did an EEG after she had a major seizure episode. We then started her on meds that covered both seizures and migraines (Lamictal) and she has only fallen once since then and only had a few headaches in the past 2 1/2 years.

[Misty]

Thanks Rod... I am in contact with a developmental optometrist. He and his wife do vision therapy and incorporate OT (the wife is an OT) into the child's therapy. The problem is, they don't take insurance so we would have to pay out of pocket. So I feel stuck right now and don't really know where to turn. Thanks for your helpful response.

 

Ottakee,

That's interesting about your daughter. I don't see any evidence of seizures with my daughter, but I will keep it in mind if anything seizure-related ever pops up.

 

Thanks.

[Ottakee]

Just to clarify, it was the HEADACHES that were the biggest symptom of the migraseizures. She also had some falling down, tripping, etc. occ. She did not have any grand mal seizures or honestly anything else that made us think seizures until the neurologist wanted an EEG due to the headaches.

[Twinmom]

FYI on the insurance issue...in my experience, it is common for VT not to be covered whether or not the provider takes insurance. We were lucky enough to get the eval covered, but that's about it. You could look for a long time and still not find someone who would take your insurance AND guarantee coverage for VT, though it is YMMV depending on the specific diagnosis given. The OT is obviously another issue. If you've had that covered before, I'd not give up coverage to combine it with VT.

 

VT is expensive but well worth it, IMO. I'd look into options such as CareCredit or a payment plan. If you can afford to pay it back in a timely fashion (ie, before the high interest rate kicks in), CC is a good option. There are really no perfect answers on this. We'll be paying off our tx for another year, but I'd gratefully pay that bill every month for the rest of my life due to the change it brought my DD!

[Misty]

Just to clarify, it was the HEADACHES that were the biggest symptom of the migraseizures. She also had some falling down, tripping, etc. occ. She did not have any grand mal seizures or honestly anything else that made us think seizures until the neurologist wanted an EEG due to the headaches.

 

Really? Wow, that gives me more to think about. Thanks for clarifying. I will look into it more.

[Misty]

FYI on the insurance issue...in my experience, it is common for VT not to be covered whether or not the provider takes insurance. We were lucky enough to get the eval covered, but that's about it. You could look for a long time and still not find someone who would take your insurance AND guarantee coverage for VT, though it is YMMV depending on the specific diagnosis given. The OT is obviously another issue. If you've had that covered before, I'd not give up coverage to combine it with VT.

 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! This is exactly what I've been wondering for the past 3 days! I was in contact with a developmental optometrist who is certified to do vision therapy, but they told me they don't accept insurance. So I've been wondering if they were all like that. I wish I could be sure that her problem is due to vision issues. My husband will be very reluctant to do anything that will cost us money without proof that she needs it. He is quite the skeptic! Ugh.

[Twinmom]

Try just convincing him to go for the evaluation, as that should give you the answers that you need. A good eval will have testing with quantifiable results to show you where and why she needs VT, if indeed she does have a visual problem. DHs like numbers...you'll get them! There are two parts of the eval. One is physical (ie, does she need glasses), the other is more cerebral (ie, focusing on processing issues, convergence issues, etc.). I think the eval itself was between 300$ and 400$, and as I mentioned, it was covered by our insurance plan. The tx was not covered, as they said it fell under educational issues rather than medical. Yeah, right. :glare:

 

It's interesting to see the results. My DD can see better than 20/20, but she was 2-4 years behind in visual processing depending on the area. In one skill area, she was so delayed she tested out with the lowest possible score! Now, she scores up to 3 years higher than her actual age! Pretty cool.

[Misty]

Wow Jennifer, that's amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your success with VT. I may be able to get my husband to at least allow an eval.

 

Thanks for your help!