In your boat Wrote:
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> I agree that Vision Therapy is an option. But the
> problem with it now is that it's over diagnosed by
> unscrupulous doctors who then put your child
> through "stations" that are a one-size-fits-all
> treatment and not personalized to your child's
> specific issue.
>
> I believe it was Dr. Wax(?) who brought vision
> therapy to the area and had great success but he's
> gone now.
>
> Check The Eyes, if you have a recommendation for a
> good program I'd be interested. The two docs I
> know of in the area are not recommended by many.
Dr. Wax was kind of the pioneer, however, he suffered from stagnation, bad office administration, lack of technology and I know MANY people that were less than happy with his organization and results. Technology advancements have REALLY improved Vision Therapy and Visual Tracking Diagnosis. Wax was too old school and missed out on the best part of the Vision Therapy. There was also a group in Arlington that I had heard less than ideal things about. There are VERY few Optometrist that are really good, are current in their field and know how to track and monitor improvement and results.
Vision Therapy is only an option if it is needed and many times is needed. If Visual Tracking is not a problem, not sense spending time, money and effort on it. Vision Therapy should not be considered unless there is a problem.
I can speak from first hand experience. Both our kids had issues.
Started with our daughter, 2nd to 3rd grade is usually when the signs/symptoms start to appear due to the transition to reading. I found the Optometrist that I used almost by accident and I had no idea at the time our daughter had Vision Tracking issues. I also did not know anything about Visual Tracking issues. On a whim I decided to at least make an appointment and see where all of this lead.
Our daughter could not not find words in the word search games where there is a square block of random letters with words horizontally, vertically, diagonally and backwards. My wife thought our daughter was just not trying hard enough or lazy. But this was just one thing that stood out before we realized there were Visual issues.
The fees may have changed, but I think the initial appointment was like $125 and we were informed there was likely a Visual Tracking issue and we would need to schedule a longer diagnostic appointment to determine in more detail what level of Vision issues our daughter had. My wife, daughter and I all attended the 2nd diagnostic appointment and just watching the tests was an eye opener. After the diagnostic test the doctor had my daughter go to the waiting room and discussed the results with my wife and myself privately.
Our daughter had a pretty severe case of Visual Tracking deficiency. Mixing up lower case b's and d's, p's and q's. Having a lot of problems with reading and not enjoying reading.
Well it took about 18 months of hard work on everyone's part, but the results were AMAZING and very measurable. I can tell you that our daughter went on to enjoy reading all sorts of Fiction and once she was introduced to the Amazon Kindle and Kindle App for her phone, she was reading easily 1000+ pages a week on her own. Going from struggling in 3rd and part of 4th grade to graduating from one of the top/competitive high schools with almost a 4.0 GPA and then getting into a top 50 University and doing very well was what not where we expected to be looking back at the 3rd and 4th grade years.
Then our son, we had no idea if he had any issues, but for the $125 to rule it out, we decided to have him tested as well at the end of 2nd grade. Well I was not familiar with the testing, results and process. While sitting through the initial screening, less that halfway through the testing without feedback from the doctor, I saw issues and knew there was a problem before the doctor reviewed the first round testing. So we caught this issue early and started with Vision Therapy which was successful, however, unlike our daughter our son also was struggling with reading and in specific reading fluency. Along about 4th grade our son was just tracking just below the lower edge of grade level and we know there was something other than Vision issues that need to be addressed.
We then found out about the Wilson Reading Program and found a very good specialist that did an outstanding job with the Wilson Reading program that really improved our sons reading fluency.
My point about all of this is there are many issues that can hamper kids ability to learn and excel. The average classroom teachers are not trained or equipped to understand what the symptoms are. Also the way schools are in general, more so Public Schools, the teachers WILL NOT point out problems. With Public Schools if the teachers or administration identify any issues, then the school is kind of on the hook to resolve the issue(s). But there is not enough time, money or expertise to individually address these kids. It is sad, but true and just how the system works. You have to take control and learn and figure this all out by yourself. It takes extra time, money and effort, but if you find the right help the results will be AMAZING.
There are a lot of kids that fall in the middle of pack. They are not eligible for IEP's, they are not to the level they should be at the Lab School. In my opinion many of the kids with IEP's are just getting a crutch to cope with an issue and the issue is never officially addressed or corrected. Much of the IEP's are band-aids that just get the task at hand accomplished and do not improver or solve the underlying issue(s). Many private schools are not equipped to deal with kids with issues what every they are. So this leaves many dealing with Public Schools with never really address the cause of the deficiency, just the symptoms.
The Optometrist that we ended up using for our kids became the family Optometrist an we have being using him for almost 10 years now. We have recommended many friends to him and on a few occasions friends were shocked when the Optometrist did a screening and told them there were no issues and their child did not need any form of Visual Therapy. This I think says volumes as even our friends figured services could be pushed/sold when not needed. I also found that the Optometrist did not have the same diagnosis for our kids, they were slightly different and I found the treatment time to be dead on. This Optometrist has been doing Vision Therapy for over 20 years, has a very good gut/seat of the pants feel as well has the process and data to track results, make minor adjustments and see the improvements.
My analogy is Vision Therapy is like going to the gym for the eyes. My kids would at times tell me their eyes hurt or were tired after Therapy sessions, but this was clear to me that they were working their eyes and eye muscles and this is what I kind of expected. What I found is this Optometrist would start Therapy on the weaker eye, and improve it, then move on to the better eye, then put both eyes to work as a unit. This all seems stupid simple, but once you understand what is going on and how things are done, it is really quite fascinating.
As you can see I have a lot to say and to put it out here on FFU is brave of me, but if I can help just a few families/children, it is worth it to me. I went into Vision Therapy blind and clueless that this was even something that existed, I lucked into a situation where I think I found one of the best Vision Therapy programs in the area. I met many other parents coming to this Optometrist from Dr. Wax and other doctors in McLean, Arlington and Fairfax that has been less that impressed with the process and results. Most found they preferred the Optometrist we were using.
Again, kids may have many different problems with learning spanning, the range from physical, executive processing, emotional, mental, or even family problems, but I can say from first hand experience that basic physical issues such as vision and hearing can and should be ruled in or out as potential issues very early on, otherwise it will make the entire primary school experience very painful and stressful for everything in the household.
Here is my recommend Optometrist for Vision Tracking Screening and Vision Therapy in the area -
http://www.cantwellvisiontherapy.com/. I unfortunately or fortunately spent almost 3 years making trips back and forth for Vision Therapy for both of our kids, but the results were well worth it and unfortunately along the way nobody pointed our family in this direction. I would do all over again in a heartbeat if I needed to. I can vouch that this Optometrist is very honest and will not try to sell you one services your child would not need.
What I have also found is Dr. Cantwell is very progressive in many of his options/suggestions. Our entire family has "benchmark" vision baseline records from visits. As we have annual check ups, the historical records help everyone understand if there are vision changes and how quickly they are happening. Our daughter later on had a nearsightedness problem that was quickly identified. Something we had never heard of was Orthokeratology which is wearing a hard contact lens only at night while you sleep to correct your vision during the day. This is something our daughter has been doing for the past 3-4 years and it has been a great way to correct her vision. As a swimmer and swim coach this was a great option for her and she does not need to worry about contact lens or glasses during the day.