Re: OT: Central Vision/Movement

[Guest guest]

It might not be related but you should read the book 'Seeing Through New Eyes' by Melvin Kaplan. It's been awhile since I read it but we are hoping to see him in a few months time (we live in UK so it's not such an easy journey). He explains that you can have perfect sight whilst still having problems with vision and perception. He's based in New York state and sees patients. I think he was recommended in McCarthey's first book. It's worth reading the book to see if your son fits the profile. He treats using yolk prism lenses and has had some pretty amazing success with some kids.

To: mb12 valtrex From: amyisnow2@...Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:44:09 -0800Subject: OT: Central Vision/Movement

I'm just wondering if anyone else sees this with their child and if so, what types of things you have done to help:

My son has always had a problem with focusing and attending to something in front of him on a desk or table. When he can't escape the activity (like writing at a desk), he will not look directly at the paper, rather he looks to the side. He's a terrible writer because it's so difficult to get him to do this. Related to this "central vision" problem I think is the fact that he appears to be unable/unwilling to stick his tongue out straight. He substitutes the sound "fff" for the "th". He has no problem "reading" his books in his own space and looking centrally at the text/pictures.

When I mention this to the therapists, mostly I get "huh, that's interesting" and I have yet to get anyone to provide me with suggestions/exercises etc. I'm fairly certain this is not a mid-line issue because he crosses in other activities. Also, his vision has been evaluated and other than a slight near-sightedness, his vision and visual tracking is good.

It's obviously uncomfortable for him but he's not verbal enough to say so or to say why.

If you have experienced anything like this, what worked for you? Thanks! - Amy Great search results, great prizes. BigSnapSearch.com Search now

[Guest guest]

Your description fit my 7 yr old daughter to a tee. You must

read " Seeing Through New Eyes " by Dr. Melvin Kaplan! Before I

finished the first chapter I knew that this doctor could help her; it

seemed like the book was written about her. It took about 7 months

to get an appt. with him, but it was worth the wait. We saw him for

the first time this past September. He diagnosed her with

alternating estropia. In laymans terms, that means that her eyes do

not work together. In order to focus or read she would

essentially " turn off " one of her eyes by turning her head. Also,

because her eyes weren't working together, she would experience

double vision. He prescribed prism lenses and a vision therapy

program. My daughter now looks directly at things. Her balance,

coordination, handwriting, and ability to think on her feet have

improved dramatically. I am thrilled with her progress!

Let me just add that she has been seeing opthamologist since a few

months of age. She was born with a cleft lip/palate and had a

drooping eyelid. She was found to have some muscle issues and

clefting behind her eye. At about 5 1/2, they started patching

her " good " eye to try to build the muscles on her other eye. That

lasted about a year and was not very successful. We got a second

opinion from another opthamologist that said she would need eye

surgery in the next 6-9 months to correct the muscle issue. In that

time we found our way to Dr. Kaplan who said that we should work with

him and she won't need surgery! I had asked our 2nd opinion

opthamologist about Dr. Kaplan and Dr. 2 said that he doesn't really

believe it works. As with any of the more progressive things we try,

the traditional docs don't buy it.

Anyway, I strongly encourage you to get in touch with Dr. Kaplan.

He's a special man! People travel long, long distances to see him

and he's worth it. His website is www.autisticvision.com

Good luck!

Carol

>

> I'm just wondering if anyone else sees this with their child and if

so, what types of things you have done to help:

>  

> My son has always had a problem with focusing and attending to

something in front of him on a desk or table.  When he can't escape

the activity (like writing at a desk), he will not look directly at

the paper, rather he looks to the side.  He's a terrible writer

because it's so difficult to get him to do this.  Related to

this " central vision " problem I think is the fact that he appears to

be unable/unwilling to stick his tongue out straight.  He substitutes

the sound " fff " for the " th " .  He has no problem " reading " his books

in his own space and looking centrally at the text/pictures. 

>  

> When I mention this to the therapists, mostly I get " huh, that's

interesting " and I have yet to get anyone to provide me with

suggestions/exercises etc.  I'm fairly certain this is not a mid-line

issue because he crosses in other activities.  Also, his vision has

been evaluated and other than a slight near-sightedness, his vision

and visual tracking is good.

>  

> It's obviously uncomfortable for him but he's not verbal enough to

say so or to say why.

>  

> If you have experienced anything like this, what worked for you? 

Thanks! - Amy

>

[Guest guest]

Reading Dr. Kaplan's book would be a great start - I thought it was

great and made a lot of sense to me.

You need to find Developmental Optometrist who does vision therapy. I

just had my son evaluated and it was a very good evaluation and gave me

much insight. I am currently trying to get the school to provide the

Vision Therapy. You can also check your insurance company as when I

checked with my current provider they will pay for 32 VT visits.

Unfortunately, my husband's company is changing providers.

Here's a great link as well and you can find doctors in your area. I

would recommend though asking in your area to see who others have

visited as some are better than others.

http://www.visiontherapy.org/

Also, a NIH funded study was just completed as well which showed the

group that did weekly VT with a therapist had a better outcome than the

other groups. This should help should you want to persue through your

insurance.

http://www.nei.nih.gov/news/pressreleases/101308.asp The actual paper

is free online http://archopht.ama-assn.org/ use the search terms of

convergence insufficiency and pediatrics.

Good luck!

Laureen

Quoting camurph1023 :

> Your description fit my 7 yr old daughter to a tee. You must

> read " Seeing Through New Eyes " by Dr. Melvin Kaplan! Before I

> finished the first chapter I knew that this doctor could help her; it

> seemed like the book was written about her. It took about 7 months

> to get an appt. with him, but it was worth the wait. We saw him for

> the first time this past September. He diagnosed her with

> alternating estropia. In laymans terms, that means that her eyes do

> not work together. In order to focus or read she would

> essentially " turn off " one of her eyes by turning her head. Also,

> because her eyes weren't working together, she would experience

> double vision. He prescribed prism lenses and a vision therapy

> program. My daughter now looks directly at things. Her balance,

> coordination, handwriting, and ability to think on her feet have

> improved dramatically. I am thrilled with her progress!

>

> Let me just add that she has been seeing opthamologist since a few

> months of age. She was born with a cleft lip/palate and had a

> drooping eyelid. She was found to have some muscle issues and

> clefting behind her eye. At about 5 1/2, they started patching

> her " good " eye to try to build the muscles on her other eye. That

> lasted about a year and was not very successful. We got a second

> opinion from another opthamologist that said she would need eye

> surgery in the next 6-9 months to correct the muscle issue. In that

> time we found our way to Dr. Kaplan who said that we should work with

> him and she won't need surgery! I had asked our 2nd opinion

> opthamologist about Dr. Kaplan and Dr. 2 said that he doesn't really

> believe it works. As with any of the more progressive things we try,

> the traditional docs don't buy it.

>

> Anyway, I strongly encourage you to get in touch with Dr. Kaplan.

> He's a special man! People travel long, long distances to see him

> and he's worth it. His website is www.autisticvision.com

>

> Good luck!

> Carol

>

>

>>

>> I'm just wondering if anyone else sees this with their child and if

> so, what types of things you have done to help:

>>  

>> My son has always had a problem with focusing and attending to

> something in front of him on a desk or table.  When he can't escape

> the activity (like writing at a desk), he will not look directly at

> the paper, rather he looks to the side.  He's a terrible writer

> because it's so difficult to get him to do this.  Related to

> this " central vision " problem I think is the fact that he appears to

> be unable/unwilling to stick his tongue out straight.  He substitutes

> the sound " fff " for the " th " .  He has no problem " reading " his books

> in his own space and looking centrally at the text/pictures. 

>>  

>> When I mention this to the therapists, mostly I get " huh, that's

> interesting " and I have yet to get anyone to provide me with

> suggestions/exercises etc.  I'm fairly certain this is not a mid-line

> issue because he crosses in other activities.  Also, his vision has

> been evaluated and other than a slight near-sightedness, his vision

> and visual tracking is good.

>>  

>> It's obviously uncomfortable for him but he's not verbal enough to

> say so or to say why.

>>  

>> If you have experienced anything like this, what worked for you? 

> Thanks! - Amy

>>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

could he need glasses?

Recovering from Autism is a marathonNOT a sprint, but FULLY possible!Read more about it on my BLOGs athttp://www.myspace.com/christelkinghttp://foggyrock.com/MyPage/recoveringwisheshttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=677063169

OT: Central Vision/Movement

I'm just wondering if anyone else sees this with their child and if so, what types of things you have done to help:

My son has always had a problem with focusing and attending to something in front of him on a desk or table. When he can't escape the activity (like writing at a desk), he will not look directly at the paper, rather he looks to the side. He's a terrible writer because it's so difficult to get him to do this. Related to this "central vision" problem I think is the fact that he appears to be unable/unwilling to stick his tongue out straight. He substitutes the sound "fff" for the "th". He has no problem "reading" his books in his own space and looking centrally at the text/pictures.

When I mention this to the therapists, mostly I get "huh, that's interesting" and I have yet to get anyone to provide me with suggestions/exercises etc. I'm fairly certain this is not a mid-line issue because he crosses in other activities. Also, his vision has been evaluated and other than a slight near-sightedness, his vision and visual tracking is good.

It's obviously uncomfortable for him but he's not verbal enough to say so or to say why.

If you have experienced anything like this, what worked for you? Thanks! - Amy

No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.9.19/1857 - Release Date: 12/19/2008 10:09 AM

[Guest guest]

Logan has had this problem. He often looked out of the side of his sight rather than looking at something directly. He initially had no eye contact, then improved with Vit A protocol with Bethanacol.

He still sometimes side glances, but is much better now and making progress. It is give and take; depending on where he is at with the other issues in his life.

Logan is 5 now, has good eye contact, improving on a daily basis and is talking often, as he chooses. He can count to 100, taught himself the alphabet and can read about 50 words and can spell about 20 others. Hot bad for a kid who was diagnosed at severely Autistic with no eye contact and non verbal about 2 years ago.

He stall has issues, but is recovering, and will recover.

Best wishes for your child.

Don

[Guest guest]

My NT daughter did the same thing. I believe one of the early

developmental stages in toddlers is recognizing and categorizing

shapes. During this stage, they will categorize objects by their

shapes (rather than size, color, texture, etc.). Hope I'm remembering

this correctly...

happietrout wrote:

My son is learning the alphabet (recognition, not speech). He sees

N

and Z as the same, I and H, W and M. Is this typical for kids to see

the shape and not necessarily the orientation. He turns his head

sideways, to "upright" the "N" as a zed.

I haven't had an NT child, so it's hard to know what's autistic and

what's just toddlerhood...

Thanks.

>

>

> Logan is 5 now, has good eye contact, improving on a daily basis

and

is talking often, as he chooses. He can count to 100, taught himself

the alphabet and can read about 50 words and can spell about 20

others. Hot bad for a kid who was diagnosed at severely Autistic with

no eye contact and non verbal about 2 years ago.

>

>

> Best wishes for your child.

>

> Don

>