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Special Needs
Micelle78
member
Vision Question related to delays
Micelle78
member
I want to start with just saying my son is not neurotypical and this discovery about just HOW BAD his vision is, is not something to completely explain away everything.
Ok after saying that, he is now 3.5 years old and has had problems with sensory first as a baby (not latching well, not wanting to eat textured baby food, sensory seeking and avoiding with the environment and clothes) speech delay next and then an overnight ability right before age two of recognizing letters and then being able to count to 39 and recognize two digit numbers by 2 years old without being taught, letter sounds by 2.5 and started sight words on his own and reading by about 3 years old. Lots of echolalia which has since tapered down to not often. So nothing typical. He only started trying to use verbs when talking once private speech therapy started at age 2. At age three he began private feeding therapy(wouldn't eat hardly any foods) and occupational therapy plus two days a week of typical preschool---where by the most wonderful accident his teacher has experience teaching special ed.
We have been more than impressed by the help and progress this team has given DS. What my question comes from is that I did not realize that my son had any vision problems. He was pressing his finger into his eyes and laying in the middle of the yard in the summer more than once. It was odd. I mentioned to his OT what I saw and she said she had noticed that during the fine motor activities it looked like his eyes were not teaming together and he was struggling. So I was thinking ok, he is having trouble, I will get them checked. It turns out they were really bad. Like +6 in both eyes and they were not working together The Dr even said that one eye might even shut off or turn inward if we do not pay close attention to him. I found this out in August as well as confirming he is color blind and we started glasses right after.
What I did not expect is that once he started the glasses he also started talking a lot better-- still not typical-- but soooo much better and not sounding like he was repeating sentences we taught him. It sounds more spontaneous. He wanted to climb high things (would never before). He got on a tricycle willingly and was starting to be "typical" in desire to do new activities. I have lost count of the new things he was willing to try. Its like a different kid. Also he started putting foods into his mouth during feeding therapy that he would have had anxiety to even touch before that. I am floored by the progress and I know its a combo of therapy, our work as parents in fine/gross motor activities, speech acitivities daily, and his glasses.
Ok so after all my rambling, is anyone else going through a series of delays plus vision stuff? Did the progress speed up and then go back down to a normal pace after starting glasses or vision therapy? I
The eye doctor told me two things I found interesting. One is that our eyes are not just two balls on the end of sticks (she has a tell it like it is personality) and his vision problems are not an "eyeball thing" they are a "neurological thing". Before I left she told me that correcting his vision would not explain away all his delays but would make a big difference. Also kids with vision issues do have more trouble picking up langauage due to not associating the words with your facial expressions and things going on in the room can distract them from just tuning it out as background noise.
So I guess I just want to hear from others in similar boats. What is your situation like? They are not requiring vision therapy right now because his eyes seem to be teaming well now but we are on close watch to see what his eyes are doing. I had some guilt that when he could read words to me and letters and numbers so well, it never crossed my mind to get his vision checked.
Ok after saying that, he is now 3.5 years old and has had problems with sensory first as a baby (not latching well, not wanting to eat textured baby food, sensory seeking and avoiding with the environment and clothes) speech delay next and then an overnight ability right before age two of recognizing letters and then being able to count to 39 and recognize two digit numbers by 2 years old without being taught, letter sounds by 2.5 and started sight words on his own and reading by about 3 years old. Lots of echolalia which has since tapered down to not often. So nothing typical. He only started trying to use verbs when talking once private speech therapy started at age 2. At age three he began private feeding therapy(wouldn't eat hardly any foods) and occupational therapy plus two days a week of typical preschool---where by the most wonderful accident his teacher has experience teaching special ed.
We have been more than impressed by the help and progress this team has given DS. What my question comes from is that I did not realize that my son had any vision problems. He was pressing his finger into his eyes and laying in the middle of the yard in the summer more than once. It was odd. I mentioned to his OT what I saw and she said she had noticed that during the fine motor activities it looked like his eyes were not teaming together and he was struggling. So I was thinking ok, he is having trouble, I will get them checked. It turns out they were really bad. Like +6 in both eyes and they were not working together The Dr even said that one eye might even shut off or turn inward if we do not pay close attention to him. I found this out in August as well as confirming he is color blind and we started glasses right after.
What I did not expect is that once he started the glasses he also started talking a lot better-- still not typical-- but soooo much better and not sounding like he was repeating sentences we taught him. It sounds more spontaneous. He wanted to climb high things (would never before). He got on a tricycle willingly and was starting to be "typical" in desire to do new activities. I have lost count of the new things he was willing to try. Its like a different kid. Also he started putting foods into his mouth during feeding therapy that he would have had anxiety to even touch before that. I am floored by the progress and I know its a combo of therapy, our work as parents in fine/gross motor activities, speech acitivities daily, and his glasses.
Ok so after all my rambling, is anyone else going through a series of delays plus vision stuff? Did the progress speed up and then go back down to a normal pace after starting glasses or vision therapy? I
The eye doctor told me two things I found interesting. One is that our eyes are not just two balls on the end of sticks (she has a tell it like it is personality) and his vision problems are not an "eyeball thing" they are a "neurological thing". Before I left she told me that correcting his vision would not explain away all his delays but would make a big difference. Also kids with vision issues do have more trouble picking up langauage due to not associating the words with your facial expressions and things going on in the room can distract them from just tuning it out as background noise.
So I guess I just want to hear from others in similar boats. What is your situation like? They are not requiring vision therapy right now because his eyes seem to be teaming well now but we are on close watch to see what his eyes are doing. I had some guilt that when he could read words to me and letters and numbers so well, it never crossed my mind to get his vision checked.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Vision Question related to delays
Now that the background is out of the way (he he he), let me see what I can add or answer your question. I am time limited on response so my apologies if I do not actual answer your question or ramble.
DS2 eyes were crossing - both of them but not at the same time. He would basically use one eye to focus, then switch it off, and use the other eye to focus. I do not recall at the moment if the eye that was crossed was the eye focusing or not (I do not remember a lot at the moment because I do not have my records right next to me). I also cannot remember if he was super farsighted or super nearsighted but he needed glasses ASAP and every pediatric ophthalmologist let me know that eye surgery is a possibility in the future (he had that surgery in July 2012). The glasses were first as a means to try and get his eyes to work together. Patching was not an option because neither eye was a good eye. Surgery was the final option (FYI, he still wears glasses). He has all sorts of delays given the CP but his eye-hand coordination did improve a lot after the surgery. His speech improved a lot but I never thought to see if there was a connection with the surgery. I do believe that the eye surgery has helped with his delays but not enough to cause him to no longer need the various therapies he gets (not that you are/were suggesting that but wanted to throw that out there).