Vision Therapy or Syntonic Phototherapy?

[sunnyside]

Do any of you have experience with these treatments? I am going round and round, trying to help my oldest. We have seen pediatrician, developmental pediatrician, neurologist, referral to urologist, occupational therapy eval, now weekly occupational therapy for 9 months, referral to developmental optometrist which showed several issues. She was prescribed glasses and now will have two assessments. one for Vision therapy, and then will have that in office one time weekly for 8 week blocks with dr assessments at the end of each block, and a syntonic phototherapy eval, which she will do that therapy in office and at home daily.

It's becoming a fair amount to manage.

I lost my job at the end of December, and am looking for another, though questioning what job will accommodate me being gone this much to take her to her therapies. Anyway, that's a post for another time...

But for now, has anyone tried these therapies and seen success? My daughter has many deficits across many areas. She has sensory processing or integration issues, fine and gross motor delay, bilateral coordination issues, lots and lots of meltdowns, etc.

I'm hoping to hear some positive stories, but please just share any info you may have.

[mommy111]

FWIW, my doc thinks all this is hocus pocus. Not saying that he is right, just mentioning it, because we were on the pathway to and he strongly discouraged us and we decided not to go with it in the end, the evidence just didn’t seem to add up completely

[sunnyside]

What were your child's symptoms?

[cookiemonster198]

We just finished vision therapy in December with dd1 newly age 8.

Our insurance didn’t cover it- it cost about the same as regular OT. I was just grateful our small town had 1 of the 2 places in the STATE that offers it.

For the record, DH and his dad are both family physicians and thought it was hocus pocus at first but it has made the world of difference for DD and our family. Right now there are 5 kids (out of 48)in her grade that go.

DD went for depth issues, (example- looking between the board and Paper and keeping your place)

Transference (copying verbatim a paragraph below)

And other random issues- she couldn’t keep her place while reading, couldn’t see all the words on a page, major reading comprehension issues, and other similar things.

From her initial testing in July to her final eval in December she jumped from a kindergarten grade level to a 3rd and 4th grade level in all of these things.

She originally was supposed to have 38 sessions but we finished early in just 20. [emoji1316]

The dr said that is typical results for kids who do their homework- about 10 minutes a day of various exercises. And we were neurotic about doing it and are now doing our maintenance exercises religiously also.

Dd also has sensory processing and primitive reflex integration issues- it’s all related.

I can’t tell you how amazing her progress has been. I would almost saw off my right arm if I had to to have given it to her. Reading is no longer frustration- before it was such a source of tension in our whole family and now it’s a non issue. She’s reading slightly above her grade level- amazing.

I know several other families well who have also had the same results. Kids with all different issues- severe dyslexia, double vision, etc.

A couple people I know were able to get it approved from the insurance but has to jump through a lot of hoops.


I’ve become much more knowledgeable about it and will happily answer any specific questions you have- just pm me.

Her therapist told me that 75% of kids who are diagnosed with dyslexia actually have a vision processing disorder. It’s just such a New field that not many people know much about it yet. Including insurance companies unfortunately.

[firstbaby]

DS went to vision therapy and it was a HUGE help for him. He had convergence issues. Not only did it improve his reading and comprehension, it gave him more confidence and made reading less of a chore. It also gave me better insight that there were "regular things" I wanted him to do that were hell on Earth for him because of his issues (like piano lessons and doing book work to go along with piano). It wasn't inexpensive (no help from insurance) but I would totally do it again for him.

[squimp]

Our DD had vision problems when she was very little. When she started school, we took her to see an optometrist who specializes in VT. She came highly recommended by two kindergarten teachers who had seen results, as well as other parents. She evaluated DD and told us that VT was not going to benefit DD, that her glasses were completely fixing the problems she had. So I really don’t think it is a racket. I was impressed with the scope and depth of her exam. Our pediatric opthalmologist at OHSU said that he has seen it work, and it was worth exploring. Does your DD go to Elks? They might be able to recommend someone. You could at least get an evaluation and see if VT makes sense to you.

[mommy111]

What were your child's symptoms?
She was having difficulty with reading/skipping words etc

[cookiemonster198]

She was having difficulty with reading/skipping words etc

Exactly our issues

[sunnyside]

Thank you all so much for your input! It's been a crazy busy week this week (can't believe it's only Tuesday), but I'm going to read through this all again. I have her assessments coming up, and I'm excited to think it can help her.