dyslexia/visual processing disorder?

Hi I was hoping someone could shed some light on this subject for me...Is dyslexia a visual processing disorder or are they something different? If they are something different how do you tell the difference? alot of the symptoms are the same. I have a 12 year old son who was just diagnosed with a convergence insufficiency and he is going in for more sensorymotor testing next month. he has difficulty with reading(skipping lines and words, sometimes gets b and d mixed up) he has very poor handwriting, has trouble copying stuff off of the board, failing math, and he gets his left and right mixed up all the time. we took him to a behavioral optometrist and he recommended vision therapy. has anyone else done this? it seems to be highly controversial and my insurance won't pay for it. any info on this would be helpfull! thank you!

I should also mention that when he was 7 he started an IEP for OT to improve his handwriting and also was in speech and language therapy because he had trouble puting his thoughts into words. he was released from his IEP in the 4th grade. while he was in OT he was diagnosed with a sensory disorder(sensory seeking). He was also just recently diagnosed with ADD. he will be starting medication on monday.

ok thanks! I have talked to the school psychologist about getting him evaluated throught the school and maybe getting an IEP. I have a meeting with the special ed team on the 29th so we will go from there. I am just trying to understand all of this so I can somewhat know what I'm talking about when I meet with them! thanks again for your reply!

thanks alwayswondering...do you think the financial investment of vision therapy was worth it? my son actually has more difficulty in writing and math more than reading. we are a single income family of five and our insurance won't cover vision therapy. VT is very expensive... I want to be sure this would actually make a significant difference before I invest in something like this so any info will help. thanks for your response!

Thanks for the information on visual training. This is very helpful to know.

I worked with my stepdaughter on improving her writing. When I married her mother, S. was in seventh grade and wrote at the second grade level. When she tried to write a sentence she would lose her train of thought before getting to the end of the sentence. This is what I did.
(1) With all of her homework questions, we turn them into sentences.
(2) I would dictate the first half of the sentence and then she could dictate the second half of the sentence.
(3) I would write the sentence down on an dry erase board. She would then copy the sentence on to her homework sheet.
(4) I'm sure that we did this for at least a year or more.
(5) I would also shifted so that she would write the first half of the sentence and I would write the second half of the sentence.
(6) I taught her how to change the assignment question into a sentence. For example, "Who is president of the United States during the Civil War?" Answer: The president during the Civil War was ______________.
(7) Eventually she was able to write a sentence with just a word prompt for the answer.
(8) Then in high school, I would help her develop the outline for a book report. She was able to follow the outline to create paragraphs and sentences.
This was a long process but it is the way that we finally developed independent writing.

I participate in a forum on Assistive Technology for special needs students. The assistive technology specialists there recommended to me that students who have difficulty with writing/printing should be taught keyboarding. Often even "hunt and peck" methods which students develop is often better for them than being frustrated with attempting to write down their thoughts. Often schools will start a student with keyboarding on an Neo-AlphaSmart http://www.alphasmart.com/ . Sometimes in junior high and often in high school the student is transitioned to a laptop computer.

Jim -- Michigan

Jim -- Michigan www.geocities.com/jnuttallphd

thanks everyone for your suggestions and info! I think the convergence insufficiency is only part of it. he also has other things going on too. He gets left and right mixed uo alot and some other things that I don't know is related to that. I think it is more visual processing. hopefully I can get the school to evaluate him. I'm just worried that they won't think his problems are severe enough to help him.

Hi innova7,

I think you're on the right track with the behavioral optometrist (or developmental optometrist) and I base this on working as a phonics instructor with children much like yours over the past several years.

I've been gradually building a website with information intended to help parents trying to decide what to do and how to proceed when they have a child who seems resistant to phonics instruction. The site is called OnTrack Reading and you can get there using the link [url]ontrackreading.com[/url]

So far on the site I've discussed how I came to the conclusion that vision therapy is needed for many struggling readers, and also how to prioritize phonics instruction and vision therapy. Feel free to let me know what you think if you check it out.

Sorry, but the link didn't enter the way I thought it would.

Here's a link to my website <a href="http://ontrackreading.com">OnTrack Reading</a>

At least I hope it works. If it didn't could someone tell me how it's done in here? Thanks

If you Google "Simos dyslexia" you will find some very interesting and convincing research on using an intensive phonologically based intervention to rewire the brain. I don't know how the cost of this compares to vision therapy or how widely available it is, but I do know that there is evidence to support this in peer-reviewed literature.

Also, it is important to know your child's rights and your rights as a parent. It is good to start reading, learn the language, join an in-person or online support group, and read the laws. Do a search for a Parents as Advocates Handbook. You are your child's best advocate.

Unless the school psychologist you are working with is a doctorate level psychologist, s/he is probably not qualified to make a diagnosis. Getting an independent evaluation with a concrete diagnosis can be one of the most important things you do at this stage. You can call your pediatrician for a recommendation and referral. It can take months to get an appointment, but the psychologist can build on the work that was done by the school psychologist to figure out exactly what is going on for your child.

Best of luck!
R. Bickford

The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882, U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer)

I am going through this now, so I'm reading about vision therapy. My son will be getting a detailed vision processing test at the end of this month to check for dyslexia. I found some interesting information on this website www.eyecareprofessionals.com

As far as OT, my son had a very detailed OT evaluation. It includes: I. Behavioral Observations II. Neuromuscular Assessment/Gross Motor skills/Whole body coordination III. Sensory Processing skills (sensory intergration) IV. Fine Motor V. Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor/handwriting

Visual motor is a combination of visual perceptual and fine motor skills. This test requires the student to reproduce drawings of various geometric shapes that range in complexity. Includes basic shape, closure, edges, orientation, overlapp and overall size.

Visual Perceptual skills is a test for visual acuity and visual perception as the forms become increasingly smaller, closer together and offers increased chance of incorrect choices.

My son tested above average in these skills. He is still getting OT for next year because of one area of fine motor testing in which he is folding and cutting leaning on one side of the body.

Your son can probably benefit from both vision therapy and continued OT. Let us know what you think.

Annette

Your right. Many diagnosis mimic other ones. Our physician was only willing to do 1 medication at a time.

My son had anxiety issues...long story. He was weaned off anxiety medication after he started talking in school at the end of kindergarten. He started first grade okay, but would not use the bathroom in school. At the end of first grade, he was showing signs of ADHD with impulsivity, innattention and hyperactivity. Now, it is possible to go in the opposite direction from all the years of not talking in school.

Anyway, our physician stated that anxiety is a manifestation of my son's original disorder which was speech and language delay. So, until he is reading and writing at his age level, anxiety will continue to surface. It doesn't matter if it's a bathroom issue, foot thing, head thing or chewing on shirt thing. It's all the same thing.

The plan for second grade, was to resume Kolonopin for anxiety and get him using the bathroom in school and out of pullups. He did this in 6 weeks after starting school in September.

The school year is ending and the school psychologist did the BRIEF survey for executive functions. Executive functions are planning and organizing. Kids with ADHD would have difficulty with executive functions. You can read about it on www.schoolbehaviors.com

My son tested within normal limits by the parent survey and teacher survey. So, he can plan and organize his work,he just can't do the work because he has short term memory problems. Major finding in the psycho-educational report.

We also did the BASC II tests which shows all disorders not just ADHD. He tested last year with concerns for inattention, aytpical behaviors and social withdrawl. This year, he tested for concerns with somatization (complains he is sick all the time), withdrawl, atypical behaviors (scratching head and talking to himself), learning problems and social skills.

There is a sub-type of ADHD for anxiety disorders. It includes inattention, passivity and social withdrawl, which could be my son too.

We ruled out that my son does not have the classic type of ADHD. I recently took another Conner's survey at the learning center which looked like an anxiety based ADHD questionnaire. I don't have the scores yet.

I am pretty sure he does not have ADHD. I think his deficit in language ability and memory problems are contributing to his inattention and anxiety. I have another appointment in August with our Neurodevelopmental pediatrician to discuss everything.

Our physician goes by the criteria in the DSM IV. If there is ever a discrepency between home and school or a pre-existing disorder or if you are not sure, then it states to do further testing before making an ADHD diagnosis.

What a crazy life I have. What a piece of work my son is. I sure hope your child is easier to figure out.

Annette