Vision Evaluation Report

At long last we received a fax of Will's evaluation with Dr. L, the Developmental Optometrist. Maybe it makes me a geek, but I love to get these reports with all the test results. And then I love to go and google what everything means and try to make sense out of it all. It truly fascinates me! But, enough about me!

There were many different tests and sub-tests that she did that day with him. I'm not sure if I want to just list them out or give a general summary. I guess I'll start with the summary and see where that leads.

His general eye health is perfect. No signs of disease, 20/20 vision. But that is where the word "perfect" ceases to apply to Will's vision! There seem to be many issues in play here. From mild farsightedness to difficulties with oculomotor control. The Developmental Eye Movement Test showed an age equivalent of 8 rs to 8 yrs 11 mo. This has to do with tracking. He showed difficulty with rapidly shifting focus from distance to near. Performance with his right eye was poorer than the left.

He has eye teaming issues, which is the Convergence Insufficiency. This causes Will to use excess effort to take in and process visual information and will reduce hi ability to sustain visual attention.

Then we move on to reversals. On the Gardner Reversals Frequency Test he scored either an age equivalent of 7 or 8 years on each of the three subtests. Does this mean dyslexia? I don't know, nobody has used that word.

The Visual Form Perception testing was fascinating. The abilities tested here are essential for quick and accurate identification and discrimination of objects, for comparing similarities and differences, recognizing and generalizing forms and coming to valid conclusions based on the accurate analysis of available visual information. (That's a mouthful!) Anyway, the results on the sub-tests ranged from the 99.6th percentile to the 2nd percentile. Crazy, crazy variations! He scored highest in Visual Spatial Relations and lowest in Visual Form Constancy and Visual Figure-Ground. On the others he scored relatively high, too. The report states that deficiencies in visual form discrimination may result in difficulty recognizing similar forms, shapes or words, making valid visual judgments and identifying relevant information.

The last test is the Beery Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration. He scored an age equivalent of 7 yrs. 8 mo. which is a 16th percentile rank... A deficiency in visual-motor integration may result in increased difficulty with handwriting, copying fron one place to another, and reduced ability to express ideas in written form.

The following  conditions were found to be present:
Convergence insufficiency, divergence excess, exophoria, binocular dysfunction, and accommodative insufficiency. She recommends vision therapy, possibly lenses and possibly education tutoring.

Not sure what all this means completely. But, I am thrilled we are already involved in the therapy with Dr. T. Chris has noticed a difference in Will's attitude and his teachers say they have seen a difference over the last month in his attention (and they had no idea he was attending vision therapy). So, we are headed in the right direction. I'm looking forward to a conversation with Dr. L to get a few questions answered about the testing. Just to clear a few things up.

Will will go back for re-evaluation in another couple of months. It will be great to see if his scores improve any.

Drum Roll Please...

I officially have a straight A student! Actually, two. Both of my boys received straight A's on their first quarter report cards. I could not be prouder! This was the first quarter Ben received letter grades, so it was so nice to see him so excited about them! And all A's at that.

As for Will. This was a first. He has been receiving letter grades for two years. But, had yet to receive a report card full of nothing but A's. He did it this time! He was so very excited about it and rightfully so. He worked darn hard to earn those grades. He really, really did.

We have been seeing Dr. T for his vision therapy. He has been three times now and he enjoys it a lot. I can't notice a difference in anything yet, however, with what she does I cannot see how it is not helping him. Lots of sensory integration activities as well as vision therapy. I have noticed fewer headaches. Who know if that is an effect of the therapy or what. But, it is an improvement.

We conference with Will's teachers in two weeks. I am looking forward to touching base with them about how Will is doing. I know he got straight A's, but I also know a lot of effort went into making that happen. The speech pathologist from school, that called me a couple of weeks ago, mentioned that his teachers said he has some attending issues. I want to hear more about that and how they think that is effecting him and what they suggest.

But, for now, we are just thrilled with his effort! He was so into keeping his grades up. He really showed pride in his work and accomplishments and desire to do well. It was great to see!