Child & Family Eye Care - Vision Therapy

Section 504

2008-07-17T08:13:00.004-05:00

Did you know that if your child does not qualify for Special Education services, you may want to consider a Section 504? I did this for my son. The school district was able to incorporate Dr. McMains' "Teacher Recommendations" into a plan for Justin. His vision issues and therapy were considered a physical disability, and therefore he met the criteria for a Section 504!

Have a good day!
Meredith

Informative Web Sites

2008-07-13T20:04:00.003-05:00

Two of my favorite sites for information on learning differences and disorders:

http://www.greatschools.net/ (associated with the former schwablearning.org site)

http://www.allkindsofminds.org/

Hope they help you as much as they help me!

Meredith

Introduction

2008-07-13T19:52:00.002-05:00

My name is Meredith, and I will be the moderator of our blog! I am the newest member of the VT team at CAFE, and I truly am so excited to be part of this amazing group of Doctors, Therapists, and Staff!

I come to CAFE via my son Justin, who is a patient and is currently in VT. I have experience in Special Education, and when the opportunity to join CAFE came up, I jumped at it! I have seen first hand how VT is done, and how it really does work!

I am just like most of you~a parent of a child who had difficulties that VT can help with.

Looking forward to hearing from you! Hopefully I'll get to meet you at the office soon!

Take care!

Welcome to all!

2008-07-13T17:05:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for joining us on the CAFE blog! My hope is that we can all share our experiences (the good and the bad). All of us have something in common-Vision Therapy, and I'd like to start by sharing my personal experiences with you.

My 12 yr. old son, Justin, was my introduction to VT. Prior to this past Fall ('07), I had never heard of VT (even though I had worked in the Spec. Ed. Dept. of a NJ public school!). Justin had difficulties in school, most notably since 3rd grade. Issues that he had dealt included focusing (all areas), writing, math, balance and coordination (couldn't ride a bike, catch a ball, etc.). He never complained when homework took HOURS to complete. He had so much trouble with sports, could not participate on a team. Frustration and low self esteem were a daily part of his life. He's now entering 7th grade, so we've been dealing with all of this for quite a few years. We had our share of "toxic teachers"~teachers who just simply make life miserable for our children and us! Justin actually had a teacher send him to the office (at a very young age) because he wasn't "cooperating," and was a "behavior problem." It turned out (with some detective work from the Principal and myself) that he wasn't "cooperating" because he didn't do a worksheet in class (COULDN'T READ or WRITE!), and wasn't a "behavioral problem" after all. It didn't matter, the damage had been done. Justin knew he was different, and he had been labeled. The teacher never took the time to even ask my son to write his name on the paper or to read the directions to her!

As a mother of three children, I knew something was off with Justin. I just couldn't put my finger on it. ADD/ADHD was thrown around by the pediatrician (and others), and was very quick to suggest medication (we refused!). We had no help whatsoever with our local school district, so we took Justin into NYC to be evaluated by the Student Success Center (All Kinds of Minds, created by Dr. Mel Levine). This cost us a small fortune, but it was well worth it! A wonderful experience for all of us, especially Justin. Justin was diagnosed with Dysgraphia (no wonder my boy couldn't write!), and a student success plan was initiated. Justin was relieved to know that there was nothing wrong with him, and whatever problems he was having, could be addressed and taken care of. During his 5th grade year, we sought out an OT evaluation (at the suggestion of All Kinds of Minds), but that went nowhere.

On my own, I researched the Interactive Metronome, and spoke to the pediatrician about it. The Dr. agreed that it certainly wouldn't hurt Justin to try it, so he did. Our insurance covered it, so Justin began his therapy. He was by far (maybe 60+ years) the youngest patient at the facility, but the therapists made it a lot of fun for Justin. I definitely saw an improvement when his IM therapy was finished-balance and coordination was better! We were on to something!

As fate would have it, we moved to Texas exactly a year ago, and within 1 week of the start of the school year (2007), his teachers had already red flagged him! We were so excited~we were finally moving in the right direction! Justin attends public school in the CISD. By that Fall, during a routine vision screening done by the school nurse, a problem was found. Justin's vision was perfect, however, he failed another screening test that I had never seen before. This brought us to CAFE! The school nurse knew that Justin was having difficulties in school, and told me that this potential vision problem may be related to his school difficulties.

Justin initially saw Dr. Moffatt, who then referred us to Dr. McMains. Dr. McMains performed a thorough evaluation, and found what has been causing Justin's problems. HOORAY! Justin was diagnosed with Developmental Delays, Binocular Dysfunction/Instability, Reduced Stereopsis, Diplopia, Accommodative Infacility and Oculomotor Dysfunction in Pursuits and Saccades. An auditory perceptual deficiency was also noted in sound sequencing. 24 to 32 sessions of Vision Therapy was suggested, and we eagerly agreed!

At the same time, his school's ARD Committee (same as an IEP) had been evaluating Justin, and they concurred with Dr. McMains findings. Justin was also evaluated for ADD/ADHD and was found to not have it.

Amazing, right? If I had listened to our pediatrician, my child would've been on a mind altering drug for something he did not suffer from.

Justin is almost through with his therapy, and we honestly are amazed at his progress! In only a few months, his grades went up anywhere from 15 to 20 points a class! He's writing multiple paragraphs at a time, and is reading above grade level. In the past, he had consistently scored poorly in state testing, and this year, he was commended on the TAKS! His self esteem is at the highest it's ever been! He joined the school football team and can catch the ball now!

CAFE truly makes the therapy fun for the kids. Justin really enjoys going every week! This is really great because can you imagine if your child didn't want to go and it was a battle every week to attend?

Examples of Vision Therapy Activities

2008-06-18T14:49:00.002-05:00

Parents often ask us what kind of activities are we doing to improve the visual skills we find to be deficient when we discuss the results of our testing. Here is a youtube video I found that shows you examples of exercises that may be seen in a vision therapy session videod in another therapy office.

In the News

2008-06-18T14:43:00.002-05:00

Here are some interesting news stories regarding vision therapy for your enjoyment pleasure!

How Vision Affects Learning

2008-06-18T14:15:00.005-05:00

We would like to share with you a powerpoint presentation on how vision can affect learning. At this time, there is no commentary along with the powerpoint slides (so no need to adjust your volume!) For more information, visit www.visionandlearning.org. This site was originally created by me, Dr. Mary McMains, for my Master of Education thesis project in 1999 and was designed for parents and educators. It has been expanded and updated and will be relaunched 6/20/08. I hope you find both interesting.

Greetings Everyone!

2008-06-03T07:27:00.004-05:00

Dear Members,

I want to be the first to welcome you to the CAFE VT Blog! Meredith, a parent of a child in vision therapy and a new member of our vision therapy team, will be moderating our blog community.

This blog is intended as an open forum for anyone with questions about vision therapy to ask our vision therapy staff, parents and patients directly, as well as a place to offer support for those parents with children previously or currently in a treatment program.

Please remember, for privacy reasons, specific patient cases will only be discussed by our staff if the parent discusses their child first and is requesting that we discuss their child with the group. Success stories of our patients will only be posted by written consent. Personal experiences are encouraged, good and not so good. Flaming, unprofessional conduct and disrespectful comments are not and will not be tolerated. Please remember that posts may be edited at the moderator's discretion.

Our hope is that all members will create an encouraging and informative environment to help educate parents and educators about vision therapy through their own experiences, thoughts and feelings of those who have personal experiences in our program, whether directly or indirectly.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Dr. Mary McMains, O.D., M.Ed., F.C.O.V.D.