For those who've done vision therapy...

[Twinmom]

Can you give me some idea of what is involved and whether or not it can be done at home? I'm not suggesting putting together a program myself, but rather can I implement part or all of the treatment in a home environment.

I'm a bit worried because DD is headed for a developmental eye exam (thanks, Kathy, for directing me this way!) and the closest providers are in Charlotte, over an hour from my home. I have three other kidlets with special needs of one variety or another, and DH travels! Should I have to go weekly or whatnot to Charlotte with the whole bunch, I may go completely insane. It will be worth it, as I'm now convinced this the answer for DD. However, if you check back with me in a year, I may be completely bonkers from the stress...my twins do NOT do well in public places. Waiting rooms and long car trips are my worst nightmare! :banghead:

Thanks,

[kRenee]

We are doing vision therapy right now. We go weekly for an hour session and do daily exercises at home. I have heard that some providers will let you do more work at home if you just negotiate with them. I do think that the office session is more rigorous than what I can do at home and probably gets you through the program a little quicker, but an hours drive with 3 other kids is enough reason to do more work at home.

[Kathy in MD]

Some doctors will design a home based therapy with monthly progress checks when you recieve new excercises. There is also a computer program that works for the most common types of vision problems. I understand it costs around $300. Call the various dev opt to see if they would offer these services.

[Twinmom]

Great, thanks ladies! I'm hopeful I can find the right blend of services.

My younger two are in speech therapy with the public schools...I just asked the gal today if she knew of anyone who offered this in the area. She said that it was possible that the OT she works with might be able to offer it, once we get the testing done. Any thoughts on this? Should I just stick to the private doc and travel, or give the OT a shot?

[Pensguys]

Maybe different OTs are different but they don't off vision therapy with our OT. At least not all the facets that our computer programs do. The closest VT to us was an hour away too....and VERY costly. He was not on our insurance plan (even for the exam). I found another dr. on our insurance plan but 1.5 hrs away. She has been great. A real blessing for us as she used to be a teacher but saw so many kids with the vision problems (reading) that she decided to go back to school and change professions.

We do the computer programs at home. There were 3 programs she recommended for my ds and he has been doing them for about 9 months now. She also gave us a Brock String to work on few exercises at home. We only have to travel to her office every 2-3 months and the last time we went she said she didn't need to see us for 6 months. She said DS should be about finished with the programs by then and we could go to a maintenance level.

I suggest asking around at different Dev. OD to see what they offer.

[Twinmom]

Good advice, Penny...thanks!

[Kathy in MD]

At one time, SPD/SID OT's did include VT as part of their treatment because there weren't many, if any, dev. opt. However the dev. opt. took the OT's initial work, focused on it and extended and refined the therapy.

If feasible, I would do VT under a dev. opt's supervision. My ds's OT, who at one time did do vision excercises as part of the OT, recommended that we see a Dev opt. for VT. However Laurie4B's ds's vision problems did improve with only OT.

[Laurie4b]

They improved hugely, but we're now swallowing the bill for VT for the residual stuff. I'm hoping that since it's so much less that it is treated quickly. It sure is $$$.

[Geo]

We had a ds who received vision therapy years and years ago (22 years to be exact). It was once a week and it too was 1 hour away. I feel for the your demanding circumstances, it probably isn't easy even at home. Anyway, after some months they did assign some activities to be done at home- in addition to his weekly appointments, not in lieu of them. I doubt they would agree to you doing the therapy in their stead. However, each DR. & patient is unique, you can only communicate your situation and go from there.
BTW, vision therapy was sucessful for my ds, he avoided surgery altogether, was fitted for bifocals which he finally shed at the age of 19...a very rare outcome, indeed.

Geo

[Maria/ME]

I think your question has been answered quite thoroughly, but for what it's worth I can give you our experience. I know everyone's is different...

My dd10 has VT every week (an hour away, so I hear ya...it's stressful w/out other kids!) and we have exercises we do at home. Our VT checks progress and sees if she can move on to next set of exercises. I feel comfortable having her check this because she sees MUCH more than I do when looking at my daughters issues from a professional stand point. In addition we do OT once a week also. The two doctors are working in tandem. I see a great deal of progress in my dd. Consistency on our part is key, however.

[Twinmom]

I'm really tickled to see how many of you know about this and can offer feedback! Thanks to all of you!

[Lisa in CO]

Our insurance would not cover vision therapy, so the developmental optometrist gave us a set of exercises to do at home. We went back at 6-week intervals for my daughter to be tested and to get some new exercises. She is doing very well, and I can definitely see improvement in her reading.

I would tell your optometrist about your situation. He or she might be willing to work some kind of alternative to weekly in-office sessions. The important thing is to keep working at the exercises. Fortunately, my daughter thinks they are fun.

HTH,

Lisa in CO