sensory integration and vision therapy

[Connie&Andrew]

I posted about a year ago about some problems my son was having at school. I was pointed to some great information on sensory integration disorder. He exhibited some of traits of this problem, though not exactly. We worked with his OT on some things and made some progress.

There were still some things going on with his learning at school, that just didn't make sense to me. He is very intelligent, but was having some weird problems with reading, spelling, and writing. I mentioned this to the OT at one of his appointments and she looked at the way his eyes moved as they followed an object. She said she thought it might be worthwhile to have him checked by a "behavioral optometrist". He is near-sighted and had been wearing glasses for almost a year at that time, but this was an optometrist that specializes in how vision affects learning.

We went to see her and she did some extensive testing. His eyes were okay. He has a few problems with how they work together and how they track objects, but the surprises came with the results of the visual perception tests, how his brain interprets the things he is seeing. He scored very low on a lot of these tests. This doctor has a vision therapist that works for her. They have had great success with helping children. We are going to start Andrew on Vision Therapy this summer. I figured if there was something that could be done to make school a little easier for him, it would be worth it. There are only 2 people in the whole state of Montana that are doing this kind of therapy, so we have to travel 150 miles one-way for the therapy. I'm hoping that by the end of the summer we'll know whether it is helping him and if it will be worth it to continue into the school year. The optometrist estimated about 30-36 sessions to completely finish the therapy, but she feels his prognosis is good and that they can help him. They will essentially be trying to re-train the brain to process the information more effectively.

It's weird because the things she told me when we reviewed the results of his testing are the things that I have been puzzling about since he has started learning to read. I have always felt that there was some "glitch" in the way he was learning.

I thought I would share my experience in case it may help someone else who is puzzled about their children's learning. I don't know that this has anything to do with his BPI, but it seems like so many of the BPI kids have sensory problems, and this seems to be connected to that.

Connie

[Carolyn J]

Dear Connie,

These Vision therapy sesessions are invaluable and worth the efforts you are making. My son(non-BPI, other multiple stuff he was born with) now is a sucessful 37 yr old man full time WA State Employee whose OT recommended this for him when he was 12 yrs old tho' the school district keep saying he did not have Sensory Intergration Disorder (1983 was dark ages from now & I had to pay for it from his SSI.)All of his Specialists thought I was foolish but I followed my & the OT's gut and it made a really big difference in how he learned and when he later got access to computers his learning curve EXCELLED beyond my dreams, and his Behavioral Optometrist's too!

Good Luck to you and Andrew and please continue to post updates on his progress. You are going to be amazed how this helps "re-wire/re-train" Andrew's brain.

Hugs,
Carolyn J
LOBPI/Adult

[Kath]

Dear Connie
I had a link to a site in NY that mentioned something similar and I was shocked. I have sensory issues and tons of them. I use to lay my head down on the desk to write... I am so glad that you are working on it now and found someone to help.
These are the links I had... Is this what Andrew is being treated for?
Kath robpi/adult


http://www.add-adhd.org/
http://www.strabismus.org/Dr_Jeffrey_Cooper.html

[Carolyn J]

WHOOOHOO for Josh, with those good grades!!!
Please let me know where he is going to college. I think he's graduated this May?? and how is DH, Scott doing, Julia??

Carolyn J

[Nikki]

hello you guys! hope you all are having a great day. i just recently started to notice that my daughter, olbpi, has become extra sensitive to loud noises. It started last year with the toliet on the airplane, didn't think much of it. now it's the vaccum cleaner, movie theater, food prosseser, she will hold her hands on her head. yeah! she can put lefty on her left ear, thnks to the tendon transfeer. she's also been real sensitive to light too. just wondering if it could be to bpi or just the way we are? thanks so much! god bless eveyone! nikki and taylor

[Carolyn J]

Hello Nikki,
Yes, Sensory Intergration Disorder is common to OBPI'S and so I'll Bump Up that Topic Thread for you.Also Non-BPI-ers too..

BTW, you can type and subject/word in the Search Forum Box at the top of any Board and threads of discusion wil come up for you.

Carolyn J
LOBPI/70

[Kath]

Nikki
Does she have Horner's Syndrome? I know they say that it clears up but it does not...
I am very sensitive to light and over head lights drive me crazy. I don't like loud noise and when I was very young the smell of food often gagged me.
I still can't stand the smell of food after I eat but am better about it. I have a super strong sense of smell.
Check the post Carolyn moved up for you tons of information on it.

I am OK with all these things because I understand them and my husband calls them quirks.

Kath robpi/adult

[mommieinneed]

Maggie has a very very strong nose too but that is about it for her, loud noises sometimes but I dont think it is anything.

Now I have an 8yr old that I think might be a sensory seeker. She loves speed, moving fast, spinning anything. Aly also has alot of learning difficulties. They just did testing on her before school ended and they came back and said she is still a difficult case and she seems to not be comfortable in her own skin.

Aly has more testing next month because we are trying to figure out what she has going on with her. While reading this post I was wondering if she could be having this vision thing, how would I ask her dr about it and should I ask her dr or her eye dr, she wears glasses they say for astigmatisms in both eyes.

[mommieinneed]

Wow I just read the bumped up post and man I found alot more things that were helpful for Aly.

Aly doesnt have a bpi but after she was born they said she had a slight bpi, her arm came back within a few hours.

At three her teacher noticed she was in her own world and thought she was having seizures or was ADD/ADHD, her dr tested her and there was no sign of seizures so they put her on ADD meds. The meds calmed her down but now that she is in school it does nothing for her learning, this next year they are putting her in a structured special ed class, she will be in third grade.

After reading this post I realized that Aly has alot of stuff mentioned. When Aly turned one I said it was like a switch went off and she totally changed, there was always meltdowns. When she was 4 she would refuse to wear anything but skirts and if I made her wear pants she would have a meltdown, something I made her have because I thought she was just being a premadonna. When Aly takes baths she has to have it on hot, very hot, she even asks her sister to flush the toilet to make it hotter. Aly also puts her head on desk at school and at home she always comes home and puts on her two piece bathing suit to wear around the house even in the winter.

Well these are some things that I noticed in the post so do you all think that she might have some SIDs and if so where do I begin to get her help. Thanks