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Hello all-

My son was just diagonsis with convergency insufficiency. After years of sturggling to read and write, being diagonsis with ADHD and a SLD in reading and writing. I guess convergency insufficiency mimics ADHD.


Convergence insufficiency (CI) is a common eye muscle coordination problem. When reading or doing close work, a person's eyes must turn in (converge) for the words to be clear and single. This usually happens easily, without thinking. In CI, the eyes do not turn in easily and as a result, extra convergence effort must be used to force the eyes to turn in. This additional effort can cause a number of symptoms such as eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, double vision, difficulty concentrating, loss of place and concentration, and reading slowly. CI has no obvious signs and is only detected through an eye examination.

Virtually all people that have convergence insufficiency have 20/20 vision. However, it is not enough to have 20/20 vision and be able to see clearly. For the visual system to function properly we must use our two eyes together in a very precise and coordinated fashion. This ability is referred to as eye teaming or eye coordination. The technical term for this ability is BINOCULAR VISION.

So the best way to treat this is by in office vision therapy and "homework" between sessions. This is something that is usually not covered by insurance and is not something schools or a regular eye visit checks for. While it is known in the eye care field I guess it is not known to much about any where else, but is becoming something more are hearing about now. I have done a lot of research since last week when we had the testing done. And have found things to be a bit confusing. I have seen most things in a positive light for CI, but there are some things that question weather CI can be treated with vision therapy. Has anyone had a child with this? What did you do to help? I am fustrated that all these years it could of been something like this which is much more treatable than ADHD and a SLD but yet have to question if this is another misdagonsis or what? Any thoughts ?

Sheila

YES, my ds was diagnosed with it last year! I think it may have contributed to his slow progress in learning to read. I was slow to get around setting up his eye therapy appointments, but now we are in the midst of them. He improved on his own from last year from a fairly serious condition to a fair condition. My insurance did approve him for 8 visits, which is the norm. Have your eye doctor right up a letter with the diagnosis for the insurance company. The therapy is helping. We have homework to do as well. I just have to remember to fit it in each day! I don't think this a rare condition. It is something that can be treated and the child can go on to have normal vision. My ds also has 20/20 vision.
Laura


Oh, one thing you can do to help a bit in the meantime is to get a pair of reading glasses that magnify the words a bit. They are made for adults, so they don't fit a child's face very well. It may help some to have the words larger so he doesn't have to strain to focus quite as much. You can find them at any drug store.

Hello! My son was diagnosed with CI in February of last year. We had him tested last year in the ps for ADD and also for a processing problem and that came back negative. CI is often mistaken for ADD/ADHD because kids can't focus for very long periods of time. Can you imagine? Reading and the words moving around on the page. It would make it difficult for anyone to WANT to read much less be able to read or spell or write! Standardized testing was SOOO stressful with all this in the mix, too. We decided to bring our ds home this year for lots of reasons but this was the biggest (God has blessed us so much more )! We don't have vision insurance and medical covers it only after a hefty deductable (of course ) So, it has been a huge financial investment for us but God has provided and I tell you... I HAVE A NEW CHILD!!! I am so thankful that God has allowed us to find this out and to be able to help him.I was a little skeptical at first but so willing to try anything if it would help my kiddo. We have been going to vision therapy since the middle of Sept. Every 10 wks. we have a reevaluation. We had our first reeval in the middle of Dec.- My precious 4th grade son was reading at a 2.7 reading level in Sept. and 3 mos. later went to reading at a 4.1 reading level w/ some areas improving up to 6th grade!!! We have seen wonderful improvements! I will tell you that homework is a BIG component. If you don't do the homework- it will take longer to see improvement. It has been a lot harder to be faithful and do the homework since there has been so much improvement- he doesn't feel he needs it anymore. I liken it to feeling better and not wanting to finish taking the medicine the doc prescribed.

Sorry! I hope I'm not rambling but I understand why it is difficult to think through things. Some of the things that I do to help... Besides lots of patience?!! These are just a few things that were suggested to me and that pop into my head right now: I give him "eye breaks". We work on something for about 10 mins and then allow him to "day dream" look out the window, walk around, etc. I read a lot to him at first- this is changing now- Copywork/near point work needs to be at a minimum or break it up into small chunks- a few lines a day. I started with lots of oral work- white board where I write for him. Nothing timed like timed math facts, etc. HTH! HOD has been so wonderful for us because our learning is in small chunks, we are moving and active, and school doesn't take all day! I am sorry that you are having to go through this but I am thanking God right now that you have been able to have insight into your ds, too! Your ds is blessed to have parents that exhaust all efforts to help him. God gave him to you- he will give you what you need today!
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask or you can pm me!(If you aren't afraid that I'll give you TMI! )
Blessings to you both!
Dawn

Just like Kristi says in the post to follow... I'm a huge believer in v. therapy! Our diagnosis and therapy has been God's blessing to us! I'm so grateful!

My son just finished 12 weeks of vision therapy. He has amblyopia and has worn glasses since he was 3.
We were very hesitant about doing the therapy because of the cost (our insurance didn't cover any of it) and the mixed reviews on it's effectiveness (I found as I researched it).
We did go ahead and do it and we are VERY pleased with the progress he's made. Before therapy we kept wondering "what's wrong with him?" Had he been in ps I am sure he would have either been in trouble or diagnosed with ADHD.
The therapist that worked with him was fantastic and we had homework to do as well. He made great improvements in so many areas. He was always a good reader but struggled with focusing for any length of time and was very low in physical coordination and such (he had NO depth perception!) We still do VT work at home daily and while our ds may not always like it I know it's in his best interest (if he ever wants to have good enough vision to get a driver's license!)

I know it was a relief for us to realize that his behavior had an explanation that was physical and not a character issue (does that make sense?) If you can afford it and have a good therapist I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Praying for wisdom for you as you make decisions.

Andrea

My daughter had very severe esotropia at birth. While in foster care she had eye muscle surgery. Since adopting her, she has been given glasses with prisms. She also had some farsightedness in both eyes. The eye specialist has been talking about doing patching if things don't get better, because her eyes still want to drift outward. We will be seeing her again in March.

Nothing was ever said about vision therapy like what has been discussed, so I'm not familiar with what is involved in that. I do know that the doctor has talked about how the eyes not teaming can produce problems when reading and writiing. Now that dd is beginning to read, I am noticing some difficulties with being able to focus on smaller lines. She is okay with big letters. It does come across as an attention problem. My dd is in K at our Christian school right now, but I plan to bring her home for 1st and do HOD. I gave a copy of the doctor's letter to dd's teacher, describing the possible difficulties with her vision. I'm not sure she even read it. She doesn't believe there are any problems. Since hearing about the experiences here, I may discuss this with the teacher and make sure provisions are being made if there are problems surfacing. DD gets frustrated at times and refuses to do work. Some look at it as a behavior problem, but I truly think there are problems remaining, even though dd has had glasses for a year now. It's better, but not as good as it could be. Thanks for posting this. It's helped me think more seriously about the difficulties dd may have or could experience in the future.

This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I have two children who were diagnosed with this disorder. Both have gone through vision therapy. Our insurance covered none of it, but it was truly worth EVERY penny or should I say dollars! Once the vision therapy was completed I saw leaps and bounds in my children's learning. My oldest still has other learning difficulties, but my middle child JUMPED reading levels once the vision therapy was completed.

My oldest was having such difficulties in public school so I decided to homeschool her. During her end of the year assessment, her assessor picked up on the vision problems! She had 20/20 vision and still does, but she couldn't read for very long, and she would constantly lose her place on the page.

I felt a little foolish because I've been an elementary teacher for 13 years and had never heard of it! By the time my middle child rolled around, I jumped on it quick. She was into therapy by 1st grade. When I mentioned it to her ps 1st grade teacher who had taught for 30 some odd years, she looked at me with a blank expression, so did the reading specialist who was working with my daughter. I passed on tons of info to them, but I don't know how seriously they took it. After that, I decided to homeschool both my dd.

Anyway, our vision therapy was done at home by me for 6 days a week. It was way cheaper that way. We went in for progress checks every 2-4 weeks. I'm a big believer in the vision therapy. My middle child even struggled with spelling. The vision difficulties effected her visual memory. Spelling was a lost cause in first grade. She couldn't remember anything she saw. Now, she reads above her grade level and spelling has made great improvement.

This diagnosis was God's blessing to us. It's so easy to fix, but just takes time and patience to complete the exercises.

Blessings,
Kristi

Oh thank you so much ladies! I had never heard of CI before and was wondering if it was worth the vision thearpy. I am so grateful for your stories and advice on this! I am looking forward to starting therapy with my son and I think he is too. Knowing that it will help him.


Sheila