Wow Vision Therapy Blog
Children Vision Problems and why some doctors don’t tell you… Answers found with Cats who Succeed
In my practiceåÊthat specializes in vision therapy,åÊthe majority (about 70%) of our patients find their way to my care from a direct referral from another doctor or rehabilitation professional. Yet there are a significant number ofåÊpatients,åÊ(often children)åÊwho are referred by a parent of a past patient who recognizes behaviors inåÊa child that looks like what their own child struggled with before coming to see us foråÊvision therapy.
This represents about a third of our practice thatåÊcome to us directly because of a parent, teacher or friend whoåÊsaw behaviors or recognizedåÊthe problems described by the other parent. That means many children somewhat serendipitously find their way to our care because of a thoughtful åÊ”goodwill ambassador”åÊpast patient or friend.
This group of patients are typically the kids with vision related learning problems. There can be a variety of clinically presenting conditions but some of the more commonåÊdiagnoses are convergence insufficiency, accommodative dysfunctionåÊor oculomotor dysfunction or a combination of all three.They may also have a visual processing problem resulting in letter reversals,åÊdifficulty with visual memory and/or hand-eye coordination.
When a child has a vision related learning problem, it is also interesting to note that the diagnosis is typically very obvious as IåÊwill demonstrate toåÊthe parentåÊdirectlyåÊtheir child’s trouble with theåÊsample visual test åÊand then let the parent see for themselves usually how effortless theåÊteståÊis if they have normal abilities.åÊOnce weåÊestablish the diagnosis and determine that this child has a vision problem that can be effectively treated, there is typically a three part response by the child’s parents.
First there is a sense of relief that finallyåÊ a visual explanationåÊhas been foundåÊthat answers why their child has struggled and it is not because their child was “not smart enough” or “not trying hard enough” andåÊthey are notåÊ”bad parents”.
SecondåÊåÊthere is a feeling of hope for their child’s future because the solution I present just makes sense. We provide the “best practice”åÊdelivery of care, doctor supervised office-based vision therapy that is a proven and effective treatment and I have a solid track record of 30 years experience in this specialty.
Thirdly the parents then experience a momentary feeling of regret and disappointment (sometimes anger) that their previous eye care professional who saw their child did not not recognize the problem in the first place. As a result of overlooking their child’s vision problem their child had to deal with often years of frustration and emotional side effects. It is this group of parents who willåÊask me,åÊ”Dr. Fortenbacher, why did our child’s previous eye doctor not tell us about this problem with our child’s vision?” Often I can not honestly say why with certainty, but try to emphasize the positive, we can leave the past behind and move forward now to solve the problem.
However nowåÊI’m pleased to have a better response to this question. Thanks toåÊmy friend and colleague, Dr. Leonard Press who has writtenåÊ3 wonderfulåÊarticles on The VisionHelp BlogåÊthere is now an answer toåÊ the proverbial question, “Why didåÊour other eye doctor not tell us about this problem?” The answer can be found in CATS WHO SUCCEED.
Dan L. Fortenbacher, O.D., FCOVD