Hunter's Eyes

So, in November, I took Hunter and Lily for their annual eye exam and Dr. Winter noticed that Hunter's eyes were not tracking quite right.  She was pretty relaxed about it but talked to me about vision related learning disorders and their symptoms.  It sounded quite a bit like what we were experiencing with Hunter this school year so we made an appointment for him to be tested.  They only do this on Thursday mornings so I let him take a day off of school.  We were at the eye place from 10:10am-noon, went out to eat at Red Robin until 1pm and then back to the eye place from 1-2pm.  It was an exhausting and emotional day--but it didn't help that they had me watch these touching yet sad success stories of children who had been affected by these vision issues and had overcome them!!!

I had asked to speak to Dr. Winter about Hunter's results without Hunter in the room so he played out in the waiting room (yes, alone, which is pretty shocking for me) and I got to go through all his results.  It's quite overwhelming but the bottom line is that he failed the tests for focus changing, tracking and depth perception.  Out of 13 tests, he passed 3-4 of them.  So, a whole slew of problems that we knew nothing about because his vision had always been age appropriate (about 20/25).  I felt horrible because he's been in tutoring and extra work at night and etc. when the real issue has been a physical inability to see things well enough to read/comprehend them.  

So, in a few weeks he will start vision therapy.  He goes once a week for 30 minutes for 18-24 weeks.  We will also do therapy at home every night.  His glasses are a "crutch" to get him through while his eyes are improving with therapy.  They are bifocals (blended so it's not noticeable--yes, I was a sucker and paid extra $ for that) with clear glass in the top and prescription plus prisms in the bottom to help him with reading and writing and the like.  Dr. Winter said that she's not always able to tell parents that the visual issues are affecting school performance but with Hunter, she has no doubt that it is one big piece of the puzzle.  And, I don't care if he's the top, middle or bottom of his class...it's just been the struggle and not knowing how to help him.  So, I feel very hopeful as we begin this new eye journey!!