Behavioral Optometrists - anybody knwo much about this?
Discussion
It has been suggested that I send my daughter to a 'behavioural optometrist' to see if there are any isses re: her visual processing.
Background: she is 13, gets good marks in most subjects (75%-83% in Latin, German, French, History, Biology, Maths etc). She can spot read music (grade 4 saxophone).
Her problem seems to be reading aloud and her handwriting. Though bright, her English marks were lower than expected - mid 60s - and she doesn't read well out loud and was taking too long and not finishing her written exams in English (but not other subjects, which is what is confusing me.)
Anyway, the school's special needs advisor has sugggested that, though she has 20:20 vision for 'normal' eye tests, there may be a visual processing issue.
Is this new age hoo-ha, or is there some merit?
For the avoidance of doubt, we don't want to play the 'dyslexia' cars or anything like that. Just want to maximise my daughter's already good performance.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
What I don't get is, if there was an issue why it would not seem to manifest itself in low marks in the other written subjects?
Maybe her English teacher has taken a dislike to her?
Edited to correct comedy typo!
Background: she is 13, gets good marks in most subjects (75%-83% in Latin, German, French, History, Biology, Maths etc). She can spot read music (grade 4 saxophone).
Her problem seems to be reading aloud and her handwriting. Though bright, her English marks were lower than expected - mid 60s - and she doesn't read well out loud and was taking too long and not finishing her written exams in English (but not other subjects, which is what is confusing me.)
Anyway, the school's special needs advisor has sugggested that, though she has 20:20 vision for 'normal' eye tests, there may be a visual processing issue.
Is this new age hoo-ha, or is there some merit?
For the avoidance of doubt, we don't want to play the 'dyslexia' cars or anything like that. Just want to maximise my daughter's already good performance.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
What I don't get is, if there was an issue why it would not seem to manifest itself in low marks in the other written subjects?
Maybe her English teacher has taken a dislike to her?
Edited to correct comedy typo!
Edited by Aussies4-Poms 0 on Wednesday 15th July 14:13
john_p said:
Does she enjoy English, or find it boring?
SHe is a model student. All her teachers give glowing reports of her enthusiasm in class.SHe comes from a literary/acting family - which is partly why the wife wonders how on earth our daughter struggles to read well out loud.
She has a general 'laziness' with her speech - which many kids seem to have, in that she rushes through everything, speaks too quickly and we consantly have to ask her to repeat things.
SHe has had about a year of elocution/speaking tuition and had been in drama groups while young. She has been in a couple of tv dramas when she was 10, so is not 'shy' so we can't figure it out at all.
My theory - some peopel can sing well, read well, play sport well. Some people can't. Unfortunately for my daughter, seh is beautifual and bright, but cannot sing or read out loud well. It isn't the end of the world - but if we can help her improve we will.
I don't see any harm in making the appointment, provided you downplay its importance to your daughter. The only distinction I can think of between those subjects is that, in English at her age, she would be expected to write more. It may simply be a dislike of the subject but, if there is a problem, you will be kicking yourself if it remains undiagnosed and she is not allowed to fulfil her potential as a result.
Get her tested by an Ed. Psych. "Dyslexia" has a wide continuum of symptoms - it's not just "word blindness".
The only reason why I suggest this was I was eventually tested when doing my MSc years ago as I had similar issues. Did well on the course work, knew the stuff, failed the exams and took forever to complete them. It also took me an absolute age to memorise the abstract detail stuff - equations, etc.
My report makes interesting reading - my IQ came out at 120 something overall but on two out of the five metrics I had the IQ of a house plant (mental arithmetic and encoding IIRC) and in the others I was certified genius.
I don't play the Dyslexia card, but it does help to know what your strengths and weaknesses are and how to mitigate your weaknesses - all of which the Ed Psych. will help your daughter with.
The only reason why I suggest this was I was eventually tested when doing my MSc years ago as I had similar issues. Did well on the course work, knew the stuff, failed the exams and took forever to complete them. It also took me an absolute age to memorise the abstract detail stuff - equations, etc.
My report makes interesting reading - my IQ came out at 120 something overall but on two out of the five metrics I had the IQ of a house plant (mental arithmetic and encoding IIRC) and in the others I was certified genius.
I don't play the Dyslexia card, but it does help to know what your strengths and weaknesses are and how to mitigate your weaknesses - all of which the Ed Psych. will help your daughter with.
bonsai said:
Does she ever read any books at home?
Quite a bit. Though she spends far too much time on Facebook/limewire now!We would often go to Borders with vouchers etc for her to buy books - which she used to read in a weekend.
Just wanted to make sure 'behavioural optometry' isn't like homeopathy!
I have a similar problem, pretty good at everything when I was in school but s
te at English, from what I can work out, other than my teacher being a collosal douche bag, it stems from my eye ops when I was a nipper.
I had a problem with my eyes, my left eye is a weak eye, and would start to squint, the right eye would compensate for it, I would then walk into a door
I had to have an expensive op on my left eye to correct this. Which was great for a while, but my right eye still tried to compensate for it and that would then start to squint, and I would walk into a door again So had to go in and get another eye operation done, leaving me with 70:20 vision.
I was then put on the NHS for glasses and got some qaulity early 90s NHS glasses, you know the ones, my Dr then fked up my prescription which screwed my eyes up again....
Since then, reading hasnt been difficult, but I loose focus on what I am reading, and have to refocus, so my reading suffered little, as I learned to quick scan and speed read. Which in the long run wasnt the smartest move, I should of carried on struggling to read properly. Now I am not a bad reader, I can pick up words easy, but reading like I used to would be quite slow.
What this did though, is cock up my grammar. Allow me to explain, as I speed read and quick scan what I am reading, I read a whole paragraph without taking a break, so I ignored commas, full stops, punctuation, and I will be honest I still have no idea about it today, I just throw commas etc into my typing or writing. Of course doing this, means I didnt pick up on different meanings of words like there they're their etc.
If you listen to me read something, I will quick scan first, then read till I run out of breath, I cant pick out any grammar, I do try with writing and typing, but for me its quite hard, and I am nowhere near dyslexic. Also if you look through any of my old English papers, they will all be marked and have a complaint about lack of grammar and punctuation
te at English, from what I can work out, other than my teacher being a collosal douche bag, it stems from my eye ops when I was a nipper.I had a problem with my eyes, my left eye is a weak eye, and would start to squint, the right eye would compensate for it, I would then walk into a door
I had to have an expensive op on my left eye to correct this. Which was great for a while, but my right eye still tried to compensate for it and that would then start to squint, and I would walk into a door again So had to go in and get another eye operation done, leaving me with 70:20 vision.I was then put on the NHS for glasses and got some qaulity early 90s NHS glasses, you know the ones, my Dr then f
ked up my prescription which screwed my eyes up again....Since then, reading hasnt been difficult, but I loose focus on what I am reading, and have to refocus, so my reading suffered little, as I learned to quick scan and speed read. Which in the long run wasnt the smartest move, I should of carried on struggling to read properly. Now I am not a bad reader, I can pick up words easy, but reading like I used to would be quite slow.
What this did though, is cock up my grammar. Allow me to explain, as I speed read and quick scan what I am reading, I read a whole paragraph without taking a break, so I ignored commas, full stops, punctuation, and I will be honest I still have no idea about it today, I just throw commas etc into my typing or writing. Of course doing this, means I didnt pick up on different meanings of words like there they're their etc.
If you listen to me read something, I will quick scan first, then read till I run out of breath, I cant pick out any grammar, I do try with writing and typing, but for me its quite hard, and I am nowhere near dyslexic. Also if you look through any of my old English papers, they will all be marked and have a complaint about lack of grammar and punctuation
At the last count i think 70-80% of people have dyslexia in some form or another.
BTW I severly Dyslexic. You may have noticed my inability to spell or use the correct grammar.
This eye/brain thing isnt new age it is something i was tested for as a child as i lacked concentration (what child doesnt) I knew a lad (when i was at school) who had to wear very mildly tinted glasses when writing and reading.
Does your daughter wear prescription glasses? Has she had her eyes tested lately.
Also it might be worth teaching her to speed read.
BTW I severly Dyslexic. You may have noticed my inability to spell or use the correct grammar.
This eye/brain thing isnt new age it is something i was tested for as a child as i lacked concentration (what child doesnt) I knew a lad (when i was at school) who had to wear very mildly tinted glasses when writing and reading.
Does your daughter wear prescription glasses? Has she had her eyes tested lately.
Also it might be worth teaching her to speed read.
Edited by Odie on Wednesday 15th July 15:51
Try contacting this Optician:
Ruth Perrot, Castleford & York (you should be able to Google her number).
She used to be a customer of mine when I worked in Optics and specialises in this sort of thing.
If she's too far away to be useful she'll be able to recommend someone closer to home.
Tell her Dan from Vision Control recommended her.
Ruth Perrot, Castleford & York (you should be able to Google her number).
She used to be a customer of mine when I worked in Optics and specialises in this sort of thing.
If she's too far away to be useful she'll be able to recommend someone closer to home.
Tell her Dan from Vision Control recommended her.
Odie said:
At the last count i think 70-80% of people have dyslexia in some form or another.
BTW I severly Dyslexic. You may have noticed my inability to spell or use the correct grammar.
This eye/brain thing isnt new age it is something i was tested for as a child as i lacked concentration (what child doesnt) I knew a lad (when i was at school) who had to wear very mildly tinted glasses when writing and reading.
Does your daughter wear prescription glasses? Has she had her eyes tested lately.
Also it might be worth teaching her to speed read.
How does one teach speed reading?BTW I severly Dyslexic. You may have noticed my inability to spell or use the correct grammar.
This eye/brain thing isnt new age it is something i was tested for as a child as i lacked concentration (what child doesnt) I knew a lad (when i was at school) who had to wear very mildly tinted glasses when writing and reading.
Does your daughter wear prescription glasses? Has she had her eyes tested lately.
Also it might be worth teaching her to speed read.
Edited by Odie on Wednesday 15th July 15:51
Aussies4-Poms 0 said:
It has been suggested that I send my daughter to a 'behavioural optometrist' to see if there are any isses re: her visual processing.
Background: she is 13, gets good marks in most subjects (75%-83% in Latin, German, French, History, Biology, Maths etc). She can spot read music (grade 4 saxophone).
Her problem seems to be reading aloud and her handwriting. Though bright, her English marks were lower than expected - mid 60s - and she doesn't read well out loud and was taking too long and not finishing her written exams in English (but not other subjects, which is what is confusing me.)
Anyway, the school's special needs advisor has sugggested that, though she has 20:20 vision for 'normal' eye tests, there may be a visual processing issue.
Is this new age hoo-ha, or is there some merit?
For the avoidance of doubt, we don't want to play the 'dyslexia' cars or anything like that. Just want to maximise my daughter's already good performance.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
What I don't get is, if there was an issue why it would not seem to manifest itself in low marks in the other written subjects?
Maybe her English teacher has taken a dislike to her?
Edited to correct comedy typo!
If she can complete written questions and compose answers in other subjects there can't be a problem with her ability to process stuff visually.Background: she is 13, gets good marks in most subjects (75%-83% in Latin, German, French, History, Biology, Maths etc). She can spot read music (grade 4 saxophone).
Her problem seems to be reading aloud and her handwriting. Though bright, her English marks were lower than expected - mid 60s - and she doesn't read well out loud and was taking too long and not finishing her written exams in English (but not other subjects, which is what is confusing me.)
Anyway, the school's special needs advisor has sugggested that, though she has 20:20 vision for 'normal' eye tests, there may be a visual processing issue.
Is this new age hoo-ha, or is there some merit?
For the avoidance of doubt, we don't want to play the 'dyslexia' cars or anything like that. Just want to maximise my daughter's already good performance.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
What I don't get is, if there was an issue why it would not seem to manifest itself in low marks in the other written subjects?
Maybe her English teacher has taken a dislike to her?
Edited to correct comedy typo!
Edited by Aussies4-Poms 0 on Wednesday 15th July 14:13
[/SherlockHolmes]
Aussies4-Poms 0 said:
Odie said:
At the last count i think 70-80% of people have dyslexia in some form or another.
BTW I severly Dyslexic. You may have noticed my inability to spell or use the correct grammar.
This eye/brain thing isnt new age it is something i was tested for as a child as i lacked concentration (what child doesnt) I knew a lad (when i was at school) who had to wear very mildly tinted glasses when writing and reading.
Does your daughter wear prescription glasses? Has she had her eyes tested lately.
Also it might be worth teaching her to speed read.
How does one teach speed reading?BTW I severly Dyslexic. You may have noticed my inability to spell or use the correct grammar.
This eye/brain thing isnt new age it is something i was tested for as a child as i lacked concentration (what child doesnt) I knew a lad (when i was at school) who had to wear very mildly tinted glasses when writing and reading.
Does your daughter wear prescription glasses? Has she had her eyes tested lately.
Also it might be worth teaching her to speed read.
Edited by Odie on Wednesday 15th July 15:51
NiceCupOfTea said:
Aussies4-Poms 0 said:
She can spot read music (grade 4 saxophone).
Do you mean sightreading? That's a really useful indicator, it's all about processing visual information quickly.Thanks for all the help so far.
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