We started with our local optometrist to evaluate acuity and he did need glasses. But, in my heart of hearts, I knew this wasn't the solution. He would ask me, "Mom, how do you read when the words move on the page?" Uummmm they don't!
Our next step was the developmental ophthalmologist. She did testing and confirmed my suspicions. His eye musculature was immature and his eyes were not teaming together. As a result, he could not converge (turning the two eyes toward each other to maintain single vision when looking at a close object), he had poor saccades (rapid eye movement when the eyes move together from one location to another like looking from one work or group of words when reading), and as a result had poor binocular fusion(the brain's ability to gather information from both eyes and place it into one single image). No wonder he hated reading!
Our next step was vision therapy. He went weekly for 12 weeks and had homework throughout. Much of the homework focused on visual scanning ie speed reading random letters, a brock string for convergence, and reading letters from 20 feet away and then from a sheet of paper. We were very diligent at first but then, he started complaining and we had to change it up. We began to include these tasks into our everyday rhythm more naturally.
Here are my most used, tried and true favorites for integrating vision therapy and literacy:
We switched his Language Arts curriculum to All About Spelling- This program is multi-sensory and uses the Orton- Gillingham approach. Before we even start his lesson for the day, he has to spread his tiles out independently. This is scanning at its best. This used to take him almost 20 minutes and is now less than 5. We start with reading the words to build familiarity. Then, follow the lesson plan followed up with a an activity of his choice to spell the words. Sometimes he jumps on the trampoline, sometimes he walks on his balance stilts, sometimes he spells with putty... the options are endless
We accompany All About Spelling with Handwriting Without Tears for paper. This paper is two lined to decrease busyness of the page. However, it still gives enough visual cues for him to "bump" the lines and keep his spacing correct. We also began using their cursive curriculum because writing is so much easier for him when he can flow rather than stopping and starting with each letter.
One of our go to screen free activities; we always have a puzzle out. Full disclosure, this isn't my favorite but my husband actually loves puzzles. So, they puzzle together in the evenings. Think of how much you converge your eyes when you are holding a small puzzle piece to notice the details
We have one night a week where everyone is home without sports practices, board meetings at work, gym time etc. So, we try to reserve Thursday nights as family game nights. Games are so good for many reasons that I'm saving for another post. Here are a few of my favorites for visual skills.
If your child talks about words moving on the page, has a hard time tracking objects or has poor eye hand coordination, let's talk. I can provide recommendations for your homeschool as well as get you set up with your next steps for evaluations.
(updated 4/17/2021):
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