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Original poster

What could be wrong with DS eyes

15 replies

EyeofNotTiger · 10/12/2022 08:18

DS has recently told me that the reason he doesn’t like reading is because his eyes get tired very quickly.

I feel terrible because he’s thirteen and this is the first time he’s told me this.

Ive taken him to a couple of eye specialists in the past because I’ve always suspected there might be something else apart from him having ASD. He was given a screen film but it made no difference to him.

He loses focus easily because of this and I’m sure I would too.

what could be causing this and how can I grt him the help he needs? :(

  • Disclaimer - I accused him of being lazy because he was showing strong reluctance to doing his homework ( as always and I’ve to psyche myself to answer all the questions around why he can’t just do only the subject he likes). That’s when he told me. He’s not lazy at all. He’s really helpful around the house and does chores without being asked, offers drinks when he’s home and never complains when asked to do something. Yes I feel TERRIBLE

NC

Help me help him please

OP posts:
lifeinthehills · 10/12/2022 08:20

You could look into whether Irlen glasses would help him. Any chance he has dyslexia? One of my kids says that the letters move on the page when he reads. He didn't tell us this until he was 18, so we had no idea.

WishIhadacrystalball · 10/12/2022 08:37

Has he had a visual stress test?

pursuedbyablackdog · 10/12/2022 09:23

I'm assuming his had his eyes tested and doesn't need glasses?
You mention a 'screen' do you mean a coloured overlay? Has he tried different colours? Have you tried different overlays? Some are more useful than others.
Do the lines jump about? When he reads out loud does he miss words out/ add words in?
How does he score in school tests?
Has he been screened for dyslexia?

Things you can try:

  1. dyslexic friendly print for fictional books.
  2. book which have high imagery (J K Rowling and Roald Dahl are great authors for dyslexic children as they don't use endlessly descriptive / verbose language but get into the stories quickly).
  3. when doing homework make sure your son reads the question properly, it's so easy to misread the question and then although his answer is 'right' (because he's answered what he thinks he's being asked, he'll get points taken off because he's not answered the actual question).
  4. when doing homework, make sure he has everything he needs in terms of pens, papers, ruler, etc this will help him focus on the task in hand, instead of his brain leaping around and causing more distraction.
  5. have a clear work space, if he doesn't have a desk or a kitchen table he can work at, and if you can afford it, look at a cheap fold away plastic camping table, which can be put up and taken down again for homework.
  6. set a timer, 15-20 mins absolute maximum. Tell him he needs to sit there and try his best for twenty mins. Even if he can't focus that long, encourage him to stay at the desk/ table (it's a good 'training' and gradually his tolerance will build up). After 15-20 mins he needs to stop (unless he's enjoying the work), but if he's done, he's done, and he or you need to let the teachers know he's tried his best.
  7. if he's dyslexic, then that 20 minuets is using up much more 'brain power' than a 'naturally academic' child, so his 20 mins focusing would be the equivalent of at least an hour for an academic child.
  8. he's more likely to be a visual learner ie learning by doing, than learning by reading or learning by auditory processing, again this is where traditional schooling doesn't work for this group of children but I won't rant here about our schooling system. But encourage him to try and visualise what he he's learning about (easier for humanities subjects, harder for sciences when learning the theory, although hopefully carrying out experiments will boost his understanding, again I sometimes think it's better to do the experiment first and then learn the theory after, because the 'frame of reference' has gone before)
  9. practice, practice, practice build this in to everyday, so it becomes second nature.
  10. reward! No Xbox or whatever he enjoys until after he's done 15-20 mins reading or 15-20 mins homework, and then he'll enjoy his gaming (or whatever he's into) much more because he won't have anything hanging over him! As he goes up through the school add an extra five mins so if he's in year 9 now in year 10, go up to 25 mins (per evening) year 11 up-to 30 mins etc. at weekends, split it in to chunks so 15 mins on Saturday then 15 mins on Sunday, don't leave it all till Sunday evening! If he's dyslexic then try and keep the 15 mins everyday going over the holidays, it really will pay off in dividends later on.

It sounds simple written down, it isn't. He isn't lazy, he isn't stupid, it's just academic work is so much harder for him, will take more effort and he won't see the results immediately, so his motivation won't be there. you need to be really positive and keep encouraging. Again so so so much harder to do than for me to write, but he will get there Op, because you have his back, and you'll make it work, because you care and love him.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

SEN
Planet3 · 10/12/2022 09:29

My DS has perfect 20/20 vision on a standard eye test, but wears glasses because his eyes don’t focus well. It’s a small prescription, but has made a huge difference to his reading and also his concentration.

Look on this website to find someone who can do a full assessment.

www.babo.co.uk

OldReliable · 10/12/2022 09:39

Sounds like me when i don't wear my glasses.

CactusFlowers · 10/12/2022 09:39

Has anyone checked for an eye muscle weakness?

Pharos · 10/12/2022 09:54

Get him examined by a behavioural optometrist. Ds2’s eyes didn’t properly converge although you couldn’t notice. Did some vision therapy to retrain the eye muscles and is now fine. Only caveat, it isn’t cheap.

Original poster
EyeofNotTiger · 10/12/2022 10:43

Thank you all so much. I occasionally wondered if he’s dyslexic because he has some
symptoms.

OP posts:
Original poster
EyeofNotTiger · 10/12/2022 10:44

lifeinthehills · 10/12/2022 08:20

You could look into whether Irlen glasses would help him. Any chance he has dyslexia? One of my kids says that the letters move on the page when he reads. He didn't tell us this until he was 18, so we had no idea.

We went for the Irlen test and that when he was given an overlay. Tbh he doesn’t use it much so it could help but we don’t know

OP posts:
Original poster
EyeofNotTiger · 10/12/2022 10:45

WishIhadacrystalball · 10/12/2022 08:37

Has he had a visual stress test?

Yes he has. He was given an overlay and some exercises to do but they don’t seem to have helped

OP posts:
Original poster
EyeofNotTiger · 10/12/2022 10:50

pursuedbyablackdog · 10/12/2022 09:23

I'm assuming his had his eyes tested and doesn't need glasses?
You mention a 'screen' do you mean a coloured overlay? Has he tried different colours? Have you tried different overlays? Some are more useful than others.
Do the lines jump about? When he reads out loud does he miss words out/ add words in?
How does he score in school tests?
Has he been screened for dyslexia?

Things you can try:

  1. dyslexic friendly print for fictional books.
  2. book which have high imagery (J K Rowling and Roald Dahl are great authors for dyslexic children as they don't use endlessly descriptive / verbose language but get into the stories quickly).
  3. when doing homework make sure your son reads the question properly, it's so easy to misread the question and then although his answer is 'right' (because he's answered what he thinks he's being asked, he'll get points taken off because he's not answered the actual question).
  4. when doing homework, make sure he has everything he needs in terms of pens, papers, ruler, etc this will help him focus on the task in hand, instead of his brain leaping around and causing more distraction.
  5. have a clear work space, if he doesn't have a desk or a kitchen table he can work at, and if you can afford it, look at a cheap fold away plastic camping table, which can be put up and taken down again for homework.
  6. set a timer, 15-20 mins absolute maximum. Tell him he needs to sit there and try his best for twenty mins. Even if he can't focus that long, encourage him to stay at the desk/ table (it's a good 'training' and gradually his tolerance will build up). After 15-20 mins he needs to stop (unless he's enjoying the work), but if he's done, he's done, and he or you need to let the teachers know he's tried his best.
  7. if he's dyslexic, then that 20 minuets is using up much more 'brain power' than a 'naturally academic' child, so his 20 mins focusing would be the equivalent of at least an hour for an academic child.
  8. he's more likely to be a visual learner ie learning by doing, than learning by reading or learning by auditory processing, again this is where traditional schooling doesn't work for this group of children but I won't rant here about our schooling system. But encourage him to try and visualise what he he's learning about (easier for humanities subjects, harder for sciences when learning the theory, although hopefully carrying out experiments will boost his understanding, again I sometimes think it's better to do the experiment first and then learn the theory after, because the 'frame of reference' has gone before)
  9. practice, practice, practice build this in to everyday, so it becomes second nature.
  10. reward! No Xbox or whatever he enjoys until after he's done 15-20 mins reading or 15-20 mins homework, and then he'll enjoy his gaming (or whatever he's into) much more because he won't have anything hanging over him! As he goes up through the school add an extra five mins so if he's in year 9 now in year 10, go up to 25 mins (per evening) year 11 up-to 30 mins etc. at weekends, split it in to chunks so 15 mins on Saturday then 15 mins on Sunday, don't leave it all till Sunday evening! If he's dyslexic then try and keep the 15 mins everyday going over the holidays, it really will pay off in dividends later on.

It sounds simple written down, it isn't. He isn't lazy, he isn't stupid, it's just academic work is so much harder for him, will take more effort and he won't see the results immediately, so his motivation won't be there. you need to be really positive and keep encouraging. Again so so so much harder to do than for me to write, but he will get there Op, because you have his back, and you'll make it work, because you care and love him.

Quite a lot for me to think about. Thank you so much.

He has moments of brilliance. He’s shining in computer science and his knowledge on animals is extensive because he loves them And we’ve always bought him big books with large print and pictures so he takes in that info brilliantly .

His science teacher told us at information evening that his knowledge is definitely not what comes across in tests. He misses words in questions and answers his own iyswim

OP posts:
Original poster
EyeofNotTiger · 10/12/2022 10:50

Pharos · 10/12/2022 09:54

Get him examined by a behavioural optometrist. Ds2’s eyes didn’t properly converge although you couldn’t notice. Did some vision therapy to retrain the eye muscles and is now fine. Only caveat, it isn’t cheap.

Thank you. I will I save his DLA for stuff like this so it should be fine.

OP posts:
ditismooi · 10/12/2022 10:54

Do some research / digging into behavioural optometry . We looked into it. Our experience it was expensive snake oil dressed up as medical facts and there’s no peer reviewed proper research. The practitioners seems to believe and embrace it whilst taking the money from vulnerable people who want to help their children . We were also sold cheap glasses which were acceptable / correction prescription with some slick marketing . It was an expensive mistake and I was cross I’d been probably conned.

Original poster
EyeofNotTiger · 10/12/2022 17:08

ditismooi · 10/12/2022 10:54

Do some research / digging into behavioural optometry . We looked into it. Our experience it was expensive snake oil dressed up as medical facts and there’s no peer reviewed proper research. The practitioners seems to believe and embrace it whilst taking the money from vulnerable people who want to help their children . We were also sold cheap glasses which were acceptable / correction prescription with some slick marketing . It was an expensive mistake and I was cross I’d been probably conned.

😕😥

OP posts:
CactusFlowers · 10/12/2022 19:29

Pharos · 10/12/2022 09:54

Get him examined by a behavioural optometrist. Ds2’s eyes didn’t properly converge although you couldn’t notice. Did some vision therapy to retrain the eye muscles and is now fine. Only caveat, it isn’t cheap.

If it is an eye muscle issue it can be diagnosed and treated by the nhs at no cost.

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