Really Don't Know what to do -

[chocaholic73]

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible, my DD (aged 12) has dyspraxia, tourettes and is borderline AS. Shortly before the end of last term, she started complaining of vision problems.Optometrist detected part of visual field seemed to be lacking. In addition DD is complaining of blurring. Nothing the optometrist did could improve her vision. She has been really struggling at school - they have been helpful but it difficult to get the right help when they and we don't really know what the problem is and how best to help. She is currently not able to read, cant use computer, manages maybe 30 mins max of TV by sitting a couple of inches away from it and afterwards her eyes hurt. She seems to be able to see outlines but not any detail of anything. She has managed one day a week at school for the last two as it has completely taken it out of her, trying to concentrate and not really being able to see what is going on. She had a CT scan on Friday which is clear (our biggest worry). The paediatrican is now waiting for blood tests to come back before deciding where we should go next, but all this takes so much time, she is bored ..all she can really do is listen to music and audio books. I am finally coming to the question here ..should I send DD to school tomorrow (assuming it's open) and then talk to them about things (they already know) or should I talk to them first, saying I want her to be at school but I dont know if she can cope... for example, first lesson is ict ..if she manages to see anything on the screen, it will wipe her out for the rest of the day. I'm not sure she is able to access the curriculum at all which she obviously has a right to and actually wants to, but I feel stuck until we have reasons why she is suffering like this. Any suggestions, help please ..I'm desperate.

I don't have much knowledge or experience of your situation, but did not want your post to remain unanswered.
I think you should send her to school if that is what she wants and talk to the school about it. Perhaps they could provide a place for her to go and have a rest if she needs it? Ask the school for suggestions on what to do - hopefully someone there will be sympathetic and helpful.
I'll be thinking of you and your family - I really hope it all turns out OK and the drs find something that can help quickly.

what did you decide to do? how did it go?

have you read any information about binocular instability? may not be your dd's problem, but it does seem to be linked to things like dyspraxia, dyslexia and autism. i was speaking to a teacher today whose daughter recently had the irlen lenses made into glasses and she finds that they have really helped with her visual problems.

prof bruce evans is one of the top Optometrist - his specialities are binocular vision (orthoptics), specific learning difficulties (dyslexia), and children?s vision. He has a private practice [brentwood] and is a director of the institute of optometry[london].
If he or the institute can't help you they may be able to point you in the right direction

I was going to suggest what RaggedRobin has posted - one of the boys in my class has just been diagnosed with this. He had no idea that most other people can see other than immediately in front of them. He is going for light therapy to help him.

sorry not to have been back before, thanks for all your replies. I kept DD home on Wednesday morning and phoned her form teacher. We agreed she would go in for selected afternoon lessons and we arranged a meeting with the SENCO for this morning (of course school was closed when it came to it, so no doubt it will take place sometime next week. In the meantime, until then, when we can discuss what she should be doing during practical lessons and what additional support she needs, they are OK with us deciding what lessons she should go in for. The light therapy thing is very interesting and I think I have come across it before. I dont think it is appropriate for DD at the oment though (I obviously didnt explain myself very clearly). Although she has had tracking problems (probably related to dyspraxia) before and we do exercises, this is a whole new issue that has appeared in the space of weeks affecting her visual fields, plus detail, she says she can only see shapes and no detail at all. We are now hoping for an urgent appointment with an opthamologist which will tell us exactly what is happening.

Hello Chocaholic73

The ateiology of the visual field defecit needs to be established, assuming it is a new finding it is likely to be the reason for the functional problems. I would suggest you should see an ophthalmologist.

If you require any further info email me back at [email protected] or message back here

Regards
DAVID

for me

Thanks David, yes that is what we are trying to get arranged but these things take so much time and we are finding it terribly frustrating. CT scan has shown up OK which is one good thing.

missed some spots in both eyes on visual field test at optician today. Eyes looked healthy, prescription has changed slightly in one eye.
now worrying!!!
I did my test without my glasses on and am very short sighted. I could see the lights but blurry. maybe this affected the results ?