Sight specialists?

[WellTidy]

Has anyone taken a young child (mine is 3.1yo) to a sight specialist please?

My DS2's private SaLT (who has disgnosed developmental verbal dyspraxia plus social communication disorder) has noticed that he reaches out for things many times and seemingly misses them by a few inches. She wondered whether he has a combined visual-spatial difficulty and suggested that it might be worth taking him to a sight specialist to test if there's a dominance in his field of vision.

My experience of sight specialists are limited to high street opticians. This would not be suitable for DS2, as he has no spoken language and limited uunderstanding. We believe that he has ASD, but are awaiting formal assessment and diagnosis. In the meantime, we're trying to do all we can to help.

Any steers greatly appreciated.

Occupational therapists did a visual processing assessment on Dd3! I ant remember what it was called but they did it because she failed there general test during her motor skills assessment. I will look later

Thanks Ineed. I hadn't thought of the OT link, but it makes sense. The progress on referral to an OT is something I will again be asking about anyway at DS' paed appointment next week. I will mention a visual processing check too.

My ds (5) and my dd2 (8) are both under an opthamologist at the hospital.

Ds sees one due to a droop in one eye, and delayed maturation of his vision. They basically test his eyes every 3-6 months, but use techniques which are suitable for the fact that he has no speech, and delayed understanding, he has been going since he was 2.

Dd2 is dyslexic and sees a specialist orthoptist, who does tests involving overlays and the fact that she has lots of visual disturbances when she tries to read.

I think maybe you need to ask your gp or paed for a referral to the opthamology department, where they can carry out a range of tests.

hazey thanks so much. your DS sounds very similar to mine. I will ask when we see the paed next week. I have a long list of things to bring up!!