I wondered if anyone had any experience with this subject. I was reading a post on another message board and it made me wonder if it's something I should check out with Jakob. She mentioned her daughter does a lot of visual stimming and looking at things with peripheral vision, so she took her to eye doctor and found out she had double vision. I would ask on the other board, but it's really impersonable over there and I'm not even sure how you post to it anyway. Anyone know anything about it?
I have not heard about the double vision. My son does have visual problems and wears glasses now. He did alot of visual stimming. I have been trying to find a place around here that does something like the IRLENE LENS system. But I'm not sure that has to do with double vision or not. Try and find IRLENE LENS somewhere on line and see if it mentions that.
If your child does do a lot of visual stimming- it's defininately worth getting a good eye exam from a a pediatric ophthalmologist . Our son does not have any vision problems - that is he can see normally but he does need a lot of visual input and he does look out of the corner of his eyes. W're about to start vision therpay. Vision therapy is usually done by an optometrist. We've seen our's once. The first visit was mainly evaluation but he gave us a few suggestions. The next visit is in a few weeks and it's several hours of parent training. Sometime they give children prism lenses so their peripheral vision is blurry - forcing then to look straight forward.
Autism is a neurobiological disorder that is described as a behavioral syndrome. Individuals with autism have difficulty with processing and responding to information from their senses, and with communication and social interaction. Vision problems are very common in individuals with autism. Symptoms of autism may include visual components such as lack of eye contact, starring at light or spinning objects, fleeting peripheral glances, side viewing and difficulty attending visually. Other symptoms of autism include lack of reciprocal social interaction, delays in development and a hypo or hyper-response to sensory information. Symptoms appear over time as the child shows a pattern of developmental problems.
Some persons with autism use visual information inefficiently. They have problems coordinating their central and peripheral vision. When asked to follow an object with their eyes, they usually do not look at it directly. They scan or look off to the side at the object. These individuals may have difficulty maintaining visual attention. Eye movement disorders and strabismus are also common.
Many person with autism are tactually or visually defensive. Tactually defensive persons are over stimulated by input through touch. They are always moving and wiggling. They avoid contact with texture. Visually defensive persons avoid contact with specific visual input and may have hypersensitive vision. They have difficulty with visually "holding still" and frequently rely on a constant scanning of visual information in an attempt to gain meaning.
As a result of poor integration of central and peripheral visual input, individuals with autism may have difficulty processing information. Once central focus is gained, they ignore peripheral vision and remain fixated on a task for excessive periods. Since the visual system relates to motor, cognitive, speech, and perceptual abilities, these areas may also be affected when the visual processing is interrupted.
The vision evaluation of persons with autism varies depending on their developmental, emotional and physical level. After a through patient history, a comprehensive vision examination is attempted. The examination includes but is not limited to, an evaluation of: visual acuity, eye tracking and fixations, depth perception, color vision, eye teaming and focusing, the presence of nearsightedness, farsightedness and/or astigmatism, eye health and visual fields.
Testing is often performed using lenses and/or yoked prisms while the patient does specific activities such as walking, ball catching and throwing. Observation of postural adaptations and compensations while the patient is sitting, walking and standing with and without the lenses and prisms are often conducted.
Depending on the results of testing, lenses to compensate for nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, with or without yoked prism may be prescribed. A progress examination may be scheduled in three to five weeks to evaluate subjective changes and to repeat portions of the vision examination as needed. A consultation may also be scheduled to discuss the benefits of vision therapy. Vision therapy activities are used to stimulate general visual arousal, eye movement and the central visual system. The goals of the treatment program using lenses, prisms and vision therapy are to help the individual organize visual space and gain peripheral stability so that he or she can better attend to and appreciate central vision. In addition, treatment is directed at gaining efficient eye teaming and visual information processing.
Treatment programs are coordinated with the patients primary care physician and others who may be participating in the multidisciplinary management of the patient.
hmmm..very interesting. Thank you so much for the info. This definitely sounds like a therapy that Jakob could benefit from. Now if we EVER get back to the U.S. so I can start these therapies!!!! Thanks again for the info!Hey Stephanie! Good to see ya!
heres another link to look at about
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Prism lenses reduce autistic symptoms, Improve performance http://www.autisticvision.com/id27.htm |