Nystagmus, Developmental Eye Movement Test

[bkidd]

My son is going into the fifth grade. He has an IEP (Individual Education Plan). Below is some information about my son.

He recently saw a local eye doctor and they performed the Developmental Eye Movement Test. This is a tracking test and he scored in th 1st percentile. He has two eyes but they don't operate well together. Probably functions more like a person with one eye than two.

Has Nystagmus (rocking eyes).
Vision is quite good. With current farsighted glasses it is 20/25 to 20/30.
Strong eye does all the work (basically monocular vision). When he covers his strong eye and tries to track a ball that I'm holding, he says my hand looks grey, fuzzy, and hairy (and, no I don't have hairy hands!).
No depth perception or minimum depth perception.
Scored 1st percentile in vertical and horizontal tracking on Developmental Eye Movement Test.

Current accommodations on IEP are:
Extended time to complete assignments; reduced stimuli on one page; hard copies of notes on board; preferential seating; avoid sharing books and materials

We currently do vision therapy twice a week to try and get his eyes to work better together and improve tracking. If any visitors have experience with vision therapy please provide feedback on experience, results, and how vision improved (or didn't improve).

Any feedback on additional accommodations or comments about problems son might experience given his vision problem is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Becky Kidd
Moderator http://www.madisoniep.com
Email: bkidd@madisoniep.com

[John Sanders]

Hi Becky,

Some people make very ambitious claims for certain vision therapies. However, in the UK, the Nystagmus Network's medical advisers do not currently recommend anything beyond plenty of visual stimulation for young children. Certainly, I know of no scientific studies of vision therapies showing any benefits for people with nystgamus.

By scientific studies, I mean rigorous, evidence based research using control subjects and placebos. If anyone knows any different, then please let me know.

John