I am starting this blog in hopes to make more people aware of Convergence Insufficiency. What is Convergence Insufficiency you ask? Convergence insufficiency is a disorder that interferes with a person's ability to see, read, and learn. Many children, with this disorder are misdiagnosed as having ADD, ADHD, or Dyslexia. Some of these children will end up in special education classes, labeled "learning disabled", and severely struggle with self-esteem. My son, Luke is one of these. First, before I get into "Luke's story", I want to recommend to anyone who has a child, who is struggling with reading or math, to find a Optometrist who specializes in testing for this condition, and have your child tested. A google search for your area, should help locate someone. VLCA in Columbia, MD is where my son goes to for visual therapy. Dr. Kotlichy did Luke's exam and was able to confirm his diagnosis the day of his exam. Our medical insurance covered the exam and his therapy. It is billed out under medical insurance, not vision insurance.
Luke's story~ It all started when Luke was in first grade. His teacher suggested that I have Luke tested for ADHD. He couldn't sit still and was struggling with reading. I took him to our family physician first. I was given "Connors test" forms to have filled out by myself, his Dad, and his teacher. He had all the classic symptoms of ADHD. His physician felt that he didn't know enough about ADHD and suggested we find a specialist. I wasn't sure where to even start looking... so I broke out the phone book and searched through the yellow pages. I found a psychiatrist through Catholic Charities who worked with children with ADHD. I took Luke to see him monthly for about 6 months. He would talk to him and myself for a short time and then write a prescription for some type of ADHD medication. Eventually, after trying several medications, we found one the seemed to help alleviate some of the symptoms of the ADHD. Luke continued to struggle with school though. I kept searching for help for him. He was placed into an IEP (Individualized Educational Program) in second grade and continues with an IEP to this day. Over the years, I have taken Luke to several psychologist who advertised that they treated children with ADHD. Since psychologists can't write prescriptions, his family physician wrote them. He had all kinds of testing done; psychological tests, educational tests, IQ tests, memory tests, ... the list goes on and on. He never got anything out of "therapy". He wouldn't open up to the therapists because he didn't know what to say. He was a happy kid. He was never a behavioral problem is school. No-one had any answers, no-one could put a name on his learning disability, and nothing helped. He had to take extra classes in school to help with reading and organization, instead of the fun classes he wanted to take, such as guitar lessons. Those classes made no improvement to his reading or organizational abilities. His grades continued to be poor. So poor, that this year, when he "finally" decided to play a school sport, he wasn't allowed to participate in any of the games. I think I was just as devastated as he was. I have been trying to get him involved in an extra-curricular activity for years. I thought it would help his self-esteem and help him to make friends. To Luke's credit, he has continued to go to the nightly lacrosse practices and dress up for school on game days. If his grades are up by mid-term, he may be able to play in the last game and play-offs. Back to the details... my friend called me one day, a few months ago and told me that her 9 year old daughter was struggling with school also. Her friend suggested having her daughter's eyes tested for a visual disorder that may have been affecting her reading. It turned out that she has Convergence Insufficiency. They began visual therapy four months ago, and she is now on the honor roll in her school! This condition is curable. Dr. Kotlichy feels that with 48 to 64 hour long visual therapy sessions, Luke can be cured. I am so excited and hopeful that we finally have some answers. I am also upset that it has taken so long to find out about this disorder, considering how common it is. Not one of the specialist, that Luke has been treated by, over all these years, ever suggested being tested for this. They either have never heard of it, or don't have any faith in it. I plan on keeping track of Luke's progress on here. He has been to three visual therapy sessions so far. He will be retested after 16 sessions to see what his clinical progress is. Dr. Kotlichy had many cases of children that he has helped over the years, which he shared with us. One boy, close to Luke's age (17), went from being in special education classes, to the gifted and talented classes within the same school year. If this does help Luke, I plan on being the biggest advocate for this, in my area. I think every child, who is struggling with reading and math, be evaluated for this. Special education teachers need to be informed of this and recommend testing for these children. If they can say, "I think your child has ADHD and should be tested", then they can say, "your child is struggling with reading and it would be a good idea to have them tested for Convergence Insufficiency, or another possible visual disorder". I wish someone would have suggested this to me years ago. Better late than never ! Stay tuned for updates and more information on Convergence Insufficiency. FYI ~ there are several videos on youtube about this that are wonderful.
