In addition to Trevor's 2 therapy sessions, which went well, Tim finished his testing, and William had all of his evaluation. I got to observe again, which I love. I even got permission to take a couple of pictures. Here's one:
I wish I had the energy and mental capacity to write everything that I saw, like I did with Trevor. I'll try to give a synopsis...(but will probably wind up writing much more than I expect. I tend to do that...)
William is a smart, but challenged boy. We brought him in because we heard that vision problems can cause sleep problems. And boy, does this kid have sleep problems! I had also noticed William having trouble sounding out words, even simple ones, and skipping lines when he reads...which are questions on many of Snider Therapy Center's checklists.
Well, William does have vision problems. Although his eyesight is about 20/20, he has visual field problems, and focusing problems. Remember the gray plotting sheet I wrote about here? And remember how Trevor's peripheral vision was restricted? Well, William has some of that, but it wasn't even plottable, because he also has some collapsed central vision. That means that right in the center of his eyesight, his brain sometimes disregards what he is seeing. He could only see the "red dot" (the focus point) off and on. He said he could see it, and then he couldn't! A black hole would just appear, and disappear! So, he was having trouble keeping his eyes centered in order to test what his peripheral vision was. Good grief!
And, honestly, I thought that sounded a bit weird...like maybe William was just being a pill, and was making things sound worse than they really were. (I know, what a good mom, huh?) But get this: Tim did that same test this afternoon, and he has the same problem! He said it was so weird! When he was looking at the central red dot, it would just sometimes disappear! Black out! He says he never blacks out something in real life...like, he doesn't notice things appear and disappear, but maybe something about that test could find that problem.
So, collapsed visual fields first...
Then remember how Trevor had such sensitive hearing? Well, would you believe it...William is totally the opposite. Isn't that just like brothers?
With Trevor, Mr. Snider would start at a medium level of volume, and Trevor would raise his hand. Then Mr. Snider would go 10 dBs softer, and Trevor would raise his hand. And on, and on...sometimes right down to the quietest sound he had. But now William...Mr. Snider would start at the medium sound, and nothing. No response. A little louder...no response. And on, and on. One time even I could hear the tone, through William's head phones!! Mr. Snider would say, "Now, listen...can you hear that?" And sometimes William would raise his hand, and sometimes he would just shake his head. Mr. Snider really felt like it wasn't a deafness issue...it was a perception issue. William's brain is disregarding the sound. I asked William about it, and he said he raised his hand every time he heard a sound. Incredible.
And then there is Tim, who we thought was so sensitive of hearing...and much to our dissapointment he fell in the normal range of hearing. What? So, when we aren't expecting a problem, there is one, and when we are expecting one, there isn't. That's just classic.
So, on Thursday I will get the "formal" feedback on these tests, and will hear what they recommend for my crazy family.
Pray for Trevor...he has a "dry, sore throat". I'm praying he doesn't come down with something. For all the running around we have been doing, who knows what he could have picked up?
Lastly, here's 2 more pictures. We went back to McWane's today...you know, trying to get as much out of our membership as possible. :)
At the shark tank...again...
I can't believe we only have 4 more days!!!
No comments :
Post a Comment