Logan's Eye Exam

Even before Logan split his eyebrow open, we'd had him scheduled for a basic eye exam at the optometry clinic at James' school.  So we went ahead and did that today. 

The back story of why we wanted Logan's eyes examined is this.  Logan's been a good reader, but he didn't seem to be continuing to improve much, despite lots of practice.  He loses his place often, he is easily distracted and doesn't stay on task.  He is only seven, after all.  I thought that was pretty normal for his age.  But he is also leaving out words and/or adding words into the sentences he's reading.  He also changes words, such as reading "watched" when the real word is "watching."  

I thought these were all happening because he wasn't trying hard enough or concentrating or paying attention.  I would sit next to him while he read and it seemed I was constantly correcting him and telling him to use his finger to follow the words, so he wouldn't lose his place.  

Maybe I'm not supposed to compare Logan and Taylor, but I can't help it.  Taylor seems to be able to read much more smoothly and fluidly than Logan, and she's 2 years younger than him.  They both started reading at about the same age, so Logan's had 2 more years of reading than Taylor.  

Then James was learning about Vision Therapy in school, training your eyes to work better, I guess.  Anyway, he recognized many of the symptoms in Logan's reading and behavior.  So, in order to determine if Logan needs Vision Therapy, he needed a basic eye exam to get a baseline.  

Aren't you glad I gave you that huge, long story? 

James set up the appointment for a time when he could be there too.  I'm so glad he did, seeing how he knows what's going on so much better than myself when it comes to eye exams.  

Doesn't he looked thrilled?  It's probably because I was constantly telling him to sit down, be still and pay attention.  Sometimes I feel like a broken record. 

Here he is behind the phoropter.  It's the machine that helps determine if he needs glasses and what his prescription will be if he does.  He had to look through those little lenses and try to read letters on a screen in front of him.

Turns out Logan has a slight astigmatism, but they kind of cancel each other out.  He can see 20/20, which means he sees perfectly well without needing any glasses.
 

This is the Slit Lamp.  I think she's looking at the health of his eye, at his retina, cornea and such.  Everything there is good and healthy.

That was the easy part, for me anyway.  Then they started talking about Vision Therapy.  They had Logan do a few "tests."  He had to read a story that was a couple of paragraphs long.  They warned him that they were going to ask him some questions afterward.  

While he read, they had him wear some goggles with electronics in it, so that they could track his eye movements while he read.  He answered all the questions correctly, so his comprehension is excellent. 

What the test showed about his eye movement is, that it's all over the place, really.  Normally when we read, we read left to right and then at the end of a line we quickly run our eyes back to the left to start the process all over again, on the next line down.  

Logan will read left to right and then drop straight down, staying at the right end of the line.  Then makes his way backward down the line to where can continue to read.  Basically his eyes are skipping forward and backward a lot, which is why he doesn't read very fluidly.  

From this test they told me that he was reading at a 1st grade level!  What?!?  Are you serious???  He's in the 2nd grade and I always thought he was a better than average reader.  In my mind, I started making all kinds of excuses.  Well, his eyes are dilated, he's already been here nearly an hour, he just wasn't staying focused, etc.  I couldn't believe it.  

Then they started talking about dyslexia.  Possibly Logan could have that.  Now I'm really freaking out.  We come in for a simple eye exam and we go home with dyslexia!  I know NOTHING about dyslexia.  My son has a learning disability?!?  Is this going to be a life long battle and struggle for him?  

So they decide to do a couple more "tests."  First they have him write the alphabet in all upper case letters, then all lower case letters, and the numbers 1 - 10.  He does that perfectly.  They later told me that it's normal for 7 year-olds to still get some letters reversed when writing them.  

Then James left for a meeting he had to go to.  There went my mental and emotional support.  

Second, they had him read a list of words.  At first they were easy, but they got progressively harder.  Then they asked him to write several words, words he didn't know how to spell.  

I had to leave the room, he kept looking to me for help.  I was already worried and starting to get emotional, anyway.  He did so well with his spelling tests in 1st grade.  Now I'm homeschooling him and he can hardly write any of these words correctly.  It's all my fault.  I haven't been focusing on spelling or making spelling lists for him.  In fact, I know I'm not even making him write as much as he should be.  

I'm already worried about him regressing academically this year because I don't have the kids on a rigorous school schedule.  I don't need these people to quantify how lousy I'm doing at homeschooling.   I figured Logan would pick up a lot of spelling and grammar as he read more.  I felt that he needed to practice reading more than spelling.   


The more I read about and research homeschooling the more I'm thinking that fun and play and imagination and a relaxed atmosphere are more important than having x amount of hours in a day of "school" and having x amount of subjects that we're studying.  Now I feel like I'm getting a huge slap in the face, that I'm doing everything wrong.

Well, the results of the tests are that Logan is NOT dyslexic because any 2nd grader who is reading 6th grade level vocabulary words, can't be dyslexic!  It turns out the test requires them to have the child continue reading lists of words until they can only correctly read, at most 5 of the 10 words on the page.  In order for Logan to do this they went all the way to the 6th grade level page.  

Oh my goodness!  I almost started crying from relief.  Logan's fine!  He's gonna be just fine!  

We're going to put a couple of "games" on his computer that will help train his eyes to scan a page more efficiently.  That should improve his reading and ability to stay focused.  

Okay, I've had enough with the emotional roller coaster, with this child, the last few days.  I'll be happy to go back to our usual, boring, blah days around here.