Excersizes for Exophoria...

[Pete Hanlin]

Hi all,

My son, Pierce (6 years old), has intermittent exophoria. It has been obvious since age two, and is most prevalent when he is tired or has been studying. If you have him look at your finger he can fuse on it and hold fusion until the finger is within 10" or so of his face. At that point, the OS turnsout. He is 20/20 OU uncorrected.

One of the doctors here at the office has given me a text entitled Binocular Anomalies- Diagnosis and Vision Therapy to read (which promises to be very helpful), but I was wondering if there might perchance be any vision therapists among us who might recommend a good excersize or two.

Thanks,
Pete

[chip anderson]

Don't know how to reach them, but you probably can through the American Assn. of Ophthalmologist web page. There is an association and accreditation organization for certified orthoptist. Any pediatric ophthalmologist can put you in touch with one. These people know everything about this. Johns Hopkins runs a fine school for the training of same.

Chip "dumb but knows smart people" Anderson

[Darryl Meister]

Hi Pete,

It sounds like he has definite exophoria with intermittent exotropia. Or perhaps convergence insufficiency or something. It's a good thing that he has 20/20 OU in any event. I believe that should improve his likelihood of developing normal binocular fusion and stereopsis (especially by his age). I would certainly have an OD specializing in binocular vision and orthoptics take a look at him to see what optical or non-optical treatments should be considered. Maybe he'll just need to do some "pencil push-ups" or something to build his positive fusional vergence. Good luck to you both.

Best regards,
Darryl

[Judy Canty]

Pete,
Visit www.oep.org, it's the Optometric Extension Program. My friend Joel Zaba, OD has a video and workbook targeted for children's vision problems. Joel is a dear friend and has been involved in Vision Therapy for close to 30 years.

[chip anderson]

Trust me on this one, you need a certified orthoptist working for a pediatric opthalmologist, not an O.D.

[RP]

Trust me on this one, you need someone with whom you and your son are comfortable. Look for someone with a track record. There are good and bad ODs, MDs and orthoptists. In general pediatric ODs or MDs will be able to address the issues your son has.
The COVD will have a list of optometrists who have a specific interest/expertise in visual development.
BTW Chip, it's ophthalmologist.
rp

[Pete Hanlin]

Unbeknownst to me, Dr. H (the doc at our practice who examined Pierce) went to the trouble to consult with the local guru on pediatric vision and vision therapy. He is confirming his thoughts on proper excersizes and additional tests he may need to perform (plus, he notes that we should have some of the equipment on hand anyway).

I'll let you know what they come up with. Last evening, I noticed that Pierce did really great- for about 10 minutes. That's when he started getting "distracted." I checked the eyes and sure enough, the OS had started acting up.

In the meantime, thanks for the good advice. I wonder how many kids out there are on Ritalin when their real problem may simply be vision related? I used to work in an office that was adjacent to a vision therapist (think he wrote a book entitled 20/20 is not Enough)- interesting stuff.
Pete
PS- If playing GameBoy helps, he should have superb vision in a few more weeks (Grandparents bought him one for Christmas... come to think of it, my vision may improve as well ;) ).