When is it OK to “wait and see” if the problem goes away on it’s own?
What if your 6 year old child has been diagnosed with a binocular vision problem that appears to be interfering with her learning to read? You are seeing behaviors that look like she can’t concentrate on books. Her teacher is spotting some signs of trouble but can’t be sure that it is “her eyes”. You take her to an eye doctor who makes the diagnosis of a binocular vision problem called convergence insufficiency but dismisses treatment “for now” and opts for monitoring the problem. But, is it really ok to just wait and see?
As strange as it may sound, an outdated approach often recommended by many eye doctors when faced with a young patient (often 4-7 years old) diagnosed with certain forms of eye coordination problems, such as convergence insufficiency, is to simply monitor the condition and see if it goes away it’s own. In other words, no treatment is recommended.
In response to this and other vision problems in children, the University of Oregon Brain Development Lab has just produced this video on vision and the developing brain. See what the neuroscientists and the research is showing about the importance of early intervention.
Then check out the story of a mom (below) who wouldn’t accept “NO” for an answer when told that her 6 year old daughter (with convergence insufficiency) was too young to be treated.
Find out how a persistent mom dealt with this problem with her own 6 year old daughter. Read the heartwarming and inspirational story from Paige Melendres in Albuquerque, who was not comfortable with the “wait and see” recommendation by her first doctor. Her story can be found by clicking on CI:The Private Eye Goes Public -Part 1 and scroll down to comment #8. Her story has a happy ending and good advice for parents who may have a child who is struggling.
CI: The Private Eye Goes Public is a VisionHelp Blog investigational series written by Dr. Leonard Press and Dr. Dan Fortenbacher dedicated to uncovering the important public health and patient care issues surrounding convergence insufficiency.
Dan L. Fortenbacher, O.D., FCOVD
Mindsight 
My son is 5 months and the doctors are refusing eye muscle exercises. Can some one give me tips on what to do. I do not want surgery because in Fiji surgeries are scary. Please assist.
Parents are the EXPERTS on their child(ren). If a parent thinks there might be ‘something wrong’, there probably is. We asked our daughter’s pediatricians, an optometrist AND an opthalmologist about the fact that our daughter’s one eye seemed to ‘get stuck’. That was our unknowing parental diagnosis of her convergence insufficiency! Had any of these caregivers (who genuinely did CARE about our daughter’s wellbeing) been educated, or had WE been educated about visual processing disorders, she would have been treated at an early age, as opposed to age 9.5 when we FINALLY stumbled upon an online wikipedia link re: visual processing disorders.
Ideally, schools and MDs will include either screening and/or signs & symptoms checklists in their routine wellness checks. It doesn’t add a great amount of time, and certainly, no great effort. Unfortunately, until schools are mandated to do so, this probably won’t happen all that often. There’s a growing movement among medical home practices to incorporate comprehensive, coordinated care – but that, too, is a slow process.
Until the ‘ideal’ occurs, those of us at the grassroots level need to continue our education and advocacy efforts. Thanks to all of the wonderful COVD professionals who not only treat our children, but come alongside of us in the community to offer screenings and education. The world is a better place for many kids and their families because of your dedication to your profession.
Thank you Esther for your thoughtful comment and for being a proactive parent for kid’s vision issues. We can only hope that more parents learn the same insights that you have articulated so well in order that more children will find the help they need and not suffer from the effects of treatable binocular vision problems, like convergence insufficiency.