My husband laughed when I mentioned taking our three-year-old for a vision test. I had noticed that her sisters were outperforming her when it came to her letter learning and shape recognition, which for a 3-year old shouldn’t be too concerning because everyone learns at a different pace. I finally did get concerned when she told me that she was having trouble seeing the picture on an audiobook box and then covered one eye and squinted. I figured that her squinting and eye covering was probably nothing, but I still scheduled a visit to a children’s eye doctor to be safe. We would also be able to rule out if an eyesight problem affecting her learning. A vision problem might be easier to address when she is younger than trying to fix something she has struggled with for a while. I found a vision doctor that specialized in children’s vision.
Throughout the tests with the assistant, my daughter seemed to do well. Maybe, her vision was okay after all, but later, when the doctor came in, he checked her and found out she had a convergence insufficiency problem and was slightly farsighted. He said that the farsightedness was normal for her age, but I needed to address the convergence insufficiency problem. He told me to make a “Brock String” and do some “Pencil Push-Ups.” I went to the craft store for supplies and followed the directions from the links below.
It’s sometimes difficult to get a three-year-old to understand what you want them to do immediately unless you make it fun. I found a pen with a big happy dog head on it for the “Pencil Push-Ups.” It was hard to make her stare at the beads for the “Brock String,” so I made one of her favorite action figures slide up and down the string to different points. Suppose you are interested in learning more about Convergence Insufficiency or making a “Brock String” or do “Pencil Push-Ups.” In that case, I put links to several references from other sites that I found helpful.
If you have some helpful tips, please leave them in the comment box. Hopefully, these exercises will help improve my daughter’s vision. Even though a trip to the Eye Doctor was a little expensive, since I don’t have vision insurance, I’m thrilled that we went because this is not something they typically screen for in schools. If your child shows signs of slow learning or complaining about not seeing clearly, I hope you will take them to get checked even if you leave with your wallet slightly lighter.
UPDATE:
We spent a few weeks practicing with the Brock String, and after a visit to the eye doctor, he concluded that the exercises worked, and it corrected my daughter’s vision!
(The links below will take you to other sites that give more information.)
What is a Convergence Insufficiency?
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so you are responsible for making informed decisions about your child’s healthcare and follow the advice of people trained in medicine. This treatment helped my daughter but may not work for yours; I’m sorry to say.
Bettye Messing
With thanks! Valuable information!