Brayden's Big Update: A Visit to the Neuro-Optometrist
Now that we have had some time to sit and process, we have another big Brayden update. On December 21st, we visited Dr. Theis, a neuro-optometrist. All of Brayden’s life, we’ve been told he has poor depth perception. Otherwise, no one could really tell us about his vision with much certainty, aside from when he had cataracts, which seemed to show up quickly and were removed just as fast. For the most part, we assumed he had fine vision since he doesn’t have difficulty with x, y or z. The list we came up with was lengthy. There was no need to be concerned, right?!
During his recent round of intensive OT, PT and speech, everyone kept talking about Dr. Theis. His therapists repeatedly voiced concerns about his difficulty navigating various surfaces, possible visual field loss, a strong preference for toys that light up and other inconsistencies with vision day to day. Knowing he had cataracts at such an early age and starting to recognize some of the things his therapists were pointing out, we decided to book the appointment. Unfortunately, Dr. Theis doesn’t take insurance so it was a decision we contemplated.
Y’all!! Holy cow. 10/10 recommend going to this type of doctor if you ever have a chance, even just to observe. Is that a thing? Maybe not. Anyways, it was the most fascinating work and we learned so much and now Brayden has glasses!! Phew. Okay, I got excited. Let me back up. For starters, Dr. Theis had so many tools and tests to run that could assess someone who doesn’t read or write and is non-verbal, like Brayden! That alone was mind blowing but the diagnoses we left with were equally or more exciting.
In layman’s terms, Brayden has contrast sensitivity loss and is far sighted. The exciting part is two-fold. One, both of those things can be corrected with glasses. Two, some of the things that have been challenging for Brayden may become a bit easier! Has number, letter and shape recognition all been extra difficult because everything looks alike or blurry?! We know this won’t magically eliminate all of Brayden’s challenges but we feel hopeful that certain things could be easier. To whatever degree that is, we are hopeful. We have a lot of work ahead of us to get him sensorily adjusted to glasses but we are thrilled for the possibilities that exist. For now, here’s our boy styling and profiling!
How exciting! Looking good there Brayden!!!