Joshua had strabismus eye surgery in both eyes at age 22 mos.He also was not speaking well and was referred to the infants and toddlers program through the County.Between 9/2008 and 5/2009 he went to KKI and JH to take part in a study they were doing.Which showed dev. delays as well.Early in 2010 the SLP at KKI recognized he had dysarthria.Not only was his speech impaired but his whole developmental process was delayed.Between the ages of 3-4 he had ear infections which led ear tube surgery.The Dr. stated that Joshua was hearing for 4 years as if you were under water.He has been going to a local SLP for years now.In August 2010 he saw a Neurobehaviorist for dx.The dx was PDD-NOS moderate autistic.We were told that Joshua would live with us for the rest of our lives, probably not be able to hold down a job, and probably not function well in society.In the meantime,he saw the Ophthalmologist on 3-6 mos. intervals.At age 4 he needed glasses.When he watched TV he was 2 inches away from a 57” screen TV.I said to him, sit back and watch TV,can’t you see?We went back to the Ophthalmologist and I would ask “Why is he standing so close to the TV with his glasses?Is he not seeing right?The Dr. just said he’s a boy he will grow out of it!His Kindergarten OT had a private practice and we took him their during the summer.She recommended the Sensory, Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT) which would then give us a greater understanding where Joshua was.Results came back below avg.The OT recommended vision therapy.We had never heard of VT.We decided nothing ventured,nothing gained so we saw Dr. Benshir for a consult.She said that Joshua’s eyes were treatable and that it would probably be ~1 1/2 yrs.Joshua enjoyed playing basketball and T-ball but his running was not great,his balance was off and he would not look me straight in the eye.VT is not a cure for autism but assisted in making Joshua's potential to function so much better in and with life.

Michele Hillman
Westminster, MD