Re: eye contact -- my son's explanation

[Guest guest]

Have you seen a vision specialist? Both optometrists and ophthalmologists

can specialize in vision therapy. This might help.

Best,

Lora

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[Guest guest]

> Have you seen a vision specialist? Both optometrists and ophthalmologists

> can specialize in vision therapy.

Opthalmologist can not and do not specialize in vision therapy. It is

official ophthalmologist society dogma that vision therapy does not

work (like it is official pediatrician society dogma that thimerosal

containing vaccines are safe). Luckily many ophthalmologists have more

sense than this, but generally even those who wish to offer the very

small subset of vision therapy called orthoptics hire optometrists to

do it for them.

Only neuroophthalmolgists even test binocular vision, all other

ophthalmologists never let you have both eyes open at the same time for

a test.

If your child needs eye surgery, see an ophthalmologist. If they don't

need eye surgery few ophthalmologists will know how to do anything

besides prescribe glasses which are seldom really the answer for toxic

kids.

>This might help.

>

> Best,

> Lora

[Guest guest]

> My almost 5yo aspie son has never really been able to make eye

> contact, it was apparent even at 2-3 months of age. Recently, he's

> been free of yeast and clostridia for the very first time (thanks,

> I'm convinced, to massive probiotics and the SCD diet) and feeling

> pretty good, so he has actually been making an effort to make eye

> contact when we talk.

>

> When he tries, he says, " Mom, it's really, really hard. I can't focus

> on you. " Well I immediately started asking questions, like was my

> face fuzzy or blurred when he looked at it, etc. He said that wasn't

> it, that what he meant was that when he was looking towards me and

> his eyes would slide off to one side or the other (as they mostly

> always do) so that he'd be looking out the window or over my head, he

> couldn't tell that he wasn't actually looking at me. My take on it is

> that if I'm anywhere in his peripheral vision, that seems to count

> for him as looking at me, and he can't distinguish between that and

> actually looking. He also has problems following where someone is

> looking, where someone is pointing, has trouble turning things

> towards people when he wants to show them something, etc.

>

> Other than chelation, is there any therapy (nutritional or otherwise)

> specifically for the eye contact problem?

Adequate amounts of vitamin A, such as 500 IU per pound of kid per day.

This sounds unlikely to be a vision therapy related issue, but if you

want to check find a vision therapy optometrist (OD after the name, NOT

MD) on www.covd.org, www.oep.org or www.nora.cc and get an exam.

Routine eye exams are recommended for kids every year or two anyway.

Andy . . . . . .. . . . . . .

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

Ask him if it makes it harder to listen (talk, or think) when looking at your

eyes. Many ASD folks have sensory overload and find they can't (or have

difficulty) employing more than one sense at a time due to overload. Ask him to

explain (if he can)while not looking at your eyes, what they do when he looks at

them. Many with ASD get distrated by the reflection of lights in one's eyes, by

the subtle changes in color and dilation, etc. ASD folks with hypersensitive

vision tend to focus more on details rather than the whole. One described

seeing the indiviual strands of hair and the light playing off each and finding

that incredibly distracting.

S

>

My almost 5yo aspie son has never really been able to make eye <BR>

contact, it was apparent even at 2-3 months of age. Recently, he's <BR>

been free of yeast and clostridia for the very first time (thanks, <BR>

I'm convinced, to massive probiotics and the SCD diet) and feeling <BR>

pretty good, so he has actually been making an effort to make eye <BR>

contact when we talk.<BR>

<BR>

When he tries, he says, " Mom, it's really, really hard. I can't focus <BR>

on you. " Well I immediately started asking questions, like was my <BR>

face fuzzy or blurred when he looked at it, etc. He said that wasn't <BR>

it, that what he meant was that when he was looking towards me and <BR>

his eyes would slide off to one side or the other (as they mostly <BR>

always do) so that he'd be looking out the window or over my head, he <BR>

couldn't tell that he wasn't actually looking at me. My take on it is <BR>

that if I'm anywhere in his peripheral vision, that seems to count <BR>

for him as looking at me, and he can't distinguish between that and <BR>

actually looking. He also has problems following where someone is <BR>

looking, where someone is pointing, has trouble turning things <BR>

towards people when he wants to show them something, etc.<BR>

<BR>

Other than chelation, is there any therapy (nutritional or otherwise) <BR>

specifically for the eye contact problem?<BR>

<BR>

<BR>

<BR>

<BR>

</tt>

<br><br>

<tt>

=======================================================<BR>

[Guest guest]

Just some thoughts on this......

Do you know the artistist, Hockney? Besides his famous swimming pool

paintings, he also did photocollages. Dr. Megson explained to us that our son

Pat would not make the eye contact because it was too difficult to know where

to focus because the focus point would change with even the slightest head

moment - looking to the left/right caused color would blur at the perpheral

edges. This allowed for some strategy that my son used to better able to

concentrate on the words spoken to him by focusing on the blurred color. With

Vitamin A

(CLO) and chelation, he looks at us most of the time when he speaks to us and

visaversa.

I would be interested if anyone else is familar with Hockney's work to try to

" paint " an analogy of what is going on with these children? I have also

wondered if the reason that poor penmanship seen in so many of these students

and

ADHD kids is the cause of the eye contact thing too....

[Guest guest]

have you looked into prism lenses and vision therapy? If you are in or near

NY go see Dr Melvin Kaplan. He is wonderful!!!!!

karen

[Guest guest]

My childs poor penmanship waxes and wanes throughout chelation, but I

believe it is more a result of fine motor skills. Her penmanship

deteriated at the age of 12 after MMR & HepB.

Michele

[Guest guest]

> When he tries, he says, " Mom, it's really, really hard. I can't

focus

> on you. "

I tend to look at the mouth, because it is moving. Looking at the

eyes is distracting, because the mouth is moving in the periphery.

My compromise for myself, is to make occasional eye contact but look

primarily at the nose.

> Other than chelation, is there any therapy (nutritional or

otherwise)

> specifically for the eye contact problem?

High dose vitamin A protocol helped my son with this

http://www.danasview.net/vitamina.htm

Dana

[Guest guest]

My father was bugged by the fact that I couldn't make eye contact with people.

Most times it was due to the fact that I hear people better when I'm not looking

at them and found it better to visualize what they were saying. Maybe it was an

idea I got from learning that ancient court trials were often conducted in total

darkness as to not prejudice things by appearances?

Looking back, I suppose perhaps some of it had something to do with that

evil-eyed hypno-snake in Disney's Jungle Book movie! :->

In no way was I ignoring them it was just very distracting, but at the same time

it's considered to be good manners to make eye to eye.

His thoughtful solution was simply for me to train my eyes on the bridge of the

nose.

[ ] Re: eye contact -- my son's explanation

> When he tries, he says, " Mom, it's really, really hard. I can't

focus

> on you. "

I tend to look at the mouth, because it is moving. Looking at the

eyes is distracting, because the mouth is moving in the periphery.

My compromise for myself, is to make occasional eye contact but look

primarily at the nose.

> Other than chelation, is there any therapy (nutritional or

otherwise)

> specifically for the eye contact problem?

High dose vitamin A protocol helped my son with this

http://www.danasview.net/vitamina.htm

Dana

=======================================================

[Guest guest]

My son's eye problems are not as severe but he has a problem with

convergence and tracking due to some SID problems. I think convergence is

the ability to get both eyes to focus on the same point at the same time and

tracking is following a line of words on a page and then to the next line

and so on. He has low muscle tone as well and I was told that the low

muscle tone also means the eye muscles are weak. I have wondered about

vitamin A problems and the measles virus and intend to get the tests done to

see if it is a problem.

My son does exercises to strengthen the eyes as per a doctor trained from

the 'Handle' organisation - they treat kids with SID, OCD and so on. They

have a web site at www.handle.org I think. But a good eye doctor (OD) who

understands problems with convergence and the like would be able to give you

exercises. Ask the doctor if they can test for convergence etc.... as one

that cannot is not going to help you.

Abby