Not sure where to turn
Deep background: I have 2 nieces who have sensory issues. One was never treated. The other had profound issues, including auditory processing struggles, and was treated for a while. Belle had serious sensory issues, and was treated with a full battery of things for about 2 years (OT, nutritional therapy, music therapy, listening therapy, cranio-sacral therapy). We started her when she was 4. You'd never know now that she had struggles.
Kitty has some sensory issues including visual ground and some other issues. It took us quite a while to figure out how much she was affected - more than we were able to easily see because of her ability to compensate, and because she presented so differently than Belle. We started her in OT in February and the results are good. It's good to hear her articulate how it's helping her. However, because of her age, we've been told not to expect as many of her issues to resolve; we waited too long for some of them.
On to Princess: She's a strong leftie. Born left hand presenting, and will go out of her way to use her left hand. When she was little and began copying drawings, she copied things as if she saw them in the mirror and upside down.
She's been taking piano lessons for 2 1/2 years and enjoys it. However, increasingly in the last several months she is struggling to read the music. She can't recognize the notes, even the same not from measure to measure. She can't tell me why. (I ask her if the notes move, etc. and she can't answer.) She is struggling learning to read. (Boyo reads much better than she does.) She puts her face right down on the page and tells me the letters are tiny. She confuses "i" with "a".
So, I took her to the developmental optomitrist. They did a vision check. I sat in there. They asked her to identify letters, and she would do things like identify "O" as "S". She seemed to struggle quite a bit during the exam, and was exhausted after.
They told me they don't "think" she needs a prescription. What! Either she does or she doesn't. Further, they recommended her for a visual evaluation to see if she needs vision therapy. The eval is $545, and if she needs therapy it will be weekly for 6-9 months. Insurance doesn't cover it. (Nor does it cover Kitty's OT.) But they can't guarantee that she needs VT, only after we give them the (to us) large sum for the test.
I could get her an OT eval and see if these issues are sensory related, which I suspect they might be. She has some other behaviors that raise flags for this. If they are, at least I could only be driving to one therapy once a week. But again, the eval is expensive and if that's not the answer, that's a lot of money.
I could check her for Irlen syndrome. My sister was in college when she discovered she had it and it made a huge improvement in her abilities to be treated for it. However, there is no one in our area who does this. Loong drive.
Or perhaps it's neurodevelopmental delay. Some of her struggles fall in this category, and our friends who have gone there have seen a profound difference. The eval is again expensive, and the drive is long, but it's monthly instead of weekly.
Some friends are recommending Brain Integration Therapy, which is being successful for their children. Again, she could easily fall in this category. Trouble is, so did Kitty, and she was treated for this to no avail.
And of course, we live three minutes from Diane Craft, who was one of the components in Belle's treatment so many years ago. But she takes forever to get in to.
We're blessed with many avenues, but don't know which to choose. And no one "can" give us any answers or suggestions until we cough up the $500+ for their evaluation.
Any gut reaction from you as you read this?
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