Vision oddities?

[peglem]

Over the last 4-5 months, my daughter has for periods of a week or 2 at a time, been looking at things upside down. Up until now, its been only w/ her portable dvd player and books, but this week I noticed in the stores she's been turning her back to things, dropping her head down to her chest and looking behind herself at the object she is looking at. The effect is that her eyes are upside down to look at the object. I thought when I first saw the upside down viewing of books and the dvd player, that maybe she was just playing with the images...but now, I don't know. It takes considerable effort to twist her upside down head around to see what's behind her. She squints ALOT, even when she's looking upside down. Have any of you seen anything like this with the vision? Could it be related to her sinus polyp? For @ the same period of time- she has been avoiding mirrors. She leaves the mirrored doors on the bathroom med chests open so they face the wall and you can't see the.

 

I know the reasonable thing to do is take her for an eye exam- and I may try that if the problem continues after the polyp is taken care of. Eye exams are very, very difficult for Allie and they have not been able to actually test her vision.

[hugs2day]

mY DS7 is also doing this. He likes to watch movies upside down, or watch them in the reflection of the window instead of directly looking at the tv. He likes to study reflections of himself or objects in mirrors, windows, but not computers. He finds computer screens scary and also blue screens. He tells me he does not like the color blue on television when the whole screen is blue like at the start of a movie.

 

The upside down thing started after an excaberation when he got in two permanent teeth which is now over 2 months of upside down. He also likes to watch covering one eye. I think it is an ocd thing, because he had his eyes checked not too long ago and they were fine. It somehow has to do with anxiety or ocd because he runs to get in an upside down position at suspenseful or exciting parts of movies.

 

Also he started chewing his shirt around the same time this behavior started which I know is fidgety anxiety.

[peglem]

Oh, yeah, Allie also looks at the reflections of things (she uses the shiny side of cd' or dvds)- but I'm realizing just now that this is a way to get the image upside down- especially she does this with the computer screen, since she can't turn the desktop upside down.

[PowPow]

hugs2day- is your 7 yo also diagnosed autistic?

 

I knew an autistic child who did something similar to this.

I think it is really interesting that you both are seeing this. I know we live in a big, big world, but I guess I just thought some symptoms were to bizarre to be reproduced!

And, peglem, you are right- it must hurt her! Poor kids

[MomWithOCDSon]

I do think this could be a sensory/experimentation thing. For months at a stretch, my DS preferred to read upside down . . . legs in the air, head hanging off the chair or the bed. DH and I took to calling him "Mork from Ork" (remember him?). Now he prefers to read while rolling around on his stomach on a yoga ball . . . go figure!

 

I can remember doing a lot of the same stuff when I was a kid: sitting in the recliner with my feet up and my head down (even while watching TV), crossing my eyes or purposefully unfocussing them to see the "colored dots" that floated around in my field of vision, squinting to see the impact on my focus and how things looked that way, etc.

 

Frankly, sometimes I engaged in this stuff because I was flat out bored! Maybe Allie's just "having a go" at her world?

[peglem]

I do think this could be a sensory/experimentation thing. For months at a stretch, my DS preferred to read upside down . . . legs in the air, head hanging off the chair or the bed. DH and I took to calling him "Mork from Ork" (remember him?). Now he prefers to read while rolling around on his stomach on a yoga ball . . . go figure!

Oh, I did stuff like that all the time, too, but I was upside down, not the book. And I kind of thought it was playing around and experimenting- but now it seems so constant and w/ the squinting and covering her eyes with a pillow...I just don't know. School has noticed and will be trying some stuff w/ her-prism glasses?

[momofadult]

I am glad you brought up the topic of vision oddities. I wish I could be of help. I find myself wracking my brain for explanations for some of the symptoms associated with this condition and often don't have an answer. Most of these symptoms occur for a real physiological reason. The brain and it's nervous system is amazing and amazingly complex!

I, too, have observed an unusual eye phenomenon with my son that concerns me. Numerous times throughout the day, his eyes uncontrollably rotate upward for several seconds to such an extreme position that you can not see his iris. One can only see the whites of his eye. It seems painful and he quickly closes his eyelids until it passes in a few seconds. He is conscious during this time. It seems to be some sort of dystonic eye movement problem. He is not able to discuss what he is feeling because his expressive language is limited due to autism. I haven't been able to catch it on video because it happens so fast and unpredictably. Of course, predictably, it didn't happen during his neurology visit! Has anyone seen this particular eye symptom with their child?

[bws]

I am glad you brought up the topic of vision oddities. I wish I could be of help. I find myself wracking my brain for explanations for some of the symptoms associated with this condition and often don't have an answer. Most of these symptoms occur for a real physiological reason. The brain and it's nervous system is amazing and amazingly complex!

I, too, have observed an unusual eye phenomenon with my son that concerns me. Numerous times throughout the day, his eyes uncontrollably rotate upward for several seconds to such an extreme position that you can not see his iris. One can only see the whites of his eye. It seems painful and he quickly closes his eyelids until it passes in a few seconds. He is conscious during this time. It seems to be some sort of dystonic eye movement problem. He is not able to discuss what he is feeling because his expressive language is limited due to autism. I haven't been able to catch it on video because it happens so fast and unpredictably. Of course, predictably, it didn't happen during his neurology visit! Has anyone seen this particular eye symptom with their child?

Yes! My ds did this just prior to getting strep. He does not officially have Pandas, his sister does, but I have seen strange behaviors in him too. He claims that his eyes are dry and this is a way to wet them.

[hugs2day]

Yes, he is technically on the spectrum which makes PANDAS all the more complicated when it comes to him vs. his older brother. Personally I think if he didn't get started in life with chronic infections he would not be autistic, because when we started treating for PANDAS he changed dramatically for the better and we had many moments of seeing a typical kid but when PANDAS hits he demonstrates more dramatic autistic behaviors and PANDAS symptoms. Thankfully he is more stable than not these days. He is so complex... it is truly exhausting.

 

BTW he seems happy upside down (he makes sure he is comfortable) it is likely an OCD compulsion or a stim or maybe they are the same thing for him in this case. He even tells me to look at him and brags I am watching tv upside down. Goofy but as long as he is happy its a good day.

 

hugs2day- is your 7 yo also diagnosed autistic?

 

I knew an autistic child who did something similar to this.

I think it is really interesting that you both are seeing this. I know we live in a big, big world, but I guess I just thought some symptoms were to bizarre to be reproduced!

And, peglem, you are right- it must hurt her! Poor kids

[Mayzoo]

Peg, I take sweetie to a pediatric neuro-opthamologist. They can use lenses to determine fairly accurately what her vision is without her ever having to answer a single question. I think how they do is by shinning a mild light into her eye through the lens and see where that light makes its focal point. They then tweak the lens strength until the focal point is on the retina. No big machines, just a 1.5" lens and a mild/moderate light. At least that is how I understand what they are doing. Sweetie is almost visually blind in one eye and they think it corrected to 20/60 or so with the glasses, but without glasses an object would have to be touching her eye lashes for her to be able to see it clearly. Her other eye is not fantastic, but nothing as bad as the first.

 

Hope that helps some anyway.