can amblyopia and LD occur together? in such a case, is LD caused by amblyopia? r they treated separately?

Question

here is a boy aged 7 1/2 yrs, recently diagnosed with amblyopia. he is also parallelly showing signs of dyslexia. are they related or has the LD happened independent of the vision problem? can the child be diagnosed at this stage as an LD?

Answer 1

They can be co-morbid, but DO NOT cause each other. Dyslexia involves certain areas of function in the brain (information processing), while ambylopia is loss of eyesight due to lack of use because one eye is weaker than the other (vision).

Schools resist referring students before the age of 8 because the current tests on the market used by most diagnosticians have a HIGH RATE OF ERROR prior to age 8.

Even if the child has LD, the TESTS often fail to pick up the discrepancies until the child has reached 3rd grade.

Schools using this policy have not caught up to the new 2004 re-authorization of the law, IDEA, that now says that LD can be diagnosed by how a student responds to the LD instructional methods, rather than on IQ vs. achievement discrepancy.

Emphasize your request that your child be tested, and be ready to bring up this change in how the law defines LD if they try to argue.

Here is THE site to help you become the best advocate possible for your child:

http://www.wrightslaw.com/

Answer 2

Most likely a co-morbid (occuring at the same time) condition; not necessarily a cause/effect, but some of the dyslexia could be affected by the amblyopia. Try glasses for a little bit and see if they help.

You will have some opposition to a dyslexia LD diagnosis until 8 - ran into this same problem myself. Request the testing anyway now; do it in writing and keep a copy for yourself. They will have 30 days to respond (once school is in session). Some thing will iron themselves out by the age of 8, but start the testing now - he's close enough.

Good luck!