Dr. Matthew Worth

Well, I'm finally finding (taking) the time to write this. I figure if I don't just take the time, I won't ever find the time, so time to write! {Warning: It's a long read!}

At the Homeschool Expo in St Louis, Terry went to hear Dr. Worth while i was in another session. He came and pulled me out of my session and said, "You have to hear this guy...he's so on top of things." So we sat in on the next 2 sessions where this guy talked basically non-stop for the next 3 hours. Wow! We knew at that moment, we wanted the boys to see him and get evaluated. He was describing Clayton (especially) to a T.

So our appointments were for June 5. The first thing he did was sit down in a room with us (me and Terry) by ourselves to discuss the boys' history, medically and developmentally. We also discussed any concerns that we had and any things that threw up red flags for him during the talk. Then he started with Clayton. He had C come in to an exam room and he started by having C stand with his eyes closed and raising both arms at the same time to the point of being level. Then he would touch one of C's fingers and say, "Touch your nose with that finger while keeping your eyes closed." So C would do that. This happened several times with different fingers. Then he put his arms back down and had to repeat the process with his hands palm down (the first time was palm up). One thing he asked us during this part was if Clayton had ever broken his right elbow. We said no, and he pointed out how hyper-extended C's arms/elbows were, and said that is a sign of a neurological mis-connection or misfire. (who knew???)

Next he put C back up on the table and showed him a long piece of cloth with red and white stripes. He told C to look straight at him but as he passed the cloth in front of him, to count only the red stripes. It was wild to see what C's eyes did as he counted! They drifted off in the direction the cloth was going...which apparently isn't supposed to happen! So Dr Worth said, "Well, because of that, you get to wear some special goggles!"

He puts these wild goggles on C's head and turns on the TV in the room...we can see C's eyes on the TV screen! First he noticed that one of C's pupils is slightly larger than the other. Next he has him hold something in his hand and look directly at that while he spins C very slowly on a rotating chair (just a regular office chair). C's eyes were bouncing all over the place with the distraction of his surroundings, but would always bounce back to the object he was holding. Then Dr reversed the direction of the spin and C's eyes didn't do it as bad, but they still did it. This apparently isn't supposed to happen either. A persons eyes aer supposed to stay still while focusing on that object, even while spinning.

Next, while still having the goggles on, he pushes C up to the laptop there on the table. He shows C this red ball that is going to go from the left of the screen to the right. He tells him to look at the middle of the screen and count how many times the ball goes across the middle of the screen. Well, as he's counting, C's eyes are everywhere, almost jittery and jumpy. They do this same thing in revers (ball going from right to left) and his eyes are the same way. Then Dr spins him to the right (slowly) several times and has him repeat the ball thing again...and his eyes are a bit better and not so jumpy. WOW!

Next, still with goggles, he has lines (black and white) going from the top of the screen to the bottom. C is supposed to count the black lines as they cross a certain part of the screen. Well, the idea is for the eye to move slightly up and down, but smoothly and not jumpy-like. C's eye's didn't move at all. He said it's almost like there's no connection going from the eyes to the brain. Then they did it with the lines going bottom to top and that same thing happened...nothing.

Oh, and one thing he did (without the goggles) was to have C stand with his right hand flat (palm up) in front of him and place his left hand on it, palm down. Then he was to turn the left hand back and forth tapping the right palm and just keep doing it. Then they reversed it (right hand on the left), and went back and forth again. Apparently, the hand you write with is supposed to be more consistent and steady in this process, and C's weren't.

After the goggles, he had C go play a game with a nurse (was a video game type of thing that measured reflexes and responses). We found out later that when he did this, C's responses were way off. He was either ahead of or behind the timing, depending on if it was left or right side, when they are supposed to be equal.

For Brent, he did the same things...same type of tests, but Brent's weren't near as extreme as C's. When Brent did the lines moving up and down on the screen (with the goggles), his eyes moved just like they were supposed to and we were able to see the difference in the two boys. And to see just how extreme C's situation was.

After he examined and tested the boys, they went back to the waiting area with mom while we went back into the consultation room. Dr Worth then spent the next hour (give or take) with us describing what he saw and his thoughts on treatment. Brent, he said, is dyslexic. But he gave us some ways to help with that part of the brain...things we can do at home. With Clayton, he suggested Interactive Metronome therapy to help with it. There are certain areas of the brain (and I'm not really sure of all the names of it all) that aren't functioning properly due to an inability to process what they are receiving from another part of the brain. If I'm not mistaken, it mostly deals with the Temporal Lobe, Frontal Lobe, and the Cerebellum. (Now, I could be wrong on some of that, but I hope not! LOL)

He said that with Clayton, he thinks that C would be the type of kid that would fall through the cracks in the PS system, cuz he doesn't test severe enough to warrant an IEP or special therapy or special instruction, but he also isn't on the 'normal' side enough to be able to function properly in the PS setting. He told us that it's probably a good thing we homeschool so that we can see and catch these things with Clayton so that we can get him the therapy he needs so that learning is a joy for him, not a burden.

{ Did I mention that I LOVE Dr. Worth???? :) }

It was so very nice to have the validation from a professional! I/We have known in our guts that something wasn't right with C for a while now, but everyone we mention it to says, "Oh he's just a boy" or "Oh, he'll grow out of it, you're just over-reacting". Grr...I got so tired of those comments! I knew in my gut that something wasn't right with my little boy and I finally have someone willing to help me work it out! And it's good for C, cuz now he knows that he is okay and that alot of it isn't his fault...but it is fixable so he won't have to get so frustrated and have meltdowns for no reason, like he's been doing.

Now we just waiting for the official 'report' from Dr Worth's office...which he said, "When you get this, it's gonna be filled with medical jargon....CALL ME, and I'll go over it with you." (He's so helpful!!) Once we get that and get going on the process of therapy and other solutions, we'll see how things turn out. :)