Thursday saw me haul Agate and the rest of the children off to her optometry appointment, getting the boys up early from their afternoon nap.

Mistake number 1

I had arranged for Onyx to look after the others but a work emergency saw him in another town 20 minutes away and without transport. Just great!

I was affronted by one of the assistants about the children being there, then again by the optometrist, wondering why I appeared stressed, at which point I burst forth to let him know that I didn't like being told that it was no good for my other children to be there and if I had a choice they wouldn't be; and then ended up sitting in the waiting area with the boys while Ruby stayed with Agate (for her personal safety) for the exam.

The 'play' area consisted of a low tray in the corner with a few toys adjacent to two exposed power points. Down the other end of the inward facing rows of chairs was a water dispenser at the right height for little ones to play at.

That wasn't the only thing though. I had wanted a behavioural optometry appointment - skip to the real stuff, but had been told that they would only do a physical vision check. I challenged the optometrist and not being in there I didn't know what he had done. We were invited back in for a condescending lesson on his whiteboard and told the cost of the consult which was more than 3 times what I was originally advised for the straight-forward vision test. So he must have done more?

He offered oh so generously to have us either come back in 6 months time for re-testing or every fortnight for a programme of exercises (that of course only he could do and he wasn't telling us what they were!).

Today we got a letter with some brief details in it but I wouldn't call it a report. No numbers, no specific information.

It appears that Agate has impaired vision - she can only see to the third from bottom line on the vision check. She also has mild long-sightedness, impaired balance and visual acuity (Streff's syndrome).

Comparing this to the SPD checklist I did for her the other day, the vestibular problems 'fit' but I was not aware that she had a physical vision problem.

Part of me wants to jump ahead to giving glasses a go but I do know that there are exercises that may be done to improve eyesight so I should look at those first.

Perhaps the visual problems are the root of her sensory processing disorder and that in turn has contributed to the ODD? If she didn't have the problem would the ODD simply up and leave?

Today a friend delivered a couple of moon-hoppers in the hope that these will help with Agate's balance. Her other suggestions were a balancing beam, trampoline (must get the mat re-sewn), skipping, roly-poly, tire-jumping, rolling down a slope and a houla hoop - anything that gets Agate balancing or crossing her mid-line. All good ideas and I guess what a child her age ought to be out playing with.

Maybe Onyx can grab some old tires from the auto mechanics when he drops the van in for a warrant next week and we can start to set up an obstacle course in the back yard? We have the balance beam (a garden seat). The trampoline mat can be fixed. The houla hoop fixed and the skipping ropes reclaimed from under the debris in her bedroom. That sounds like a plan.

Now off to find something on Streff's syndrome. My first web quest wasn't that successful.