Oculomotor Dysfunction

My daughter was diagnosed with Strabismus at 18 months, had surgery, and has worn glasses/contacts since then.  We noticed as a toddler that when engaging in conversation with her, initially she would make eye contact, but very quickly her eyes would flip up while talking to us as if looking at something over our head or on the ceiling.  We would tell her to look at us, and her eyes would once again make eye contact.  It wouldn't last but a few seconds when her eyes would again flip up while she would be talking or listening.  Over the years we gave up trying to break her of this habit.  She was tested in school and we were told there was no test for dyslexia, and although she did not have ADD or ADHD, she did very poorly in school.  They classified her as having an "unspecified learning disorder."  She is now 22 years old and still has this problem, but copes better.  We went to a Neurological Opthomologist who did not observe her demonstrating the problem.  I just read about Oculomotor dysfunction, and wonder if after all this time, if this has been her problem.  What do you think?  

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear gsm123,

I would recommend that you seek the care again of a neuro-ophthalmologist to determine a diagnosis.  Oculomotor dysfunction is not a specific diagnosis.

Dr. Feldman

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California