“Mom, you know what the problem with vision therapy is? It gets you addicted to books!” -Joseph, age 8
As the parents of a struggling reader, there was no better educational decision we could have made than to have him evaluated for a vision-related learning problem.
The summer after his first-grade year we had given up on encouraging our son to read. We decided we would continue to read to him, but we would not ask him to read to us. All through first grade, every time we sat down to read together, it was a small battle. Headaches, fatigue, excuses and a disdain for reading were the only results. He could read some sight words and decode them if cajoled but never for a sustained amount of time. He was struggling in school and his self-esteem was plummeting. He was a super sharp kid: what was the issue?
When our son was evaluated at Washington Vision Therapy Center our suspicions were confirmed. He had a vision-related learning problem. His eye movements were without control, he was over-focusing, and he was generally lacking in the basic visual skills necessary for efficient reading. Since his father is an optometrist, we knew we could do vision therapy at home, but to be really successful he needed to have someone other than just his parents helping him through the journey.
After six months of vision therapy, we had a new child! The child, who was struggling with basic beginning level second grade books before vision therapy, would stay up way past his bedtime reading several chapters of a Hardy Boys novel. His test scores in reading were just as encouraging. At the end of first grade, his standardized tests scores showed his reading level at first grade, fourth month. After vision therapy, at the end of second grade, his scores had skyrocketed to fourth grade, second month.
The journey wasn’t easy. At the beginning, getting him to his appointments was a challenge. He would hide, refuse to go, or sit outside the door of the office and pout. I would have to beg, bribe, and bargain to get him through the door. Completing home activities was no easier. If the activity was difficult he would just give up. He complained that vision therapy took away his play time. He whined. He fussed. But we persisted and finally, after he started having some successes (Mom, I can make you have three eyes!), he would readily go to his appointments with a smile on his face and binder in hand.
Quote from his 1st and 2nd grade teacher: “It’s like night and day, last year he was so moody and grumpy and struggling so much with reading. This year I haven’t seen the grumpiness nearly at all and he is doing great in all subjects. Something happened over the summer. A light went on!”
