The Smile of Success - Danielle's Success with Vision Therapy

Waking up in the morning with a smile on your face is not always easy, but for Danielle, it used to be a true challenge. Just thinking about the school day she had ahead of her was enough to bring on a bad mood. Reading was a struggle for Danielle, and her grades were below average. Top this off with three to four hours of homework every night and you have a very good reason for waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

After a thorough exam with Dr. Knueppel, it was revealed that Danielle's learning difficulties were related to a hidden visual problem. This would explain why Danielle used her finger as a marker when reading, read slowly, had poor reading comprehension and sometimes confused or reversed letters or words.

If a person's eyes do not work together the way they are supposed to, reading, school activities and homework can become a big struggle. Imagine trying to take notes from an overhead projector when your eyes do not allow you to focus quickly from your paper to the screen. Imagine how easy it would be to fall behind your classmates because you only have half the notes to study from for the big test! Now try to imagine how you feel about yourself when you are trying your best and always coming out "below average." After years of struggling, it is understandable why a person in Danielle's position would want to give up, stop trying so hard, and have a bad attitude towards school, reading and homework.

Danielle started vision therapy last summer. In the beginning, she often told her mom that she did not know why she had to go through the program. According to Danielle, she could see just fine.

It is now December and talking with Danielle is like talking to a different person. After six months of treatment, she has gone from a shy, timid, self-conscious girl to a talkative, outgoing, happy young lady. She is no longer afraid to stick up for herself or take chances. Last semester alone, she tried out for cheerleading, went to homecoming and got a job working directly with the public. Besides all that, she now enjoys reading, her homework does not take as long as it used to, and she made the honor roll! It bothers her if she does not get things done on time, so she no longer procrastinates when it comes to starting projects or reading books for class.

Danielle's parents cannot believe the change in their daughter. Mornings have also changed around their house. Danielle now wakes up with a smile on her face and a "good morning" for her mom!

   

Relief for Jimmy = Relief for Mom

When Jimmy first came in for a vision exam, he was in the fifth grade. During the summer, on the weekends, and during vacations he was easy-going and happy-go-lucky in disposition.

Although Jimmy enjoyed school very much and really liked his teacher, he was having difficulties in math, English, spelling and writing. He was working extremely hard and getting pretty good grades, but he was still described as "not working up to his potential."

He didn't really have many symptoms often seen in children with vision problems; no headaches, no blurred or double vision, no complaints of hurt or tired eyes, no eye rubbing or holding reading materials too close.

His mom noticed that he closed one eye when throwing or catching a ball. She also noted he often had illegible penmanship, difficulty comprehending and following through on directions, and trouble spelling. When he read, she observed that he often missed words, and did not copy correctly from his textbook to the page. He continued to struggle year after year, counting the days until weekends and summer vacations.

Homework changed him from a carefree fifth-grader to a frustrated boy who cried easily. His mom helped him for 2-3 hours every night, explaining the directions so he could do the assignments correctly. There had to be an easier solution.

One part of the special eye exam performed by Dr. Knueppel showed that Jimmy had 20/20 acuity without glasses. This merely meant that 20 feet from the eye chart he could read a particular sized letter. Often, the 20/20 test is the extent of vision testing done in schools and pediatricians' offices. The problems arose when his eyes had to do more complex tasks like reading; an activity which requires the eyes to turn in, focus closely, and jump across the page to read.

Jimmy started vision therapy in June, and finished just before Christmas vacation. He was very motivated to do therapy because he hoped it would make sixth grade easier for him. He even did his vision therapy homework on vacation. He met the goal of completing five days of home therapy every single week and never lost his pleasant attitude during therapy visits.

Now his mom reports his spelling and penmanship have greatly improved. Despite that he now does very little homework at home (he gets most of it done at school), his grades have improved. He even made the high honor roll. He has time to be a kid again during the week. He's happier and more self-confident. Mom is relieved and happier too. She doesn't miss those struggles to get homework done at all!

   

Letter from A.B.'s mom regarding Vision Therapy (03-12-98 to Present)

Birth (9-22-91)
A.B. began life in the usual way -- vaginal birth, APGARs of eight and ten. At about six months, I noticed curved posture. He belly crawled until 12 months, crawled for 2 more and walked at 14 months. He had a few OT sessions around 12 months for being behind in his motor milestones. But talk?! At 18 months the nurse asked if he had six words yet. He had 75!...and continues to awe his parents.

Ages 2-4
A.B. never joined in the group, didn't sing, didn't do the clapping or movements, crashed the toys, threw things to hear the crash. Nurse asks, "Does he cut with scissors?" Mom answers, "Give this kid scissors? You must be kidding."

"Does he color?"

"No, he throws crayons."

He's a handful.

4 Years
A.B. still can't catch a ball, doesn't join in with songs and finger games (avoids and resists these). Wetness on clothes is a crisis, emotionally very labile (lay on floor and scream).

5 Years
Can't assemble a Lego. It's very frustrating for him to not be able to find the part or fit it. No catching and lots of avoiding of things that are hard. Hard for mom to handle.

6 Years
Turned 6 in kindergarten and began OT sessions for sensory integration. Behavior modulated but still difficult to join in. Gross and fine motor coordinates progress, but drawing is immature. He hates school, can't process interactions of peers and thinks there are problems when there are not. In the spring he began Vision Therapy on recommendation of the OT. Evaluation shows that he has proprioceptive and fine motor coordination problems of the eye muscles -- likely similar to his hand and other motor problems.

No wonder he couldn't join in, clap, throw, catch, do Legos or understand his peers. His eyes couldn't catch and hold an image very long -- only momentarily. No wonder he had such strong outbursts of frustration.

Present
Over this past 18 months, A.B. has progressed farther than any of us could imagine. He even celebrates how his eyes have improved. He has fun challenging himself to build the Lego. He loves to draw, although he realizes he "hasn't been practicing since age 2" like many of his peers. He is doing better with ball skills. He has his 5th belt level in Tae Kwon Do. He enjoys school. He handles his frustrations much better than he used to and has many friends at school. The emotional stability and love of learning are real gifts to us. Getting his eyes to track and see and focus has given him the chance to learn without frustration and to avoid negative associations and patterns at school. I think he could have been labeled ADD from all sorts of avoidance behaviors.

Now he is able to clean his room. He is able to look around the room and for example, find all the Nerf arrows.

He is an excellent bike rider and has the visual awareness to judge traffic and cross streets (age 7 years, 10 months). He is very eager to try new motor skills and is able to accept verbal descriptions of how to place arms and hands in order to learn. Stamina has improved along with his own awareness of himself in relation to others.

I am so proud of the son who is emerging from this "handful" of negative and frustrating behaviors into a polite, creative, happy and confident person.

Is this a matter of just maturation, a skeptic would ask? Not if you could have seen his eye tracking upon evaluation ... and seen it now! We owe Dr. Knueppel a deep debt of gratitude for her expertise and courage to pioneer this branch of optometry here in Milwaukee.

Sincerely, P.B., A.B's Mom

   

C.E.'s Success with Vision Therapy

C. E. is an eleven year-old girl with a diagnosis of ADHD since first grade. She has experienced multiple symptoms including; holding reading materials too close, covering or closing one eye when attempting to write, tilting her head and losing her place when reading, reversing letters and words, reading slowly with poor comprehension, and displaying poor penmanship and overall fine motor coordination.

She had difficulty maintaining eye contact during social situations and often appeared "fidgety." Most recently, C.E. was failing spelling, had trouble copying words from the chalkboard or text, and could not keep her place. She would often forget homework assignments and had difficulty organizing her desk at school.

After receiving vision therapy for just three months, her parents, teachers, and C.E. herself have all noticed a remarkable change in her overall behavior and functioning. She is now able to act appropriately in most social situations with improved duration and frequency of maintaining eye contact. She appears less "fidgety" in school and is able to sit quietly during a school lesson. Teachers are beginning to notice an improvement in her reading fluency and ability to decode words. C.E. continues to attend vision therapy once a week and continues to make steady progress.

   

S.M.'s Success Story

S.M. is a 6-year-old girl who was having some difficulty when reading. She would often tilt her head, use her finger as a marker and on occasion, would reverse letters or words. Reading was a struggle, and she would often show frustration and disinterest in this area. She also had trouble focusing herself during activities and keeping her attention to one task.

S.M.'s mother was told that her daughter had a learning disability, but in her heart, she felt it was something else. After just 2 months of receiving vision therapy, S.M.'s mother is pleased with the gains her daughter has made. She stated that S.M. has found a new, exciting interest in reading simple books. Her self-esteem and confidence has risen because she is now able to read herself. S.M. is doing much better keeping her place and is sounding out words by herself. She is able to attend to reading an entire book to an adult.

S.M. continues to attend vision therapy once a week and is making wonderful progress. She even brings books to her therapy session wanting to read them to her therapist!!!

   

"The Eureka Moment" by Rachael VerDuin

My eight-year-old son was a happy, busy boy, but at the end of third grade, he still hated to read. I couldn't understand why. He loved to be read to, his father and I both were avid readers of different kinds of books and magazines, his older sister read late into the night. Why was it a battle even to get him to do his reading homework - let alone to read for pleasure?

Thanks to a fluke set of circumstances and a conversation at the right time, I heard about The Vision Therapy Center. I was skeptical: a general optometrist had tested my son's acuity; no glasses were prescribed. But might this Vision Therapy Center hold the key?

After making initial assessments on my son's vision process, Dr. Knueppel showed me a graphic example of exactly how my son saw the printed page. Yes, he could decipher first-grade size letters, and yes, he could pick up clues from the picture. But third and fourth-grade books had much smaller print. My son's eyes couldn't focus together for long, so he saw a double image. No wonder reading was, literally, such a headache for him! Eureka! A reason!

An even more rewarding "eureka moment" occurred when I explained to my son what Dr. Knueppel had diagnosed, and why reading was so hard. I will never forget the expression of heartfelt relief on my son's face as he said, "So that's why reading is so easy for everybody else and so hard for me!" The diagnosis alone instantly boosted my son's confidence tremendously.

My son was motivated to do the exercises. After all, he reminded me, hadn't he practiced and practiced until he taught himself to whistle? Didn't he learn to snap his fingers by trying it over and over? Vision is a skill that can be learned an improved - so of course he was going to do his exercises. Could he do jumping jacks while reading letters? Could he decipher the magic eye pictures? Could he make the third image appear in between the other two? Could he beat his time while circling the proper letters? These so-called exercises were actually games and tricks to him!

After the first few months of vision training, my son's reading had noticeably improved. I no longer had to stand over him while he did his reading homework. When he went to the library, he no longer had to choose between beginning readers and read-aloud books; there were interesting books that he could read for himself. The day he voluntarily picked up a chapter book instead of playing with toys was a highlight of my year! I had never previously heard about this field of vision therapy. No teacher had mentioned it, no reading specialist suggested it, and no optometrist had referred me. Because of the dramatic success of my son's vision therapy, I am now telling other parents at every opportunity. This is a clinically proven specialty of optometry; it is not a vague set of suggestions. Disorders are identified, therapy is prescribed, and results are achieved. The weekly exercises are carefully monitored, and realistic adaptations are made when needed.

I am thrilled with the people at The Vision Therapy Center, I am thrilled with the process, and I am thrilled with the results. Best of all, my son now reads!

   

Read what hundreds of people have written when asked "What changes have you seen as a result of a Vision Therapy program?" or "How has Vision Therapy changed your life and/or your child's life?" Go to Vision Therapy Success Stories.

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