Discovering Vision Therapy Blog

Once "shut down", today Alex thrives

 

Alex Stuessy

A success story from a client at The Vision Therapy Center: As a baby, Alex was so happy, even when he was sick. He smiled and laughed often. I never thought twice about him not responding to the musical bear mobile that hung over his crib! Every three months after birth, we would go to his healthy check with his pediatrician. He was always "right on target." But how did they REALLY know?

At age one he was walking and even talking a bit. Age two was great, no 'Terrible Two's.' When Alex was three he was saying his ABC's. At age four, I put him in preschool.

This is when Alex started to shut down. He couldn't use a pencil, use scissors, or color or draw a picture. He was not able to even trace over his name.

After seeing Alex shut down from school, I decided to take him out of preschool two months before the end of the year. I looked into other programs, and when he turned five I enrolled him in a class called Kindergarten Readiness. There we met Mrs. Barb. She worked one-on-one with Alex. At the end of the school year we sat down for Alex's IEP. She told me about another youngster having some of the same issues as Alex: he would move his head, but not his eyes...he would take a pencil and not know how to hold it...when he colored a picture he couldn't stay in the lines.

With Mrs. Barb's help, we were introduced to The Vision Therapy Center. We met with Dr. Knueppel for testing and evaluation. We met a week later for a consultation in which she explained Alex's eye issues and a recommended therapy plan to help strengthen his eye muscles and keep him focused. We did a month of light therapy (which I also enjoyed). Then, every Thursday, we met with Mrs. Beth who worked with Alex one-on-one, doing exercises to help Alex improve his eye muscles. For 30+ weeks we practiced almost daily.

Within the first four months, Alex wrote his name for the first time! In six months, he was coloring and drawing cars, boats, and airplanes. He was able to keep up with the kids in his kindergarten class. At the end of eight months Alex was even reading! He graduated from vision therapy and was pretty sad...he had formed bonds with everyone!

There is so much more I could say about vision therapy. I don't mind answering any questions if you're reading this and would like to contact me. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

This is a success story submitted directly from a client of The Vision Therapy Center. This is a testimonial, and the person submitting the story was not compensated in any way for their contribution.

Posted by   The Vision Therapy Center, Reviewed by Dr. Kellye Knueppel

The content in this post created was written by professional writers and then reviewed and edited for medical accuracy by Dr. Kellye Knueppel of The Vision Therapy Center.   Learn more about Dr. Knueppel's medical background