<! 001 C3 > <! Heinke <! Success with Learning Disabilities <! Success In

I never dreamed that his vision problems flowed over into so many areas of his life.</b

Zacharriah is 11 years old and we have been struggling with learning disabilities since he was two or three years old. Zach never liked to color or draw on paper as small child. He never had any interest in letters or numbers. He did not like to look at books. We weren’t worried, since after all, when he drew on the large marker board he did a fantastic job. He would use detail in his drawings that were advanced for his age. At age three, he drew people with heads having eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all properly placed. He drew cars and trucks with great detail. He drew plans for new inventions he had thought up. All of this was done on the marker board, but seldom on paper. When it came to letters, Zach just couldn’t learn them. We tried oral work and he could not remember the names of the letters, let alone any of their sounds. I bought phonics materials, flash cards, refrigerator magnets, you name it we bought it; he hated it!

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It didn’t take long for Zach’s self-esteem to begin dropping once he started school. He couldn’t do the letter work required, even in kindergarten. His teacher thought he was lazy and spoiled. This teacher was also telling me that he was basically lazy when it came to his paper work. He could answer just about anything as long as he didn’t have to read or write. I had been asking for help from the school by way of testing and was getting nowhere. I had also taken Zach for eye exams and had been told that he was fine. By the middle of his first grade year, I had had it. I began home schooling Zach and found an eye specialist who told us that he had dyslexia but offered no treatment.

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Zach went back to school for the second grade. He had learned a lot at home and we felt he needed the socialization of other children. We knew his teacher well and thought she would get Zach the help he needed. It didn’t happen. There was always an excuse from the school and most of the time it was that “these things take time.” But my child was getting further and further behind.

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Zach called himself stupid or retarded. He quit trying, after all it was useless; hours of work and drills; tears and raised voices (both mine and his) and for what? We resigned ourselves to the fact that Zach was not college material and prayed he’d be able to graduate high school someday. We knew that life would always be a struggle for him.

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Then one day a family friend referred us to an optometrist in our area. He had had similar problems earlier in his life and at least he could relate to what Zach felt. The optometrist ran extensive exams, including testing for dyslexia and referred us to Dr. X, a developmental optometrist, who provides Vision Therapy.

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On the day of Zacharriah’s initial assessment, we were totally impressed with Dr. X and her staff. They knew exactly what the problems were and how to fix them. We decided we would try Vision Therapy, and if we didn’t see results after a month, we would quit. Well, after only one month, the improvement that we saw in Zach was nothing short of a miracle.

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There have been changes in all areas for us. Zach’s attitude, his behavior, his academics have all seen major improvement. I don’t have to struggle and fight to get him to do his homework or chores. He isn’t nearly as sassy as he was, and he isn’t always angry and on the defensive.

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Zach loves doing Vision Therapy. He does his homework in about 1/3 of the time it took him just one month ago, and yesterday, on his school spelling test, he got his first 100 ever. Zach was so happy and proud of himself that he had to call all of the aunts and uncles to tell them the news.

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Thank you so much. We have continued with Vision Therapy, even though it means a 2 hour drive each way, because we can now see our son’s true potential.

Debra Hedmark, Zacharriah’s parent

, 2/21/03

According to the literature, this is supposedly impossible to achieve. This is a true and great success story!</b

Before Vision Therapy, 16 year old Don had very obvious nystagmus. He was a constant good sized angle exotrope (35 - 40 PD), even after strabismic surgery at the age of 7, and had bilateral amblyopia due to very high astigmatic errors, as well as the nystagmus. Don, who was already active in competitive go-cart racing, wanted to get his drivers license, so he and his mother chose to explore the option of Optometric Vision Therapy to dampen and control his nystagmus with the hope of improving his visual acuity.

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At Don’s initial evaluation, a detailed family history revealed a strong inheritance pattern of congenital nystagmus accompanied by exotropia and high bilateral astigmatism. His medical history was positive for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for which he is currently taking Medadate daily.

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Don’s treatment was based on a multimodal therapeutic approach, which included refractive correction, prismatic correction, optometric Vision Therapy, and experimental testing with soft contact lenses. Based on his initial examination, it was decided that Don’s prior lens and prism prescription would be used while conducting all Vision Therapy procedures. He began a program of Vision Therapy to address the nystagmus, exotropia, and overall binocular vision dysfunction. His goal was to achieve sufficient visual acuity to obtain a driver’s permit.

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Don was provided 2 one-hour Vision Therapy sessions per week for four months. He also had home-training sessions four days a week for approximately 10 minutes a day, which provided reinforcement of the in-office Vision Therapy sessions. The therapy focused on improving ocular motility, fixation and alignment, as well as convergence ability and overall binocularity.

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Ongoing evaluations were performed throughout the four months of Vision Therapy. These showed progressive decreases in nystagmus, improved control of the strabismic deviation, improved visual acuity, diminished diplopia, and markedly increased convergence ability. These improvements were also noted by Don and his family. At the end of Don’s Vision Therapy sessions, improvement was noted in most areas, and most importantly, his visual acuity of 20/40OU was now sufficient to allow him to attain his goal of obtaining a driver’s permit.

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He is now 20/30, the exotropia is gone, and unless very nervous, the nystagmus is a thing of the past. According to the literature, this is supposedly impossible to achieve. Don now drives his own car, and has seen a huge increase in his self-esteem and confidence. This is a true success story!

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This is a summary of a case study about 16 year old Don that appeared in the Journal of Behavioral Optometry, Vol. 14, 2003, No.6, p. 144-148.

I am incredibly in awe of the difference Vision Therapy has made in my life!</b

My story is truly about a changed life because of Vision Therapy. I discovered that I fit the description of someone who could benefit from Vision Therapy when I was pursuing help for my seven year old son. The checklist I was filling out for him told me that “this described me!” I had no clue before that moment that my eyes were not working well for me, since I have had 20/20 vision all my life. My eyes had recently started changing, and I had been avoiding reading because it felt so stressful. My eyes were becoming increasingly light sensitive, causing me to wear sunglasses outside and for driving all the time. I didn’t know that Vision Therapy would help to resolve both of these issues.

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All my life, I felt like life was very difficult for me. It seemed to take me a lot more time and effort to do the basics of learning in school than other kids in my grade level. I have had to put out what feels like 200% compared to others who achieved the same straight A’s, and they also held down a part-time job and were in extracurricular activities. All I had to do was study. School felt hard, but I became a perfectionist, and was very persistent in achieving the best. I have always felt like there was something wrong with me, that I was so slow and clumsy in the things I tried. Others seemed to sail through, while I trudged through the thick mud of learning. I was clumsy at sports and avoided it whenever I could, especially team sports. Being on a team was just too stressful for me, and even though I secretly had a desire to play volleyball on a team, I did not. People around me could not see how hard I worked and the price I paid to succeed. They said it looked like I was a great student and that it came with ease. But they didn’t know. That really caused me to wonder what was wrong with me and it hurt my self-esteem greatly.

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As I became an adult, the pressure to succeed in basic life skills became more demanding. I felt like a low functioning person trying to trudge through life. I became anxious and depressed, requiring medication to cope with my life. I hit bottom, feeling that it was too hard to keep going on, and that the piles of things to deal with was too great.

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I lost a job in Occupational Therapy that I really enjoyed, but thankfully, I didn’t lose my life. I had lost other jobs because I had a hard time keeping up with the demands. I was also a new mother with a very demanding child. Parenting and working outside the home simultaneously was not a healthy option for me, at least not at that time. I had wondered if I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome because I was always so tired. I would have to fight to keep my eyes open and focused on my job, on my parenting, and on my home life. Life was something to bear.

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In February 2002, I started Vision Therapy. Around week 18, I came to my appointment with Dr. X and asked him if Vision Therapy has ever cut down the stress level and increased the energy of someone. I had not changed anything else in my life that could have possibly caused such a radical change. Medicines I had previously taken had not made a significant and obvious change like this. The doctor’s answer was, “ABSOLUTELY!” I also noticed that I was balancing approximately eight demands compared with my usual three to four demands that would derail me, and I was not feeling particularly stressed. Wow! Before that, I had never experienced being this effective, calm, and composed amid chaos. My children, who are noisy like all kids, used to jar my nerves. Now their noise is scarcely bothersome to me. I think this has and will continue to help me be a better parent. For me, this change is a MIRACLE! I HAVE A NEW LIFE! I now realize how much anxiety I was experiencing. The change has made a huge difference in my life. The speed and ease at which I have been moving through my day has allowed me the energy to extend myself beyond the basic required acts in life. I feel more effective, brave, and confident in pursuing new endeavors. I have been able to place energy into life enrichment i.e. seeking spirituality, something that was previously too threatening. I have numerous hobbies I am thoroughly enjoying, some of which are branching out into satisfying money raising endeavors.

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I have found myself to be more interested and willing to participate in sports. I was at a party throwing a Nerf football to my husband (something I would have run away from previously). My husband was enthusiastically asking me “how are you throwing it so well?” I felt a feeling of exhilaration and competence. Before, I would duck when a ball was thrown to me, but now I was catching every ball thrown to me. Wow! I remember thinking, “this is not my life.” Hmmm, now I’m wondering about volleyball.

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Another surprising benefit was that I could read text in the car without feeling sick to my stomach. My lifelong experience of needing extra sleep (9-10 hours per night) may be not as necessary now. I am not as sleepy during the day. I feel more focused in general. I have been an extremely slow reader, so I have missed out on book clubs, because it would have been too arduous to join in. I think my slow reading and poor comprehension was a factor in my not being able to keep up with my career. I was told that my reading level was at a second grade level for speed. I will be looking for and hoping that the reading benefits become stronger as time passes.

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I am extremely grateful to the Vision Therapy team, especially Dr. X, for helping me find a new life. I am now basically a fairly content, calm, effective, happy person. Many things that bothered me before are not even issues, or if they continue to be issues, I have an overall feeling of confidence that they will work out in time. Bringing up issues with others have also felt less threatening, I think because my overall baseline of stress has lessened significantly. Of course, there is always room for improvement. I am incredibly in awe of the difference Vision Therapy has made in my life. I would wish the same for anyone else. I think that there are probably many other people in this world who could also have a new life like me, if they check it out.

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THANKS FOR THE PEACE IN MY NEW LIFE!!!!

His vision was tested at 20/20, so a vision problem was initially eliminated… </b

As a first grader, my son Mikey was reading at the third grade level, he was a prolific writer and had very little trouble with academics. However, by the time he reached third grade, nearly every aspect of school was a struggle. Reading was no longer enjoyable, and writing, once approached with the most enthusiasm, was avoided at all costs. Homework assignments that should have taken no more than 15 minutes to complete would take up to two hours to do, and many times went unfinished.

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Although Mikey maintained a healthy enthusiasm for school, probably because of the social aspects, his declining achievement in the classroom was wearing on both Mikey and the rest of the family. Because his test scores indicated that he was within norms, having him tested through the schools would be impossible until he was performing below grade level for two years. Not willing to allow him to slip that far, we tried to supplement his schoolwork with other work at home, with no results.

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Then Mikey hit a wall—literally. While approaching a drinking fountain, he walked into the wall. He saw two fountains and had gone to the wrong one. After that incident, he revealed that he often saw double, whether he was reading, writing, or playing. Alarmed and desperate for an answer, we quickly connected his declining academics with the double vision and went looking for answers. His vision was tested at 20/20, so a vision problem was initially eliminated. He was referred to a neurologist, and thankfully, a brain tumor was ruled out after an MRI. We were at a loss—we had ruled out lots of conditions, but we still had no answers.

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While trying to find even a direction to begin investigating, I happened upon an article on Visual Learning Difficulties that included a checklist of symptoms. Mikey demonstrated about 70% of them. After comprehensive testing to identify the gaps in his visual development, he began an individualized program of Vision Therapy that lasted nine months.

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The approach to Vision Therapy was developmental and specific to his needs both in the classroom and in daily life. Most all of the activities were fun for him, and the most gratifying thing was that he felt that he was making progress almost immediately.

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Mikey is now in 8th grade and performs at or above grade level in all subjects, and we attribute that to the skills and tools he learned in Vision Therapy. After watching Mikey’s progress and discovering the applications of Vision Therapy, I have become a vision therapist myself, and have the opportunity to help others like Mikey fulfill their potential.

Alma Winn, Mikey’s parent

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