Kristina is 8 years old and in the 2nd grade at Kirkersville Elementary. She is the second daughter in our family who has completed Vision Therapy at the Solution Center. Kristina’s story isn’t as painful as her older sister because we detected her perceptual difficulties early.
Initially, Kristina was seen for a routine visual examination. After completion of therapy with one daughter, we felt it was necessary to have our children’s eyes tested as they enter second grade where reading in the major focus in their educational curriculum. It was surprising to discover that Kristina had oculomotor dysfunction and problems with eye focusing. Kristina’s eyes did not work well together. As she explained it to her friends, “I start reading with both eyes, one gets tired and it turns off, leaving only one eye to read. When it gets tired, I blink and they trade places.”
I wouldn’t have believed Kristina needed eye therapy because she was an average student, reading and writing pretty well for her grade level. She didn’t show signs of struggle like her older sister. What convinced me was not only the physician’s exam, but the Visagraph testing. It shows a mother exactly how and what her child sees.
After that exam, it all made sense. I had clues all along that Kristina was headed down the same path as her older sister but Kristina’s eyes weren’t that bad yet. When Kristina read she was like a horse running out of the gates. She’d take a deep breath and read as much as she could. She’d “blink”, take a deep breath and read more. She never stopped at periods. She just read as much as she could before “her eyes turned off”. She never complained of headaches but would say she was tired and wanted to go to bed after her reading time.
We also reasoned that because she’s left-handed was the reason why her handwriting was sloppy, especially when she copied her spelling words from the chalkboard. All of these reasons or excuses now have an answer. I am very thankful that we discovered Kristina’s perception difficulties early so she didn’t have to struggle educationally and emotionally like her older sister.
Now she is a graduate of the Solution Center. She is very proud of her success and hard work. She has made huge steps in reading levels at school. But more importantly, she will pick up a book and read it. The other night she read a 60 page chapter book with very little mistakes. As Kristina says, “now I have Super Girl eyes, Mommy.”