Vision Therapy for “Slow Learners”: Success Stories

By Dr. Russel Lazarus

Personal stories from parents of children labeled as “slow learners” when an underlying vision problem was causing their learning difficulties.

*Names have been changed for privacy protection.

Click here for a list of more success stories pages, you might just recognize your child in.

Alli, age 10

We initiated Vision Therapy for Alli due to her frustrations with reading. Although her decoding skills were intact, Alli struggled with reading speed, and tired easily. As a result, she hated reading and resisted this important activity. We had experienced this frustration since 1st grade. Testing and reading support had not garnered any insight or progress.

Now, having just returned from a glowing 4th grade parent/teacher conference, I am pleased to report that 5 months of Vision Therapy has contributed to improved fluency, confidence, and willingness to read. This is the first time her teachers have noticed improved fluency. Indeed, her progress has continued even since she graduated therapy about one month ago.

Now we need to catch up with her other important visualization processes and Dr. X continues to be supportive in this effort.

I highly recommend Vision Therapy.

In fact, I have two additional children enrolled in the program, and am working towards facilitating a forum for the educators in my community to meet with Dr. X to learn more about the program.

M., Alli’s parent

Daniel, age 12

Before coming to Vision Therapy, my son Daniel had numerous problems at school. He was a very slow reader and had great difficulty copying from the board. Going into 5th grade was a challenge. He now had more reading to do and an assignment book to copy assignments from the board. He was unable to complete his book on a daily basis and his teacher had to complete it for him. By the end of the first week of school, he was very frustrated.

Since completing Vision Therapy, he is now reading faster and can complete his assignment book on his own. I would highly recommend Vision Therapy to all parents who have a child struggling in school.

This therapy can make school easier and they may even begin to look forward to going.

Marsha G. E., Daniel’s parent

Sarah, age 9

When we first started Vision Therapy, Sarah was an eager student but easily frustrated. It took her an extremely long time to complete assignments. Written directions were confusing, and to read a book was a slow process due to inadequate reading comprehension abilities.

Now that her therapy is complete, we are very happy with her results. Her reading speed and comprehension have increased tremendously.

It no longer takes so much time to complete a task, and she is satisfied with her results at the end of a school day.

Stacey F., Sarah’s parent

Lacey, age 12

Lacey is a very bright student. However, it would take Lacey forever to do her work (including her reading) and she would complain of headaches, fuzziness and tired eyes.

Since Vision Therapy, Lacey no longer has headaches, fuzziness and tired eyes.

I’ve been very thankful that Lacey received Vision Therapy.

Veronica W., Lacey’s parent

If your child is not achieving to their potential at school: contact an eye doctor near you that provide comprehensive eye exams and vision therapy for children.

Matt, age 7

Matthew has shown very pronounced improvement in his reading— his decoding and processing skills are quicker, directionality has improved, and his mistakes with letter reversals have decreased.

Matthew can be very difficult to work with, but he looked forward to going to Vision Therapy. There is no way to put a price tag on a child’s self-esteem. Matthew’s struggles in school with reading and handwriting had destroyed his self-esteem. Now, he can keep his writing in the lines and read at grade level. His confidence in himself has returned.

Vision Therapy can’t be the solution to all problems, but it helped Matthew’s problems with reading and writing and overall school performance.

Agatha G., Matthew’s parent

Brittany, age 9

First of all, I want to thank Vision Therapy for helping my daughter Brittany.

When Brittany first came to VT, she had many problems. She made many mistakes, she was a very slow worker, and she never finished her work. Her concentration was bad.

In three weeks working with VT, we saw a big difference in her schoolwork. Now that she has completed Vision Therapy, Brittany is capable of reading through a story, she doesn’t get confused, and she understands what she read.

It used to take Brittany three to four hours to do homework, and now her homework is done in twenty minutes. Working with the therapist was great. He made Brittany feel special and good. I truly believe in the VT program with all of my heart.

So I say to any parent whose child might have a learning disability, look into Vision Therapy. It did wonders for Brittany.

Liliana G., Brittany’s parent

Katey, age 11

Before Katey began Vision Therapy, she had no self-esteem or pride in anything she accomplished and achieved. She had difficulty concentrating and staying focused on the tasks confronting her. She also had a huge problem with performing assignments too slowly.

Now that she has completed Vision Therapy, her reading skills have soared in comparison. Her teacher at school praises her ability to complete her work and assignments in a timely manner and how well she is performing as a student overall.

As her parents, we have seen Katey grow by leaps and bounds in the last 4 to 5 weeks of Vision Therapy. Her self-esteem has improved and we are amazed at the great accomplishments in her ability to concentrate, focus and complete assignments and other tasks. They have improved in such a short period of time.

We commend our daughter on all of her hard work and success and for putting her all into the Vision Therapy program.

Beverly C. M., Katey’s parent

Cynthia, age 10

Before we took our daughter to Vision Therapy, she was doing poorly in school. Her self-esteem was low, and she didn’t read very well. Now she is doing much better in school. Before, she would take hours to do her homework. Now, she sits down for homework and gets it done right away.

She seems to concentrate better on everything that she does. We are very pleased and thankful that we were able to find and treat the problem.

Flor, Cynthia’s parent