Personal stories from parents of children diagnosed with GLD.
*Names have been changed for privacy protection.
Click here for a list of more success stories pages, you might just recognize your child in.
Yehuda, age 6
Two years ago I walked into a doctor’s office with a child that, although proven to be a smart kid, had trouble grasping how to read. After an evaluation, Dr. X suggested Vision Therapy once a week. One year later, after completing his Vision Therapy program, Yehuda became an avid reader and a top student.
No parent looks forward to driving two hours once a week for Vision Therapy. But there is no bigger satisfaction than seeing that your sacrifices have paid off.
Y.K., Yehuda’s parent
Charlotte, age 10
We are excited and thrilled. This is not the same kid we brought in January. She has been accepted in the AVID (Advanced via Individual Determination) program at school. We are total advocates of Vision Therapy.
CeCe J., Charlotte’s parent
Eye Doctor’s comments about Charlotte:
Problems prior to Vision Therapy:
- Homework takes 3 hours (should only take 45 minutes)
- Distracted
- Reading (loss of place, use of finger/marker, reversals of letters)
- Poor writing speed
- Behavior (attention difficulties)
Benefits of Vision Therapy:
- Improvement in all areas of visual deficits (2-3 years improvement in visual processing areas)
- More confidence
- Improved grades
- Takes risks with motor activities
Matt, age 5
Huge improvement, we are very pleased with Matt’s progress. Vision Therapy not only changed his vision, but changed his attitude. Overall, he is happier and more confident. He loves to read. We would recommend Vision Therapy to anyone.
Nancy G., Matt’s parent
Eye doctor’s comments about Matt:
A very bright youngster, advanced reading, used to read constantly, but all of a sudden lost his appetite for reading, saying that the “words are too scrunchy” and his eyes “won’t see them.”
Problems prior to Vision Therapy:
- Loss of interest in reading
- Covered an eye when reading
Benefits of Vision Therapy:
- Reading much more
- No visual symptoms
Michelle, age 8
Eye Doctor’s comments about Michelle:
Problems prior to Vision Therapy:
- Frequent headaches
- Difficulty reading (loss of place, substitutes words, sequential problems, difficulty with phonetics)
- Problems with spelling
- Smart but struggled in school
Benefits of Vision Therapy:
- No more headaches
- More confidence
- Receiving straight A’s in school
- Normalized all visual deficit areas
Caitlin, age 11
Just a note to thank you so very, very, much for all the help you have given my daughter, Caitlin. Words cannot express the gratitude we feel towards you and your incredible Vision Therapy program.
According to recent test results, Caitlin’s IQ performance test scores have increased by several points and we credit vision therapy as the single source of this improvement.
Certainly, Caitlin has visual and auditory learning disabilities along with her intellect, but she is doing incredibly well in school. She is an A+ student and is reading almost two grade levels above her age level. I find this so incredibly amazing considering the fact that less than a year ago she couldn’t read at all.
Even more wonderful, in my eyes, is the increase in her self-esteem and self-confidence as a result of this improvement.
As I said, there are no words to express the gratitude we feel towards your program.
Caitlin’s parent
If you suspect your child has gifted learning delay, contact an eye doctor near you, who can diagnose and treat any underlying visual problems.
SEE RELATED: Vision and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder (NVLD)
Troy, age 8
Troy experienced problems with reading early in first grade. We had him tested and found out that he would not qualify for any additional assistance, or support in the school system because his scores were too high. The problem was he was still struggling and behind in his reading.
We started to research other outside programs and that is what brought us to Vision Therapy. We are now at the end of 2nd grade and Troy is experiencing pleasure in reading, and is able to focus and concentrate on his school work. His teacher cannot believe the progress he has made and has been very supportive of the program because of the results she has seen.
He has really improved in baseball and has become one of the best hitters on the team. His team counts on him to score. All in all, Vision Therapy has been a very successful experience for Troy.
Troy’s parents
Rik, age 11
His first grade teacher thought there was something wrong. “He’s obviously intelligent,” she said. “He tries very hard, but he’s not getting the results he should be getting. I think you should get his eyes checked again.”
During this period my son’s mother and I were going through the process of a divorce, and a psychologist was appointed by the court to help with the children’s transition. After the very first session she said of my son, “I don’t think his eyes are working properly. Have you heard of Vision Therapy?” No, but this was our lucky day. The psychologist put us in touch with Dr. X, a behavioral optometrist.
Dr. X tested our son. He found that his eyes were incapable of focusing far and then re-focusing near with any kind of speed, making copying from board to paper a very difficult task. He found that his eyes could not track evenly, causing him to skip lines and words.
Reading was tough, and tests where questions were answered by filling in spaces or circles were like trying to catch soap bubbles for him. He could miss long columns of answers, unable to line them up properly.
Twenty-two weeks of Vision Therapy later, he began doing much better in school. He is now a fifth grader reading at a seventh grade level. He still has some spelling problems, but he’s much improved; and, significantly, his self-esteem is still intact, thanks to the wonderful, caring teachers at his elementary school.
John, Rik’s parent
Dustin, age 7
When we started Vision Therapy we did not know how much or how long it would take before we started to notice an improvement. In a matter of two weeks, Dustin mentioned to his grandparents during a visit that for the first time, while wearing his glasses, “Things weren’t moving around all over the page.” Within less than a month, we started to notice improvement as far as letter recognition.
By the time Dusty went back to school he could recognize 85 percent of his letters in both upper and lower case. Mind you, this was coming from a child that just three months earlier could not tell you the letters in his name when taken out of context, but could tell you from pictures the names of every dinosaur, and which ones ate meat and which ones were vegetarians.
We’ve also seen a noticeable improvement in his self-esteem and he is beginning to flourish in all avenues. Before he would shy away from anything that required pen to paper.
Artwork was more painful than pulling teeth, because he couldn’t make it look like what it was supposed to be. Now he finds art a pleasure to do. He’s always shown an interest in books and knowledge, but now he’s pointing to words and trying to pronounce them with us.
He even critiques the books he can read. It goes on and on from there, all of which makes us most grateful!
Mrs. B., Dustin’s parent
Can you relate to any of these stories?
If your child has been diagnosed with GLD and continues to experience academic difficulties, schedule a vision evaluation as soon as possible.
LEARN MORE: Vision for Special Needs
Vision therapy can help your gifted child gain the visual skills they need for academic success.
