Wow Vision Therapy Blog

By: Stephanie (Drew’s Mom)

Before Drew started vision therapy, we thought we had tried everything to improve his reading abilities. Despite receiving extra help with reading at school, tutoring, and trying all kinds of techniques at home, Drew struggled with remembering words and letters even if he had just read them several times in a row correctly. He often reversed letters and whole words and would sometimes mirror write, he couldn’t remember the sequence of letters or even accurately say his ABCs in order and often lost his place on the page. All of these issues made it difficult for him to progress and improve his reading abilities, and he was reading well below grade level. Drew didn’t enjoy reading and often avoided reading books unless they had lots of pictures that would give him clues to what was happening in the story.

From the initial evaluation, we were provided with insight into the visual processing issues that were causing these issues that seemed to remain the same despite Drew’s best efforts and were provided with a comprehensive care plan on how vision therapy would help him. We saw some slight improvements initially and were pleased with the positive reinforcement Drew received in vision therapy that helped him feel comfortable with attending sessions and boosted his confidence by focusing on his abilities rather than what he may be struggling with.

Then halfway through his sessions, we saw major changes in Drew’s abilities. Drew started reading independently; he started accurately reading signs on the side of the road out loud, which he had never done before. He stopped asking for help reading words on the TV or in video games and read them himself. He even started reading books for fun and read one book after another in a series. He also stopped having as many issues with reversing words and letters.

The biggest progress we saw was when he was given a part in the church Christmas program, where he had to read a short passage. Initially, he struggled to read most of the words in the passage without help. Over the next week, as he practiced, I noticed that he was not memorizing the passage but reading it, tracking words on the page with his eyes, and remembering words he had read previously, which he hadn’t been able to do in the past. When he went back to the next practice for the program only a week later, he was able to read the entire passage on his own.

Over the second half of vision therapy, Drew was able to build a much more expansive vocabulary of words that he could recognize by sight without needing to sound them out because he recognized them from reading them before. His letter and word reversals improved dramatically, and he developed the ability to track sentences across the page without losing his place or getting lost in a passage. Most importantly, because of the work with vision therapy, Drew has confidence with reading that he never did before and has found that it is something that can be enjoyable. Watching him grow and improve during these sessions has been a blessing. Before vision therapy, we didn’t understand the barriers that Drew was facing despite our best efforts to help him. Vision therapy has been the key to breaking down those barriers so that Drew can see his true potential. We are so proud of Drew for working so hard during these sessions and so grateful for the tools that he has received in vision therapy that will have a lasting positive effect on him.

Dr. Sana, please know that we are so very grateful for all of your insight and hard work that has helped get Drew to where he is now. It’s so hard to watch your child struggle and not know how to help them. Thank you for helping him, and know that your work has made a lasting positive impression on his life.

Thanks so much!

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