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Luke was diagnosed with a learning disability the summer after his first grade year. The fortunate part about Luke is his work ethic! School has not been easy for him, but he would give 110% in school. By the time he came home he was drained! Homework was a disaster. Luke is your typical middle child who wants to please everyone! Homework was a different story and I saw a whole new side of him. He was frustrated and exhausted! We had so many battles and there were plenty of tears shed!

Luke is and was an extremely outgoing child who is friendly with both children and adults alike. People are drawn to him with his kindness and humor. There is not a shy bone in his body. With that being said, previous to Luke starting vision therapy, the one area he lacked confidence in was academics!

Dr. Davis came to the school I teachat during Luke’s fifth grade year and presented his vision therapy program. When Luke was diagnosed with a learning disability (3 years earlier), I was informed of Dr. Davis’ therapy. When I heard the cost involved, I did not look further into it. With that being said, I highly recommend anyone considering this not to think of the money before they sit and listen to his presentation. As he was going through the checklist of things that were a sign or symptom of a visual therapy issue, I was checking off item after item for my son. After hearing this and living through the frustrations that Luke had experienced, my husband and I made the decision to have Luke go through with the vision therapy. One of the things Dr. Davis said that hit home is that we don’t think twice about paying for braces and that is cosmetic. Visual therapy is going to help your child for life academically, physically, and socially.

Prior to Luke starting vision therapy, he did not pass two of his Sol tests- math and reading. His report cards were average. If you asked him if he liked school, he would tell you he liked the social part. Academically, he felt “dumb.”

Luke began therapy with one of the therapist, CJ. She was awesome and he loved her. With that being said, he would tell you it was hard work! There were many activities he loved, but there were many that were really hard! My dad had a stroke and when he was going through therapy, they would not let family visit. It seemed hard core to me, but they said family is emotionally attached and will not want to push the patient. I believe this is true with Luke. As a parent, seeing his frustrations, you feel sorry for him. Although CJ loved Luke, she pushed him to get better and there were no excuses! Luke respected her and loved working with her so he would do anything she asked of him during therapy.

During the process, they would ask me if I noticed any changes. Honestly, the changes were not immediate or drastic. I was hoping we did the right thing by spending the money and having him go through the process. There were many things I didn’t understand that they were doing. It seemed to me there was no rhyme or reason. Obviously that is why I am a teacher and not a vision therapist!  There were reasons for each activity they were doing! As he went week after week, I began noticing changes. The first huge success story was that Luke passed his fifth grade writing, math, and reading SOLs. Homework was becoming less of a struggle for him. His grades were getting better. His confidence in school improved!

We continued through the summer with the therapy and finished it in March of his sixth grade year. The big transition to middle school had arrived! Luke never missed a beat! This year, he has had straight A’s. Homework is done with the majority of the time not needing any help. He had his Social Studies SOL in January and Passed Advanced! He is getting ready to take his other SOLs. He feels confident going into it. He knows he is smart and he can do anything he sets his mind to! As for his IEP, in the past, Luke has been pulled some from the regular classroom for help. When the IEP was written this year, Luke will be full time in the classroom. He will be able to get some additional help during the Intervention/Enrichment class period the school requires all students to participate in. He always hated being pulled out for extra help. He is thrilled that he will be in the classroom with all his friends.

A bonus for Luke with the therapy is an improvement in the sports he plays. Obviously, that is not why his dad and I put him in therapy, but we are glad we got more for our money!  Luke plays football, basketball, and baseball. Where we saw a huge difference is with baseball. Last year he did not get a lot of playing time and struggled with batting. This year he starts at first base and has a great batting average

Was I skeptic when I heard about this vision therapy – you bet! Do I now think it changed my boy’s future – you bet! I still don’t understand how it all works, but I do know it made a drastic change academically, physically, and socially for Luke. Thank you Dr. Davis and CJ for making my son’s life easier!

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