Mary Kate is an eight year old, second grader and the youngest of four girls raised in a rural farming community.  When she was a small child, Mary Kate would often complain about her eyes.  She had a great deal of fatigue and rubbed her eyes with her fists if she was tired.  My husband and I noticed very early that Mary Kate was not as interested in learning to read as her sisters had been.  She was obviously bright and really enjoyed being read to aloud.  When she started Kindergarten, she really struggled to learn her high frequency words.  He teacher assumed that as the youngest of a large family she simply wanted to remain a baby that was being read to instead of becoming an independent reader.  We tried to read more at home but Mary Kate would become very fatigued and end up frustrated.  I began to notice that when Mary Kate tried to sound out a word that she would use a beginning sound from the middle or end of the word.  She struggled to read very repetitive books, failing to remember a word that she had read only a few seconds before.  Many times she would read a word from the text above or below the line she was reading.  Mary Kate's first grade teacher suggested that she was having trouble seeing the words.  After a vision screening the school recommended we take her to Highline Vision Center.

Mary Kate met with Dr. Simonson and Nancy Stevens (Director of Vision Therapy) in January 2007.  She was diagnosed with Convergence Insufficiency.  Her eyes did not focus on the same spot when she looked at something close up.  She began Vision Therapy the next week.  When Mary Kate first started working with Ms. Nancy she was exhausted.  We did homework regularly at home but had to limit the length of time that we spent at each setting because of her fatigue.  Mary Kate and I traveled the 50 miles to Highline Vision once a week for the rest of the school year.  She and Nancy worked very hard and it was easy to see the progress that Mary Kate was making.  Mary Kate really enjoyed going to Vision Therapy and became very attached to Ms. Nancy.  By the end of the school year, Mary Kate was testing at grade level on reading assessments.  We continued Vision Therapy through the summer and Mary Kate graduated in October 2007.  It was a bittersweet day for all of us at her graduation.  She was very proud of her progress but didn't want to quit Vision Therapy.  She really missed the frequent visits to Ms. Nancy. 

This year, in second grade, Mary Kate has received several accelerated reading awards for the number of books that she has read independently.  Her comprehension is around 90% and she is reading books at or above her grade level.  Mary Kate has also grown socially and athletically.  She is confident, independent and very happy.  She recently had her three month checkup with Dr Simonson.  She has continued to improve on her focusing skills since she graduated from Vision Therapy.  We have every reason to believe that her vision problems have been permanently corrected.