The Intel® Reader team recently received a letter from a mother who has been working tirelessly to find out why her son is struggling in school. She visited every doctor, specialist, and tutor she could find until she heard that magical word: diagnosis. Now that she and her family have found the source of her son’s frustration—a reading-based learning disability—they can establish a strategy for accommodating his learning style, such as incorporating text-to-speech or other educational technology aides, and improving his educational experience.

We know that many of you are going through the evaluation process and thought hearing from a parent’s perspective could be helpful. Let us know what you think.

“Today we received the answer we have been waiting two-and-a-half years for.  After a lot of testing on Lucas* including blood tests, a vision test, a hearing test, an MRI, an autistic psych doctor, a holistic doctor, acupuncture, tutoring, Linda Mood Bell testing, etc…I’m sure I’m missing something.  Today we found some answers! Lucas took a 2-hour visual processing test, and we discovered Lucas has several visual processing disorders that have to do with the muscles in his eyes. We are sooooo excited that we have something to hold on to and work on!

The doctor explained it this way: When most of us read we see pictures; we associate words with objects, situations, we see mini movies, and we do all this instantaneously without even thinking twice about it.  That leaves energy for the brain to then comprehend, figure out a problem, or figure out what might happen next. When Lucas reads he sees nothing, pictures nothing, associates with nothing. It takes all of his energy just to read a simple sentence because his eye muscles can NOT focus, track, etc.  Therefore, all the energy spent laboring on a simple sentence leaves NOTHING for the brain to then process.  The good news is that this can be cured, and there is great hope!

Helpful information from the OT office brochure:

‘There is more to vision than 20/20

When Visual Skills are NOT working properly, you may see the following symptoms:

• LOSING PLACE; or skipping small words while reading
• REVERSALS; when reading or writing
• DIFFICULTY COPYING; from the board to the paper
• AVOIDING; or frustration with reading
• LABELED as ADD/ADHD, behavior problem, or dyslexic
• HEADACHES; or fatigue during homework
• PERFORMING; below potential

Bright children who are mistakenly labeled as lazy or learning-disabled may actually have learning-related vision problems. Behavior problems may develop due to frustration felt by students who want to perform but don’t understand why they cannot.  Even children with 20/20 vision that are tested by the pediatrician or at school can have it visual skills deficiencies.’”

Can you relate to this story? Where are you in the diagnosis journey? If you have a story of your own to share, we would love to hear it. Let us know in the comments section.

*Some names in this post may have been changed in order to protect the privacy of those mentioned.