Success Stories

Lucy | Age: 9 |

Since beginning vision therapy Lucy has improved in her desire and abilities with reading. She has even begun to read books for fun, which I never thought was possible. Lucy also has come very far in her coordination and balance and athletic confidence. She now enjoys riding a bike without training wheels, roller skating, and can do a cartwheel and other gymnastics skills that she was previously unable to do. She never has eye strain headaches anymore and no longer has “burning, tired” eyes. We are so thankful for Snider Therapy, it has made a huge difference!

Sydney | Age: 11 |

When we started vision therapy I didn’t realize just how much trouble Sydney was having with her vision. I knew she was frustrated with reading and would complain about her eyes hurting and she would rub her eyes a lot. We had her vision checked and were told she would not benefit from glasses. After being tested at Snider Therapy we realized her eyes were having way more trouble with focusing and working together. She has improved so much and within the first few weeks would already tell a difference. Sydney’s handwriting has improved as well as her frustration, focus, and self esteem. Snider Therapy has been such a blessing.

Sadie | Age: 12 |

Truly an answer to prayer! We have sent countless hours over the years with tutoring and special help with reading with little to no improvement. After working with a reading specialist and making big improvement it was evident Sadie Brooke was still behind with reading. We knew she was very smart and she passed normal vision screening but her grades didn’t reflect that and she was getting very frustrated. Since vision therapy she has improved with her reading, focus, and emotionally. We didn’t realize she had tunnel vision until testing at Snider Therapy and if you ask her this is where she has seen the biggest difference. She loves art and pictures and she says the way she sees now is amazing. She says the colors are brighter and she can appreciate it ever more now!

Josiah| Age: 11 |

Before Snider Therapy, Josiah struggled in school. He hated reading, writing, and spelling. We knew there was something wrong just didn’t know what it was or how to handle it. From the beginning of homeschooling we just learned to “adjust” his schooling to fit his problem but every year continued to be a struggle. Fast forward ten years and we hit a wall until we found Snider Therapy! Just after 16 sessions we could see a HUGE change in Josiah, not just in school but every aspect of his life. Since therapy, school is no longer a struggle. He can do his work independently and with much focus. He communicates his problems (and successes) well and doesn’t give up when he is frustrated. What thrilled my heart the most was when he would randomly tell me things he struggled with and say “Before therapy I couldn’t do _______. Now I can, Mom!” Snider Therapy works! And for that we are forever grateful!

Madi | Age: 15 |

Improvement in her: eyesight, cutting/tracing skills, jumping, grades, anxiety, attention, sensitivity, emotional state, grasp of new concepts, organization, balance, catch/hitting a ball, coordination, 3D vision, ability to read facial cues, reading, desires and goals.

But to fully understand these improvements you need to know where she was when we began Vision Therapy.

Madi was born prematurely and diagnosed with developmental delay at 3 months of age. Everything was difficult for her. It was like you could tell something wasn’t right but couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Because she “looked” normal an didn’t have some of the main autistic characteristics the Doctors would say, “ it’s just how God make her – take her home and enjoy her.”

She never crawled but learned to roll everywhere she wanted to go at 6-7 months. Learned to sit at 9 months and walked around 14-15 months of age. Speech was delayed and vocabulary was small compared to other children the same age. Early Intervention began at age 3 with speech and occupational therapy. Preschool at age 4, repeat preschool at age 5, teachers said she just wasn’t getting it and needs more time. Kindergarten at age 6, school administrates want her to repeat. During the summer we had private testing done for Madi – she had an IQ of 110, tested positive for all 5 types of dyslexia, diagnosed with ADDHD given medication, and began the school year with her first cure all IEP. 1st Grade – disaster, too many distractions, a teacher that didn’t was to teach any child that needed extra help, couldn’t remember ABC order, can’t remember nursery rhymes or short songs, etc. Becoming extremely nervous and self-esteem dropping. Did not learn to read. Administration again recommends repeat 1st Grade which we did. 1st Grade again, different teacher but no improvements. (When will the schools learn it’s not a maturity issue if I’s been 2 years and your leaning capabilities are the same – that’s a learning problem and those kids need to be taught differently not the cookie cutter format). 2nd and 3rd Grade – same struggles, different year. School eye exams began and Madi fails every exam every year. Eye Doctors, both the optometrist an ophthalmologist say, “Mom there is nothing wrong with her eyes – she can see – maybe she just doesn’t want to learn,” If they had known Madi at all, they would have done their job better and investigated further, because no one tries harder or has more desire to fit in and learn than Madi.

4th and 5th Grade same old song and dance. 6th Grade finally found an Eye Doctor that ask the correct question. Not can you tell what letter that is, but IS IT CLEAR? Result; -4.5, -4.25 sight. Madi needed glasses, couldn’t even see the blackboard at school and no one caught it. Madi had learned to adapt very well to her poor vision because it was all she had ever known. Now we see some slight improvements in school. Go back to Doctor to be fitted for contacts and another life changing discovery. Madi’s eyes were not tracking correctly, jumping all over the place and wouldn’t move together consistently. Result; We were referred to snider Vision Therapy. Results of Madi’s initial testing with Snider Vision Therapy – field of sight was about the size of a cardboard paper towel roll. (this explains so much in Madi’s life) Eyes and Ears not working together or even at the same time.

Imagine sitting in class looking at the blackboard, cover one eye and write down what you see and then cover the other eye and write down what you see, when you look at what you have written it’s just a bunch of jumbled up random words that don’t make sense – same thing was happening with her hearing. Listen to someone read a passage as you alternate covering your ears and then try to repeat it back.

So Our long journey with Snider Vision Therapy begins. After 96 sessions and 2 and a half months of iLs, I am pleased to say that Madi has become a very well balanced TYPICAL (love that word) teenage girl. She is able to do and attempt everything that her own age peers are doing. Grades have went form C, D, and F’s to A – B Honor Roll. We still have an IEP in two subjects but very well may test out this year. She marches in the Band; can hit and catch a ball for sports, skates, hover-boards with grace, is learning to drive – will be 16 in October. (#terrifiedMom). Her future is bright thanks to all Her hard work including Vision Therapy homework and understanding that it is a lifelong process, and the caring guidance of the Snider Vision Therapy Staff.

P.S. We finally got an explanation for all Madi’s struggles. She wasn’t an underachiever, wasn’t slow, wasn’t immature. She has a very rare genetic syndrome called MED-12. It usually affects only males and results in profound disabilities and mental retardation. Madi, being a female, had an extra X chromosome that results in her symptoms being much less in severity and different from the boys. As of her diagnosis, she is the only female in the World wide database of genetic disorders. Truly ONE OF A KIND. It turns out the way God make her was just perfect after all.