11-Year-Old Improves With VT
Already frustrated by her son’s struggles in school, Kristie McIntyre of Frankfort was heartbroken when she learned that her hard-working son suffered from undiagnosed vision problems.
Not that she hadn’t taken him to an optometrist. It’s just that glasses did nothing for her son, now 11 and entering sixth grade.
It wasn’t until Kristie and her husband, Morton Sr., took their son to Dr. Rick Graebe’s office in Versailles that she learned the source of her son’s struggles.
He was diagnosed with numerous visual problems. His eyes did not work together. They didn’t scroll across the page. His left eye would simply stop working when stressed and he couldn’t see in 3-D.
“I was so sad when I heard the diagnosis,” said Kristie, a first grade teacher in Frankfort. “It’s hard to learn that things were so difficult for my son without me knowing about it.”
Morton’s struggles started in the second grade. When he read out loud, he would skip entire lines. He couldn’t read basic sight words, and his spelling and writing were poor.
“He would work so hard and then cry when he did his homework, saying his eyes hurt,” Kristie said.
After the visit to Dr. Graebe, a behavioral optometrist with three decades of experience, Morton started a 30-week program of Vision Therapy, which is a kind of physical therapy for the eyes, brain and body.
The therapy is actually fun for children who do hands-on activities, play games and puzzles, often while wearing specialized lenses.
“They made it interesting for him and he really enjoyed the activities,” Kristie said.
The change this past school year was dramatic for Morton. Instead of languishing near the bottom of the class, he posted a high B average.
In addition, he found a home with the school’s student technology leadership program. He wrote, produced, anchored and filmed the school’s student
newscast. In fact, the club won first place in the state meet.
“Vision Therapy helped him do all aspects of that,” Kristie said. “He knows how proud and humbled we are by what he accomplished.
“Vision Therapy helped with his confidence, and it really is paying off and making a difference for Morton.”