Treating ADD Without Drugs
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Parent Testimonial: “Reading and staying
focused was our biggest problem solved”

At first, it seems too good to be true.
Helping kids with Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder without drugs?

Even Dr. Rick Graebe, the Versailles optometrist making the claim, acknowledges that parents are skeptical.

But nearly every day, he hears from parents -- former skeptics all -- who became believers after Dr. Graebe’s Vision Therapy program transformed their children from classroom strugglers
to academic success stories.

One whole wall of Family Eyecare Associates’ spacious office is filled with parent and student testimonials.

“Before the Vision Therapy program,” reads a testimonial from Neil K. Craig, “my daughter would become angry or very emotional when we tried to help with homework or to study with tests.

Now, she studies without outbursts or crying, and is beginning to enjoy reading.”

Here’s another testimonial, from Angela Reeves about her son.

“After Vision Therapy, he enjoys reading 100% more and is reading 100% better. His reading level came up four levels,” she writes.
“Reading and staying focused was our biggest problem solved, but better handwriting and self-confidence came with it.”

Testimonials like those fuel Dr. Graebe’s contagious enthusiasm for his work. “I’m elated when we get these responses,” he says. “It touches your heart because we truly can change lives with this.”

OK, but what is “this?” Here’s the short answer. If a 90-minute exam reveals that a child has problems with either visual efficiency (how well the eyes and muscles function) or vision processing (how well the brain understands information the eyes transmit), the child embarks on a 10-15 week program of sequenced activities. And the activities are fun for children.

They play pencil and puzzle games, they bounce and handle balls, and they perform other activities that involve the body.

Bouncing balls and physical activity for ADD? “Most eye doctors deal with just eyesight,” Dr. Graebe explains. “Vision Therapy deals with the eyes, brain and body, and how they work together.”

Even the initial examination involves games and puzzles. Kids look forward to an office visit because the “work” seems more like play.

And Kentucky needs this work as badly as any state in the country. Kentucky is one of only four states in which more than 10% of the population 17 and
younger is diagnosed with ADD. Statistics show that those with ADD are four times more likely to have convergence insufficiency in which the eyes struggle to point and focus together for close-up work such as reading.

The good news? That’s one of the easiest problems for Vision Therapy to fix. Like a true Kentuckian, Dr. Graebe uses a basketball analogy for his success
with convergence insufficiency.

“That’s a slam dunk for us, no harder than a lay-up to fix,” he says. So, if you’re a skeptic with a child struggling in the classroom, it might be time to check out Vision Therapy.