Patient Stories/Testimonials

"When I entered vision therapy, it was after having had two TBIs within the span of a year from car accidents. I was in college, with the intention to go on to graduate studies after completing my undergraduate degree, but would get painful migraines if I spent more than 30-60 minutes on visual stimulation, whether it be reading or using technology."

"After a year of work in vision therapy, I can read entire novels within one sitting and only get headaches once a month or less. I have the ability now to perform my schoolwork and perform it well, and also do volunteer work and work a job without issue. It feels as though I’ve been given back my life and opportunities. "
S.L.
"Vision Therapy has impacted my life majorly in a good way. I can now keep my place in a book, and also make most of my shots in basketball, and not turn my head as much to read and just use my eyes! It takes a lot of time and hard work but it’s definitely worth it!"
L.B., age 9
"Before vision therapy, I had trouble reading and writing. I also skipped over sentences. Now I can read BIG books and challenging words!"
Maddox, age 7
"I am a 49 year old man and I had a stroke that affected my vision. My eyes were looking in two directions when I started therapy. Dr. Murphy and my therapist Chelsea helped me get my sight and my eyes back to normal. I can't say enough about how great Alderwood is. They changed my life!"
Anonymous
"When I first came here, I did not know how vision therapy could possibly help me. It made no sense to me. But my ENT and vestibular therapist kept telling me I needed to get into vision therapy. What do my eyes have to do with it? Well, it had everything to do with it. I was originally told by specialists to not expect improvements - "This is what we got to treat it with and we don't know how it'll turn out" - And it was kind of scary. I had to be really proactive to figure out what was wrong. Some neurologists said "I don't know." 

"I was here for about a year. When I first came, I would get so sick with anything. I couldn't stand up in the shower. I would lose my balance going down stairs. I would constantly walk into walls. I'd get sick a lot because I couldn't keep my balance because I was dizzy all the time. Michelle, my vision therapist, kept saying “hang in there,” and I was told it could get worse before it gets better. I was really frustrated for a long time, but I kept going, and then I slowly started making improvements. Pretty soon some of the things that made me really sick, I began to do. And I kept pushing myself, and with encouragement from lots of people, I got better. And I didn't think it was possible."
Pete
"In second grade, everything was hard: reading, writing, participating, EVERYTHING. I knew something was up with me, but I didn’t know what it was. I used to not like to read, but now I do and can read for hours…and I’m good at it. Writing and video games are easier: things stay clearer and I can play better. Also I’m now participating a lot in class – I’m even teaching my classmates Japanese each week!"
Cameron, age 9
"Connor used to get headaches when he did near work, especially with computer testing. He would leave school almost daily with a headache. Now he doesn't get headaches and dizziness anymore, not even with 3D movies which used to be severe. He went from 40% on his reading comprehension assessment at school to 80% after vision therapy. Connor says it's easier to keep his place with reading now and that screen time doesn't give him headaches anymore. Thank you!"
Connor, age 10
"After my head injury, most things I loved to do I could not do - work, temple, dance classes, even talking with my hands would set me off. After a trip to the store I had to nap in a dark room for 2-4 hours to function. Now I am working full time and able to provide optimal care for my clients, and even reading complicated texts again. Vision therapy gave me the awareness of what my limits are and the ability to know when I need to stop and take care of myself. It gave me the ability to live a successful, functional and satisfying life in my new normal."

"Now I can talk with my hands again, and I even have restarted Zumba classes. Thank you!"
S.S.
"Vision therapy has helped me in quite a few ways. Mainly, reading things efficiently that the teacher has put up on the board. It’s easier to take notes and easier to understand what he’s writing. When it comes to reading, I can go a lot longer than I used to without fatigue. Words used to swim around on the page a lot, and that doesn’t happen anymore. It’s now so quick and easy and I get through work a lot faster. Also, as a programmer, finding small bugs and miniscule details in large blocks of text used to be very difficult, and now very quickly I’m able to find the problems and sort them out. One of the biggest things [vision therapy] has helped me with is math; large math problems and matrices where there are a lot of numbers in small blocks used to be impossible for me. I couldn’t keep track of things, and I’d make simple mistakes that would end up causing bigger problems as time went on. Now that doesn’t happen. I would recommend [vision therapy] to anyone just because it has made such a big difference in such a short amount of time. I feel that even if you think it’s not a big deal like I did, that you will still gain a lot."
Aaron, age 19
"Brian will be graduating from Shorewood High School this June. He has a 3.9 cumulative GPA and is or has taken college level courses (UW in high school and AP) in math and science. He exited from Special Education at the end of his Sophomore year. He has a 504 accommodation plan for support, mostly with writing. He says writing is still hard, but now he only really has issues when he goes too fast or is tired. Brian admits that he will always need a proof reader". 

"Brian will be attending Washington State in the fall to study Materials Science Engineering and Computer Science on a full tuition scholarship. He is WSU Distinguished Regents Scholar and also got a Dean's scholarship from the College of Engineering and Architecture to cover some additional expenses".

"His academic accomplishments are in no small part due to the work that he did with you and your team in early elementary school. It changed his academic trajectory and enabled him to demonstrate his potential."

"We just wanted to give you an update and say thank you, again."