Samantha Uses Her Reading Skills to Help Others

This is the eighth article in a series about 11-year-old Samantha who was diagnosed with convergence insufficiency (the inability of her eyes to work together).

When Sami was diagnosed with convergence insufficiency in February 2016, she finally was on the right track to correcting her reading problems. Originally she had been diagnosed and treated for ADD, but when her pediatrician found that Samantha was in pain when she tried to cross her eyes, she sent her to the Visual Health and Learning Center. After six months of eye exercises once a week at the Center and several nights a week at home, she finally could read without getting frustrated and angry.

The improvement is shown in the following paragraph Sami, now a fifth grader, wrote recently describing a positive action she takes to help other people:

"I help first graders by teaching them how to read. I was inspired to do this because, well, I love kids and, I wasn’t very good at reading when I was younger. It was very hard. I couldn’t read in first grade so I would “fake” it so that every else thought that I could. The doctor thought it was focus problems so I took medicine but didn’t tell anyone. It was easier for me to focus but still hard to read. Then, last year, I told the doctor my eyes hurt and when I would try to read, the words would “jump” around on the page. We found out that I have eye problems called convergence insufficiency. It makes the words all wobbly so when I would read, I was so focused on getting the words to make sense that I couldn’t remember what I was reading. So I went to vision therapy for six months. Every day after school, I tried to make my eyes work together. For example, I put a dot inside circles or I wore an eye patch on and try to put a stick into a straw that someone was holding. My eyes got better. So I shared my story with a newspaper and it has helped many people. I helped my community by sharing what was happening and why and how to fix it. So other kids with reading problems can get better. I am proud and so are my relatives. It’s been a long, tuff, and bumpy road, but I made it through. My goal was to read five books this year. I am reading my eleventh book. This is why I help first graders."

Sarah, Sami's mother, says that Sami still goes to the Vision Center every six months, and she wears green glasses a couple of times a week to relax her eyes. The glasses are a specific wave length of green, prescribed for patients who strain their eyes by trying too hard. Sami also has reading glasses that help her focus.

"For her to be reading to first graders when a year ago she wouldn't have read out loud to herself with the bedroom door closed, well...," Sarah said shaking her head. "I'm amazed. I can't believe where we were a year ago and where we are now. I see a complete change in her self confidence."