Dr. Juanita Collier: Welcome to the It Could Be Your Eyes podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Juanita Collier. Through my decades of work in the field of vision, I have met thousands of patients, parents, educators, therapists, and doctors searching for solutions to the seemingly unsolvable. Challenging traditional medicine's new normal?
We'll uncover that the root cause isn't necessarily what you thought it might be. It could be your eyes.
Dr. Juanita Collier: Hi, and welcome back to It Could Be Your Eyes. I'm your host, doctor Juanita Collier. And today, I have my cohost, Jessica Lipke, with me. And we are talking all about why your child is having difficulty paying attention.
Jessica: Today, We are talking to a mom who has a story that is very common around here. Her kiddo, he's doing okay in school. He's passing all the tests. The school's not that concerned about his academic performance, but they are starting to raise some flags about his attention. So it's something that we hear a lot. And when parents hear that and when they notice it and see it at home, they start to think about what the cause of all that inattentiveness could be.
They start looking down the list and they start thinking about, is it ADHD? Is it their hearing? Is it their Sensory intake, are they being challenged enough? Are they bored? Maybe even diet. And then it comes to vision and they find their way to us.
Dr. Juanita Collier: And then we do have to remember that sometimes you just think that your kid just doesn't wanna pay attention. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You know?
And so we don't wanna, you know, mom or dad shame anybody because we know that that definitely is an option that crosses your mind. Like, well, they seem to be able to pay attention to video games.
Jessica: Uh-huh. So if you're motivated enough you can pay attention to anything but
Dr. Juanita Collier: Exactly. So you know we obviously know that that is An option, definitely something that we as parents think of.
But I'm a say that we can tease through all that and we're like, okay. No. This is actually something that They would like to do most kiddos want to please the situation. So they would like to be able to attend the way the teacher wants them to or the way the parent wants them to, and they Don't want to deal with any sort of negative consequences of not attending and they still can't. So that's the kiddo that we're talking about today.
Jessica: Exactly. It's always a really good rule of thumb to think and to remember that for the most part, kiddos want to please us. They wanna make their adults And they're grownups happy. They wanna make their friends happy. They don't want to be annoying or they don't want to be seen as trouble or they don't want to be reprimanded all the time.
That's a really big important piece to pay attention to. So today, we're talking to Charlene, who is a mom, and she talks It's about her journey and her journey with her son and how they found us and what kind of changes have been happening for them. I like this conversation because They're still in the middle of it. He's not even done. Um, but he's still seen so many improvements and changes in his life And the family as a whole has changed a lot.
Dr. Juanita Collier: The teachers noticed too Yeah. Which is what's really, you know, that's how you know that things are really happening because the teacher Notice an improvement in his behavior almost immediately. And also with his reading rate too.
Jessica: Yeah. His fluency increased like exponentially and he's paying attention. She says his attention has improved like 90 percent. Yes. He's a young 1 too. He's in second grade. It's a great thing to see these kinds of changes.
And right now, when we are coming at you live, it's the end of January when we're taping this. This is gonna come out in the beginning of February, so we're still kinda only like not even halfway through the school year. And he's already doing amazing things that have been a huge turnaround from the beginning.
Dr. Juanita Collier: Ok. So let's get to it and hear all about his journey and how vision has helped already and it's only a couple months then.
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Jessica: Welcome, Charlene. Thank you so much for coming, really. And, uh, could you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do and what brought you over here?
Charlene: I'm a mom of 2. That's my number 1 job. And then I'm also a special education teacher for the past 17 years. I teach in an urban setting in middle school.
Jessica: Awesome. So how did you hear of vision therapy and what made you come to 4 d specifically?
Charlene: I had heard of behavioral optometry exams and the need for them for a more comprehensive exam. So, basically, I just researched places nearby, and 4 d was the closest and best to to in terms of reviews and things like that.
Jessica: So when you got here, what were your first impressions? What were you thinking when you walked in, when you had your initial exam or rather when your son had his initial exam because we're not talking about you today, really.
Charlene: First initial impression was I just had wanted him to have a complete exam because I was just checking into all areas Due to helping him in school, I didn't think he would come up with a significant vision issue. So I had heard that some reading troubles were linked to vision.
So that's why I wanted the full comprehensive exam because he was passing, like, the basic screeners at school and the wellness checkups. When I first came in, I was pleased with the ease of the appointment, getting a time very soon, not having to wait months for, you know, an initial appointment, And then just the way the testing started right away, and then you were able to sit with him and see the areas That he was struggling with just by sitting and watching the exam. So I was able to know right away that, wow, there's a more significant issue, just the setup of the whole 4 d vision gym and everything about it.
Jessica: You said that he was passing all of his screeners at school, they weren't super concerned, but kinda what was the mama gut thing that made you think, no, we need to look into this a little further?
Charlene: When he started having reading troubles and reading difficulties, and I would notice, like, he would recognize a word 1 day and not the next, and I had Spoken to people about it.
And they had all said, like, maybe there is a vision issue, but they ask me questions like, does he trip? Can he ride a bike? And he could do all that. So then I was like, well, maybe not, but let's just get it checked as, like, a check off my list. I also he was having a lot of attention troubles at school, trouble focusing, And I just wanted to make sure I checked everything before I went with 1 diagnosis or anything like that.
I wanted to look at him as a whole child, his hearing, his vision, and everything and then, you know, I realized how significant of a need he had with vision and how it directly impacted Did his life at school.
Jessica: Right. I I think it's really a lot of parents kind of just trust that the kids are gonna grow out of it or, you know, oh, they'll catch up and you kinda caught on pretty early, which is it's good for you. Um,
Charlene: Thank you. Yeah.
Yeah. That's like huge. I gave him his first grade year to kind of he struggled, But some days, he'd read his sight words and he'd know them, and the next day, he wouldn't. And I was like, there's still something missing. And I didn't realize what a big role this played In the classroom and everyday life.
And even as a special education teacher, we don't see this that much. So I think it definitely needs to be Talked about and referrals to come and get a full examination.
Jessica: Yeah. For sure. You came in. He had his exam. You learned there's some stuff going on. What was the process like getting started in therapy and with practicing at home? And, like, what has the experience been like for you guys since the exam?
Charlene: It's been really positive. He really loves to come here and he is a child who complains a lot and he has received different therapies in the past And it was a struggle. It's a struggle to get him to go to some other activities, but he loves to come here. So it's really, really positive. He enjoys it. He wants to practice.
He wants to show me what he learns. He wants to do certain homework assignments related to this, And he really wants to play any type of vision game when we get home, at night, before bed, and then his just overall reading stamina has improved Being able to read a lot more fluently. It's reading words per minute have gone up greatly from, like, 40 in October to, like, 80 in January, so that's huge. And I think he's just overall so happy to be here. And then he transfers it to school and he's really Had no significant attention issues, focus issues, and his reading, you know, has improved a lot.
We're only a few months in. So uh, we're only in the beginning. Yeah. So I'm really hopeful for the rest of the year to improve even more.
Jessica: Yeah. He's been doing so great here. I just I I love when he comes in because he does have so much enthusiasm. He's just like, alright. Let's go. And, you know, some things are hard.
Any 7 year old would be how doing hard things is hard. But I also spoke with his school team or I was part of his PPT, as you know. So what have his teachers noticed about his school performance other than, you know, his fluency has gone up, you know, his words per minute and stuff like that. But what about his behavior or attention? Have they made any any notes? Or
Charlene: His teacher said his beginners improved, like, 99 percent. I said we got 1 more percent to go. We're almost there. We're at the finish line. Well, we do have to get to the that 100 percent.
But, no, his attention, he's able to sit on the rug. And I think a lot of that has to do with, like, his deaf perception. He was never Aware of his social boundaries. He was uncomfortable sitting on the rug, and now he's able to sit on the rug, attend to task, focus, Complete the work. His retell of stories, I think, with all the memory stuff you guys work on has improved a lot. So that's really, really good. And I'm very happy that his attention to tasks has improved greatly.
Jessica: How would you describe it or how have you described vision therapy to other parents or other teachers who, you know, may wanna consider this for their children or their students?
Charlene: I've described it as you have to get that initial evaluation and you have to see if there's a weakness, especially if you're struggling in reading intervention or just with anything, riding a bike and those walking and things that you might think our vision related could be. So I've just described it as such a positive experience for him and to really Try it out, and it's worth every time, money, effort, and everything else because he's seen huge changes.
And when I was debating about it, Friend had said to me, is it gonna better his life? And I was like, yeah. It has. Because in October, we were in a really Challenging place and now we're he's in a really good place. That's awesome.
And socially too. He's improved socially, has a lot more friends, socially is appropriate, Positive peer interactions and things that he was lacking, which overall makes him happier too.
Jessica: Right. Oh, that's so wonderful. I love it. Okay. I get goosebumps. I'm like, it just it's such a wonderful thing to hear. I just okay. What do you think is the biggest change? What has been the part of your life that has been impacted the most from this experience?
Charlene: That he's able to do things independently. Like, he's able to do his homework independently in school. He's able to not be as dependent on adults To do a lot because he just couldn't even read video games even or or things like that where he'd always need, can you read this? Can you spell this?
So all of that has really made all of our lives easier. And then the fact that he is behaving in class and Focusing in class and not getting those negative phone calls and worrying constantly. You know? You know, he's going to school and he's gonna do what he needs to do and he's gonna have a good day.
Jessica: The happy phone calls are are good.
Charlene: Yes. They are.
Jessica: Not the, like, scary, oh, gosh. What's wrong? What are you doing now?
Charlene: Uh know. And he was getting a lot of that. So it's changed. Now everything is positive. Kids might have an off day, but that's normal. We all do.
Jessica: Every kid It does. I yeah. We exactly. We all do. Right? And it's important as parents to recognize and remember that too. But that's that's just huge. I'm so I'm so excited. What do you think is next for your family? What do you see if if we fast forward. So he's 7 now. We fast forward 5 years down the road. You're looking at your 12 year old boy. What do you see him doing?
Charlene: Just hopefully continuing to be successful in topics that interest him and exploring what he wants to do, looking at different high schools and different careers that may be of interest of him and activities that maybe he never liked to play, like baseball or t ball. He really struggled and things like that. And I really think it was because he just couldn't figure out how to hit the ball and visualize and things like that. So whatever extracurriculars that may interest him, hopefully, he's pursuing those. And he remembers this time Oddly, but it's just, uh, you know, a blip in the radar.
Jessica: Exactly. We want them to be, like, good with it, but not here forever. So it's exactly
Charlene: I don't wanna be here forever. Trust me.
Jessica: That's okay. You can stick around. Yeah. We're fine with it.
Charlene: Can I go? When can I go back?
Jessica: Yes. Good. And I guess my last question really then would be if you had someone who was on the fence and they weren't quite sure if this was the right thing for their child. What would you tell them? You said you had a friend say, you know, would it better better his life? Is there anything else that you would say to a friend that would encourage them to to start this path?
Charlene: I think you have to look at it as, like, the time frame, however long it's gonna take to go do the program. And the sooner you get into it, the sooner you're near the end of it and it just goes by so quickly and sometimes a few times a week can seem overwhelming, But you just have to try to find pockets of time and and make it happen. And the homework at home can be done easily and, you know, weekends. So just to, like, look at it as, like, I have 10 months and if I started in October, I'm gonna be done at this time, and It's gonna go quickly and it's gonna better his life.
And the fact that he really enjoys coming, I think and I'm sure all the kids enjoy coming, so I'm it's not just specifically him. But that makes it the engagement piece with the therapist engaging so much with him and making it so much Fun and just having a high energy level and being so enthusiastic because he has such a high energy level. To match it is is a lot, but And think it's worth it and it's worth the money and just finding a way to just make it happen.
Jessica: Awesome. Thank you. Thank you for, number 1, for pursuing this for Mikey, for doing it for him and being that, like, trusting that mama gut. And also for sharing him with us because we do enjoy him as much as he enjoys us. So that's good to hear. And, also, just for doing this and and sharing your story because I think a lot of parents just don't know about it. And a lot of parents aren't sure what to look for, don't know what the signs are.
And there can be some, you know, some naysayers and some ideas out there that this doesn't work. So thank you for pursuing it and going like that.
Charlene: It definitely works because, you know, within 2 months there's been vast improvements. And So it does work, but I know some people can try to sway the other way, but that's alright.
Jessica: It doesn't work if you don't work.
Charlene: Yeah. I know. Afford the effort and commit exactly. Anything.
Jessica: Yeah. Okay. Oh, well, thank you so much so so much. And that is that for today.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the It Could Be Your Eyes Podcast.To schedule an appointment with Dr. Collier, visit us@4dvisiongym.com. To train your vision at home, visit us at 4D vision therapy@home.com. Rate and review our podcast and email a screenshot to receive 10% off a new evaluation or any of our digital programs. Subscribe to join us for more eye-opening episodes as we dive deep into all the ways that it could be your eyes.