Meet Aiden Ferguson. He and his family come from a small farm town of Monmouth, Ill. The small rail town in rural Illinois. Aiden was born with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Aiden’s parents started noticing another problem; his focus in class. Their initial assumption was just a symptom of ASD, until the team at Kehoe Eye Care came to speak at the school.
“His eyes were jumping to different places on the page,” said Aiden’s mom, Amber. “What appeared as her being highly distracted during reading tasks was actually the result of a visual perceptual deficit.”
Over 80% of children diagnosed with ASD also have vision issues treatable with vision therapy. Upon his initial exam, the vision therapists at Kehoe Eye Care identified Aiden struggled with Convergence Insufficiency, and Accommodative Insufficiency.
These days, a lot of people are quick to label, or are simply interested in getting a diagnosis. Vision therapists don’t solely work on vision exercises, but also confidence, social skills and yes, even bike riding skills. While ASD and visual insufficiencies are very similar, both Aiden’s parents, and his vision therapist recognized Aidens frustrations as well as his desire to help himself.
“When he came in, [Aiden] was frustrated and was shy,” recounted Kehoe Eye Care Vision Therapist, Susan Whitcomb. “We immediately recognized his behavior trends were in line with his diagnosis.”
After the optometrist agreed, Aiden needed a therapy plan. Every treatment plan is different – some kids may only need a dozen sessions, while other patients’ may span over a year. Aside from the therapy exercises, Whitcomb includes activities in gratitude and confidence. For example, she rewards students with candy for telling a joke, or letting them occasionally choose the lesson plan order.
I get immense pride and satisfaction when they have their ‘aha!’ moment.
– Susan Whitcomb, Illinois
“It takes some time, but my patients usually come in with a sense of joy every session,” said Whitcomb, “they get that amazement when the painting just jumps off the wall. A lot of our patients are just seeing dimensions for the first time.”
At the start of each session, Whitcomb starts by trying to identify challenges going on in each patient’s life. With that, vision therapists can reach into their ‘tool box’ and offer social, awareness, support and therapy tools to incorporate into their therapy sessions. After weeks of sessions, most patients’ uphill progress eventually culminates to a single moment – seeing an object the way the world does.
“I get immense pride and satisfaction when the moment they have their ‘Aha!’ moment.” Whitcomb reflected, “of course I have a lot of love in my heart, you can’t just see these kids 80 times without falling in love with their story and know that vision therapy has changed the trajectory of their life.”
Over 12 weeks and 24 vision therapy sessions, Aiden’s personality bloomed. Aiden’s classroom performance improved, he took up new hobbies and even his social life blossomed with a new found confidence. Often described as a flower growing, Whitcomb recounts time and time again the emergence of her patient’s personality, sense of humor and more.
“His life just got easier. He was able to focus.” Whitcomb said, “Imagine going from a place where you’re struggling to focus and getting headaches to suddenly seeing the world in a whole new way.”
Aiden’s 12 week treatment plan was successful overall. This success is in part to Aiden’s diligence, but also a strong and positive parental support system with him. That emotional and accountability support system is key, but it can be taxing for parents, especially when parents are put in a financial strain. As Whitcomb puts it, their worst nightmare is a patient whose family pauses halfway through treatment.
“We know if they pause, they’re probably not coming back,” Whitcomb noted. “We obviously want to see it through, a patient will walk out of vision therapy completely transformed from when I first saw them.”
Whitcomb doesn’t always keep in touch with the families after the conclusion of their therapy sessions, but she often wonders how her former patients are doing now. Because of vision therapy, her patients’ lives are on a completely new path.
“Imagine going from a place where you’re struggling to focus and getting headaches to suddenly seeing the world in a whole new way.”
– Susan Whitcomb, Illinois
“It’s so much more than therapy. Yes, vision therapy is an important component, but we’re helping children find their true selves,” concluded Whitcomb. “We’re coming in, and as a patient said, we’re ‘suddenly flipping the switch and turning the light on’ inside them.”