ALLI'S VISION THERAPY STORY





I have seen such great support since I shared Alli's story. Thank you 


to everyone! Now, I have a favor to ask for those of you who want 

to help me. I have created a new blog that has all of Alli's story in 

ONE LOCATION. I would LOVE it if you would SHARE this blog 

everywhere and email me any links you would like me to add under 

the RESOURCES page. Thank you so much!!

THE AMAZING NEW ALLI


When we started Alli's school this year I started just as we had ended.   I read her a story, we draw a picture, I write a sentence and she copies it.  

Well, now that Alli is the AMAZING ALLI, she told me yesterday, "Can I write a sentence myself?  I want to write it myself without any help!"  And she did.  She did ask me to help her with anything she spelled wrong afterward...that is my writing at the bottom.

Then, later that day we did her math lesson and she had to complete a worksheet with 30 addition problems on it.  She finished and said, "That was FUN!"

I hope one day I can stop crying for happiness over these simply things, but right now it is like I am living in some magical world.  

I am so grateful to all that shared Alli's story.  The Article HERE has over 192 likes...the most "likes" of any article on their site in the last year.  My blogs have had over 800 hits in the last 3 days. 

 I have now joined Facebook.  I have a new purpose in life now; to spread the word about the miracle of VISION THERAPY.  

CAN WE GO ON AN ADVENTURE, PLEASE?





























Alli says to me, "I cant even remember the last time we went on a hike, can we go PLEASE!!"  How awesome is that?  So Sunday afternoon, Shane is watching football with my dad and the girls and I (and Hazel) head off to the river.  I brought a BOOK to read.   The girls played at the river for 3 hours and I read a BOOK!   It still feels like a dream that we are done with Vision Therapy and we have our old carefree lives back. 

Part of me thinks it would have been better to have gone slower and not been so CRAZY these last 5 months - doing VT at 3 times the rate we needed to.  At the same time, I am so happy we are done and that Alli and I are able to actually ENJOY our reading and writing lessons now.   But,  I am having to deal with a lot of repressed emotions about what my inner life has been like for the last 2 years.



Last Thursday I went to my favorite yoga class for the first time since finding out Alli's RESULTS.  The first 5 - 10 minutes is always a calm, centering time.  Close your eyes, look inward, and create a mantra to focus on during the hour.  Within 60 seconds I was crying.  I could not stop.  

My mind during these first 10 minutes of yoga, for the last 2 years, was ALWAYS focused on WHAT I needed to be doing to help Alli more, HOW was I going to get her to read, WHY was everything so hard for her.  

Then after we began Vision Therapy I often spent these first 10 minutes wondering.....Would it be worth all the MONEY? Would it be worth all this TIME?  WHAT IF IT DIDNT CHANGE ANYTHING??? 

Thursday, however, I did not have to worry anymore.  I could not hold back my tears and I had to get up and leave the room.  After a good strong cry in the bathroom, I returned to class and was fine until the last 10 minutes....again, a time where my mind wanders.  I started thinking back to earlier in the day when Alli was working on a spelling activity and she wrote all 18 words correctly. Once again, my tears could not be held back.

I guess I have not dealt with how emotional this has been for me.  I need more adventures like today.  Nature works wonders!!


Starting 1st and 3rd Grade - A NEW BEGINNING




Today is our OFFICIAL first day of school.  I have been so excited to see how the year goes now that many burdens have been lifted for Alli and I.  

Jill is starting 1st grade, and she loved doing LOTS of school today. She already knows the numbers to 10 and most of her letters (since she has sat next us for the last 2 years as I was TRYING to teach Alli.) So today she learned about the days of the week, using a calendar and her first alphabet story - about KQPW - King, Queen, Prince and the Wise Woman.  These girls LOVE being told stories!!

 Below is a story Jill wrote on her own.  We sounded it out together, and she spelled it all on her own (except ph for /f/ and she didnt know what V was).  I never knew that learning should be fun and relatively easy.  Jill's 1st grade year will be MUCH different for us.

(Alli was being the teacher and she wrote STORE (Story) and Setins(Sentence)  - she seems to be lacking that blended /n/ sound in words (like thak for thank).

Alli is going to learn about the Old Testament for 3rd grade so today's story was about God and the angel Lucifer. 


 You cannot really see in the picture above, but we wrote 3 sentences with 15 words.   To contrast this I took a picture of our LAST story from 2nd grade about Elizabeth.


Some comments:  

6 MONTHS AGO (on the left) - It took her 10 minutes to write both sentences.   The sentences take up the entire page.  She could not read this sentence herself.

TODAY (on the right) - All three sentences took her 3 minutes to copy down, her writing is TINY and she read me the sentence without help. 

This is going to be a GREAT school year.

RESULTS 6 MONTHS LATER AND A NEW LIFE


Here is a summary of the changes in the last six months with a list of the results from her dyslexia screening on Friday:

SUMMARY

What is life like now that we do not do Vision Therapy for 90 minutes a day?  I cannot even describe the happiness.  I am trying to type this post without crying but I just cant.  Alli and I both have a new life.  Actually, Jillbug too. 

For me, I had worked so hard day and night organizing the activities, keeping everything straight, motivating Alli to keep working hard.....I never had a moment without some sort of weight on my shoulders.  

If we wanted to spend the day somewhere we had to get everything done BEFORE we could go.  If I needed a break and wanted to spend the day out doing things for myself, we had to get everything done BEFORE I could go, so I actually never took a day to myself.  All day, every day there was always something that needed done.  Even our summer trips, Lake Siskiyou for 4 days Lakes Basin for 10 days and Torrance for 5 days, our Vision Therapy was always in the back of my mind and needing to be done.  

 It was worth it, BELIEVE ME, it was worth it.  But now that it is over, I actually can feel the burden I was under.  Friday, our last day, was the best day of my entire life as a mother.  It is like a second chance at life for her as a new person who can see the world in a way she NEVER would have, had it not been for all her hard work.  I feel so proud to have played such a big roll in changing the direction of her life forever.

Most exciting to me is that now, the girls for the first time EVER, were able to do an activity besides music.   Now that learning to read is not such an huge part of my life as their mom and teacher (Jill can already read those first 5 stories of that first book Alli read)
I let them pick one activity to do besides music. Guess what, they BOTH wanted gymnastics and they BOTH wanted to take the class together - these girls are inseparable!!  Friday was their first class. They LOVED it and want to go everyday.  So starts the new chapter in our lives.....