Read Our Stories About Eye Health and Family

My daughter’s school thought she had a learning disability when really she was having trouble seeing. She's had trouble reading for a while, so a vision disorder made sense. Now she gets vision therapy, and her reading and writing have improved!

Our eye doctor showed me the exercises my daughter does for vision therapy, and we realized that I may also have a vision disorder. Although we have to go to my daughter’s appointments every week, we’re thankful for our eye doctor and her great influence on my daughter — and on me! My advice is to get a comprehensive eye exam — especially in the peak learning years for a child. – Shelby B

When we found out my son needed eye therapy, we didn’t know where to start. We didn’t even know it existed! We looked and looked — and eventually we found our eye doctor, who explained everything.

The first time I brought my son to our eye doctor, we found out he was using the wrong prescription for his glasses. That’s why I’d recommend going to a reputable eye doctor who’s committed to being thorough. If you get annual and accurate eye exams, it makes a big difference in school and in everyday life.

My son motivates my family to think more about our eye care and eye health. His experience makes us all want the best eye health possible. Getting eye care early and continuing to do it every year really makes a difference as you get older. We only have 1 pair of eyes and we need to take care of them the best we can! – Brenda G.

The biggest influences on my family’s eye health are our eye doctor and my daughter. When my daughter was 5 years old, one of her eyes started turning in. We tried glasses, but it wasn’t enough.

We eventually got a referral to see our eye doctor, and it was a life-changing experience. We were able to get corrective eye surgery for my daughter, and our eye doctor thoroughly explained the importance of taking care of my family’s eye health. Watching the transformation in my daughter’s vision has motivated us to keep our eyes healthy. Now we all get routine eye exams! – Tishe O.

When my child was in the first grade, his teacher recommended medical testing since he was struggling in school. We ended up seeing an eye doctor and started vision therapy for him. Now he’s more confident in school and catching up in his classes!

Our eye doctor gave us actionable tips and helped us see the progress that my child was making every year. At the start of the pandemic, she also taught us that too much screen time can lead to eye strain and headaches. So we make an effort every day to get our kids outside and do activities that don’t involve screens.

We ended up moving, and it was a challenge to find the same quality of care that we had with our previous eye doctor. But it’s worth it to travel a bit and pay extra for my son’s eye care so we can meet his specific needs. Our eye doctor has motivated me to make my family’s eye health a priority. – Candice S.

A note on vision therapy: Orthoptic eye exercises as prescribed by pediatric ophthalmologists, orthoptists, and optometrists can be beneficial in the treatment of symptomatic convergence insufficiency. There is insufficient evidence of the benefits of vision therapy to address other conditions. If you have questions, talk with your pediatrician or eye doctor. 

Cuando yo era muy pequeña, a mi abuelita materna la diagnosticaron cataratas. Fue entonces cuando mi familia se dio cuenta de que los problemas de la vista probablemente eran genéticos, ya que varios familiares tenían problemas para ver bien, incluyendo mi madre y yo. 

Yo tengo astigmatismo y desde pequeña me costaba ver la pizarra de la escuela desde lejos. Por vergüenza y miedo no me ponía mis anteojos y luego sufría de dolores de cabeza por forzar la vista. Hoy les digo a mis sobrinos y sobrinas que usar anteojos es bueno para la salud de uno mismo. Un consejo que yo daría a mis amigos y familiares es que revisen a sus hijos desde una edad temprana para detectar y posiblemente remediar cualquier problema de la vista, con tiempo.

La persona que me sigue motivando a mantenerme sana de la vista es mi madre. Ella misma sufre de problemas de la visión y siempre vive recordándome que me haga mi examen anual de los ojos. Yo soy latina y vengo de una familia de bajos recursos. Un desafío que viví es no poder pagar por mis anteojos o por un examen de la vista. Pero gracias a la ayuda de los profesionales, logramos conseguir un seguro médico que cubría estos costos. ¡Siempre se pueden lograr las cosas cuando se pide ayuda! - Ana P.M.