"Now I'm in Tune" - Kevin's Story

Kevin, 23, exudes calm energy, the kind that comes from knowing who you are and what you can do. But it wasn’t always like that.

It began in middle school. “I had trouble, where I’d be working, trying my best, and not receiving the results, with testing, homework, stuff like that.” It affected every part of his life: he began to struggle academically, particularly with math and science. Sports had been his outlet, but he felt that somehow he could not reach his full potential. Even social interactions became difficult. “I felt burnt out, just tired.”

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Keving working with his OT, Michelle, to find his center for improved postural alignment.

When he got to high school, “I did really great freshman year in classes, and then I found sophomore year to be a step up from freshman year. I began to have trouble meeting expectations. I was really struggling with honors classes that I was selected into. I had to drop from honors geometry and biology into the regular courses. Man, did that year suck! I also found that it was becoming harder to interact with other people socially, even at the lunch table, because I was so drained. You see the ones that are achieving, and then you look at yourself and you think, I’m doing the same exact thing, or working even harder. You feel a little less than, hopeless.”
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Getting tutoring at school and at home did little to help, nor did other evaluations. “I’d had eye tests and hearing tests before, but nothing had ever been caught, any physical exam came out fine. But things still weren’t working out well, and when it came time for the ACTs and SATs, we knew I needed more help. We found out about A Chance To Grow from a friend on the football team, his mother referred us to you.  I was evaluated by Dr. Moroz [then ACTG’s developmental optometrist, now retired], who diagnosed me with convergence insufficiency exophoria, and she gave me eye exercises and visual therapy. Then they introduced me to Michelle [Koyama, Neuro Integrative Clinic Therapist], for therapy to help with the visual system even more.”

Kevin continued to see Michelle throughout college when he was home on breaks. Before long, the work began to pay off. He noticed physical improvements. “I’d had back issues from football. I remember after one practice I could barely walk up and down stairs, couldn’t do deadlifts. Michelle really opened up my back, and I began to have improved trunk extension, more flexibility in my shoulders, legs, spine and neck, even my hamstrings felt looser. My sitting posture improved, my back pain went away, I started to feel symmetrical, grounded, I could feel individual muscles. My vision really improved, I could see the world three-dimensionally, I could gaze, my eyes stopped tearing up when there was direct light or something was coming toward me. 

What is Convergence Insufficiency?
When your eyes can’t work together, it results in double vision and blurring of near targets, fatigue, and suppression, where the brain essentially “turns off” an eye to stop seeing double.
 
This common condition can lead to a host of learning issues. Children with this diagnosis can be incorrectly identified as poor learners.  They struggle with simple tasks, or disengage from school activities due to the difficulty and discomfort of seeing near.

I could walk better, drive better, my hand/eye coordination and timing in things like playing tennis got better. I could do deadlifts smoothly with thrust when I was coming up, I could do squats and bench lifting better.“

Kevin practicing an exercise to help his balance, visual and auditory systems work together.

As his physical condition improved, so did his performance at school. “I used to have trouble just sitting in a classroom, it was hell for me.  Becoming comfortable, being space-oriented in a classroom setting was a dramatic change for me. Things got better—everything, from my handwriting to my ability to reflect, not just jump to an answer. Instead of taking notes word for word, which is what I did for the most part in middle school, high school, beginning of college, I was able to finally start to process, it was just easier.”​​

His life got better in other ways too: “Sleeping dramatically improved, my mood improved, I was more optimistic.”  Eventually, even Kevin’s fatigue began to evaporate. “I found work weeks to be really challenging, so I’d be working like 25-30 hour weeks and I’d be exhausted. Once I started visiting Michelle, it went from 30 to 100-hour weeks for 10 consecutive weeks and it was insane. I was able to become more in tune with what I was able to enjoy. I took on a lot of extracurricular activities. For example, last summer, I had five different things going on – a full time job with a residential real-estate content company, a part-time internship with an organic food company where I did digital marketing, three online classes to fulfill university requirements, various software/design classes for my own benefit, and rebranding/revamping an advertising club of which I was the president.”

Perhaps most important, Kevin feels like the work he has done with Michelle at ACTG has helped him reach his true potential.  “I think the fact that I’m confident in starting a business right out of college, I think that says something.  I mean, two years ago, I don’t think I’d have been at that level.  My self-confidence has increased, my ability to collaborate, to be able to take a step back.  Now I’m in tune.  Before, I was just drained, but now, it produces energy.  How crazy is that?”