20/20 Doesn't Mean Your Child has perfect vision

Lily* was a brilliant 5-year-old. Her IQ was off the charts.

So why couldn't she learn her ABCs?

Her mom, Annie, watched her daughter struggle with memorization—only to end up in tears because she couldn't name the letters.
Something wasn't adding up.

Her pediatrician recommended a “wait and see” approach. But a therapist suggested that Lily have her "eye tracking" checked at A Chance To Grow. Annie never heard of “eye tracking” before and followed through with the suggestion.

What they discovered changed everything.

Annie explained their first visit, “The optometrist took one look at her eyes and said the brain was starting to shut down her vision in her left eye. My husband and I were shocked, as Lily had regular visits with two pediatric ophthalmologists every 6 months.”

Annie knew her daughter. Lily could memorize people, places, and routines with ease. She knew something was wrong—but vision was the last thing she suspected.
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“Honestly, never in my wildest dreams did I think it was her vision. I don’t know why now, but it was the last thing I suspected.”

The family was concerned with Lily's drifting eye that sometimes wandered when she was tired. They had taken her to two different eye clinics every 4–6 months to stay on top of her vision. Both doctors assured them she had 20/20 vision in both eyes.

So how could her vision be the problem?

The answer was hiding in the way her eyes worked together.

Lily's mom explains, “We thought we had our bases covered. Imagine our surprise when Dr. Moroz at ACTG told us that she saw significant double vision. Her eyes couldn’t track together. When the other optometrists checked her vision one eye at a time, she saw 20/20. But when teamed together, she couldn’t do it—making her vision extremely challenged. In fact, the brain was starting to shut down the vision in her wandering eye.”

Lily began vision therapy at ACTG right away.

It wasn't always easy. Sometimes she became frustrated with the homework. But her parents knew it was worth it.

“Vision is important. We needed to make sure Lily went through the program and did what she was supposed get done so she could have the healthiest eyes possible.”

And then came the breakthrough

In just six months, Lily went from recognizing 7% of her letters to 85%.

Her progress was so remarkable that Lily’s special education teacher pulled Annie aside.
After years of working with children with learning disabilities, she said she had never seen a child make progress that quickly.

Lily's parents couldn't be happier and were relieved to finally have an answer. Their daughter was struggling because her eyes and brain weren't working together the way they should.

“We're forever grateful for ACTG and their vision department. They saved my daughter's vision, and her learning problems improved tremendously with therapy.”

This is why vision matters.

A child can have 20/20 vision and still struggle to process what they see. When the eyes and brain aren't working together, learning can become incredibly difficult.

Sometimes, the problem isn't that a child can't learn.

Sometimes, they simply can't see the world the way we think they can.
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*Some names have been changed for privacy.
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