My story

As a nurse, and a parent, I have always enjoyed the “Aha!” moment that happens when helping people. When my very bright daughter reached the 3^rd grade, she took far more time to finish her homework than her classmates did.  Searching for the root cause, I took her to numerous appointments with different ophthalmologists and optometrists.  Each time I was told, “There is nothing wrong structurally with her eyes and glasses probably wouldn’t help at this time.”  As a mom and a nurse, I just knew there was something missing and I needed to think outside of the box.

My daughter was screened three times for dyslexia.  We even tried vision therapy. Nothing worked.  When she finally asked me where the words went, I began to understand what she was seeing.  I asked her to tell me more and she said, “Sometimes when I read, the words start to fade until the page goes pink.”  So she was prescribed reading glasses due to “eye fatigue.”  When glasses didn’t solve the problem I searched further.  Months later, the right Google search led me to Irlen^® Syndrome.  Her skeptical eye doctor said it probably won’t work.

During the Irlen^® screening, my daughter lit up.  Like a secret decoder ring, the right tints just worked.  I could see it in her eyes.  All those years of struggling and it was so simple.  I became a screener to help other children have that “Aha!” moment and to not have to go through the struggle my daughter went through.