Hello, my name is Michele Hillman and I am sharing with you, not only my son’s story, but a little about me and how our lives have had the wonderful opportunity to change the positive outcome of many lives since 2013.

My son, Joshua, at age 22 mos. (2006) had strabismus plus strabismus corrective surgery even though he had 20/20 vision. As directed, we went every 3-6 months to the Pediatric Ophthalmologist (PO) for follow-ups where the PO said his eyes are perfectly cosmetically aligned with 20/20 far distance acuity each time. At this time, Joshua continually bumped into things, always sat two feet in front of the TV, had speech delays, had ear tube surgery, couldn’t read, or play with Legos, etc. At age 4 he was prescribed glasses by the PO. He continued to be developmentally delayed and still had many issues.

At age 5, Joshua was diagnosed with moderate autism PDD-NOS, (pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified) by a Neurobehaviorist, and we were told that Joshua would not be a productive member of society, he would live with his parents for the rest of our lives, and to get a special needs trust. He had school interventions yet no one picked up on anything out of the normal, they too were perplexed. During the summer between K and 1st grade, we found a great OT (Occupational Therapist) who performed the SIP (Sensory Integrated Praxis) Test and discovered he had vision issues. At her recommendation, we sought out a developmental optometrist who specializes in vision therapy. This was now 4 years after his eye surgery. Joshua was now diagnosed by the Developmental Optometrist not only with still having strabismus but also with double vision, amblyopia, no binocular vision, no depth perception, no peripheral vision, no convergence, no spatial awareness, no stereopsis, and no 3D. After the surgery, he also had a head tilt. After the exam, I was perplexed because I had a so-called “expert” in the eye field telling me one thing and another eye specialist (developmental optometrist) telling me another thing and explaining to me what things were and how my son was acting without even knowing him.

As a result, I called many Doctor's offices and world-renowned clinics about vision therapy and all but one office offered a ray of hope. I found an individual at an eye office who went through a vision therapy program at age 18 and it changed her life. We had nothing to lose at this point. So Joshua started vision therapy and within 4-6 weeks of vision therapy, we were seeing tremendous changes in him. No more lining up cars/items in a straight line, no more repeating questions over and over again, his handwriting improved, speech improved, coordination improved, running, riding a bike, he could finally put Legos together, bathroom issues progressed, reading improved, and more. Two years after the original diagnosis, Joshua was re-evaluated by the Neurobehavioralist and was diagnosed with Aspergers. You see, the initial test they gave him was on paper. Because his vision was not correct at that time, he couldn’t properly see what was on the paper to correctly process the information because of his vision issues. Therefore the first diagnosis was faulty. Had the medical community informed us of vision therapy when first presented with the diagnosis (when Joshua was 2), the life outcome would’ve been different.

Summer of 2018 Joshua received two intensive therapies simultaneously during the summer. An Intensive auditory processing therapy consisting of three 2-week sessions (2 weeks on, 2 weeks off) plus participated in the 2-week sensory learning program in Tucson, AZ with a developmental optometrist. While both programs have helped him, he needs more vision therapy. Currently, he is detoxing under the care of a functional Dr and continues to make progress.

Here is a link to Joshua's Facebook page: Joshua's Journey

You see, most people believe (because we are taught) that vision is all about 20/20 acuity. When in fact it is not. Vision is all your internal systems, vestibular, auditory, sensory, vestibular, neural, nervous, and others being able to process information correctly. Did you know there are 17 visual processing skills needed to function properly in everyday life? If one of these systems is off it makes the others off therefore not processing information correctly. The eyes and brain have to work together to process the information not only how one sees it but also where they are seeing it. Most people are unaware that a complete comprehensive functional eye exam is what they need for optimal life performance.

The term Developmental/Behavioral Optometrist is used because these highly trained Doctors evaluate behaviors and developmental milestones to see where the patient may be missing something and where they can address for a better quality of life.

The difference between an OD and MD is that an OD who specializes in vision development (VTOD) will fix an eye turn without surgery and usually with less patching/drops; an MD who specializes in PO will fix an eye turn with extensive patching, atropine drops, then surgery. PO's see eye turns as an eye problem; Vision Therapy OD's see eye turns as a neurofunctional problem (the entire visual process, including all those factors that drive and maintain eye control, not just the eyes). Both OD's and MDs can rule out possible medical causes of eye turns. Most eye turns, by far, are not medical problems, but functional ones. So seeking the advisement of a developmental optometrist is strongly encouraged.

In addition to the above, in June 2013 along with another mom, we co-created a closed Facebook group called Vision Therapy Parents Unite Vision Therapy Parents Unite. It was and always has been my intention to share what has been one of the world’s best-kept secrets, Vision Therapy. To date, Vision Therapy Parents Unite is a Global FB Group comprised of over 30,000 members consisting of parents, doctors, therapists, lawyers, teachers, patients, advocates, caretakers, and more who seek to have a better quality of life outcome. In the group, we share testimonies (success stories), research, experiences, and updates relating to vision therapy.

I hope to see you in the group soon!

Michele Hillman
Vision Therapy and Autism Advocate