Vision Therapy in Baton Rouge

My 6 year old had sustained a concussion and viral meningitis (2 traumatic brain injuries) within a year, and the repercussions were showing in his struggles with reading and writing along with constant anxiety about school work. We were lucky to have found ourselves at Advanced Eye Center where he was diagnosed with 4 issues. After 40 weeks of therapy and a LOT of hard work from my son, he is happier in general and at school. We have overcome so many issues, from sea sickness to inability to track objects, to convergence issues, and flipped letters and numbers. My son was at an extremely pivotal point in school and I am fearful to think of where we’d be had we not started vision therapy when we did. Thank you Advanced Eye Center, Dr. Jong, Tabitha, and Charmaine! We are so very appreciative!

—The Tucker Family

When Emily started vision therapy, she struggled a lot in school and lacked confidence in many areas, both inside and outside of school. We knew she was a capable student because of how she would answer questions or analyze particular things on an auditory level, but her ability wasn’t translating to her school work. Now, 11 months later, we have discovered a dramatic change in Emily. School work became easier, her grades improved, and her confidence soared. Our once struggling student was even recommended for her school’s gifted program. Emily, through vision therapy, has been given a life-long gift. She will now be able to tackle any subject in school or more easily read any book assigned. As a parent, l’m so very grateful for our experience at Advanced Eye Center. Both Dr. Jong and Rachel did an amazing job! Rachel, our therapist, was always professional, respectful, and fully equipped to help Emily achieve her goals. We are so grateful for her own ability and knowledge as a therapist. Thank you so much for serving our family and our daughter so well.

—Ronda (Emily’s mom)

Reed’s confidence and reading ability have improved dramatically with vision therapy. His handwriting has also improved. Rachel and Dr. Jong are amazing! We love them. Thank you so much!

—Reed’s mother

Vision therapy has helped McKenzie tremendously. When she first started, she had several visual skills that were below the level needed for maximum academic achievement. Before therapy her eye would drive and cause her to omit words as she read. She did not enjoy reading very much. Since participating in therapy I have not seen her eyes drift. Before it was a challenge to even get her to pick up a book on her own. Now she likes to pick up a book and read to her little sister. During the school year, she enjoyed reading the short novels.

In sports her coordination also improved. She even won the free throw contest at basketball camp! She enjoyed going to therapy and mostly enjoyed her therapists, Ms. Lauren and Ms. Tabitha. They did an excellent job motivating her.

—Mckenzie’s grandmother

Our daughter has shown tremendous improvements in school, especially reading and handwriting. She is less fatigued and frustrated with homework. Overall she is happier and is able to complete tasks better. This program has changed her and our family’s lives for the better. Thank you to all who have helped us along the way! We are so pleased with all her positive progress.

—Melissa (mom)

Before vision therapy, school was so hard for me. I hated going to school because I made bad grades on my tests and report card. But now, studying for a test isn’t as hard anymore. I can read and understand things better. Before therapy I was making a few A’s but mostly B’s and C’s on my report card. Now, as a Lafayette High sophomore, I am making mostly A’s and a B here and there. I had such low self-confidence that I wouldn’t even look people in the eye. I would glance away when I talked to people. Now, I always look people straight in the eye and even smile more! I’ve become a happier person all together.

—Bailey

First I want to start by stating that I don’t normally write reviews but I decided to make an exception on this one. My son Noah has struggled since a very young age with school even though he had always struck me as an intelligent little boy. His vocabulary amazed me. He would hear a word and ask us what it meant and after we would explain it to him became part of his regular vocabulary. That’s why I had a very difficult time believing that my son wouldn’t or couldn’t be a great learner. I would try to help Noah study for tests but I couldn’t understand a word he had written down, but he could read it to me. He was the only one that could understood what he wrote down. He would make an F on everything he would turn in for a grade because his teachers couldn’t read a word he would write down. Finally one of his teachers tested him orally and Noah passed the test with an “Outstanding A+”. This caused us to have him tested for dyslexia. It was determined that this was the culprit. Well, this lasted for a short while because not every teacher would take the time to orally test Noah. The teachers began calling me and telling me that he was being disruptive. I had several teachers tell me that he “NEEDED” to be tested for ADHD. I disagreed with every one of them. I refused to put my son on medication. Well, I regret to say that one day I gave in and took him to his doctor. Hesitantly, I put him on Vyvanse. I hated seeing Noah going off to school looking like he was walking in a fog. His grades improved a little but only for a short while. My breaking point was when Noah had a friend sleepover and his friend noticed that Noah was “different at home then he was at school”. You see, I didn’t give Noah his medication on the weekends. I was only giving it to him to go to school. His 10 year old friend told me that “Noah walked around like a zombie at school and that he liked Noah much better like he was at home”. WOW!!!

That was the last time Noah took Vyvanse and the calls from school started up again. Desperate, I took Noah back to his doctor to discuss our options. That is when Dr. Theriot told me about Dr. Jong and vision therapy. I called Dr. Jong and set up an appt. From the moment we walked into her office in Baton Rouge, I felt like it was going to be a positive thing for Noah. The staff is amazing and Dr. Jong and Noah bonded over their love for LSU. We began treatment with Sarah in the Lafayette office. Noah and Sarah hit it off immediately. I would drive to Lafayette once a week with Noah to spend an hour with Sarah and then we would leave with our weekly “homework.” We began seeing improvement after only a short while. Dr. Jong found a few different things that Noah needed help with. Noah and Sarah worked on improving these things each week. Every checkup Noah had with Dr. Jong showed tremendous improvement. All of this took place while Noah was in the 7th and 8th grade. When Noah began high school he mentioned to me that he wanted to take AP Honors classes. Although I was proud of him for wanting to tackle these classes, I was also afraid for him. Noah had a lot of “catching up” to do and I wasn’t completely sure he would be able to keep up with the rest of the students. I was worried that this may discourage him and he would fall further behind.

Well I am excited to say that not only has Noah “caught up” with his classmates but he has kept up and even surpassed some of them. A few minutes ago, I received a phone call from his AP Algebra I teacher. At our first PTC, I expressed my concerns about Noah and discussed his past with her (as I have done with all of his teachers since he was diagnosed and began Vision therapy). His teacher called to let me know that I may no longer need to worry about Noah “catching up”. She fully believes he has “caught up”, not only did he pass all of his AP classes this year but he finished with the 5th highest grade in her class. Needless to say, I am tearing up while writing this letter. I am soooo proud of my son and all of his hard work. Words cannot express the gratitude that we have for Dr. Jong, Sarah and Camille. If anyone has any doubts about this working for their son or daughter, take it from me. IT WORKS!!!!!

Thank you again for giving my son a chance to be successful and being the person he was meant to be.

—Sheri (Noah’s mom)

When we first started this journey Chloe was a shy girl who struggled with learning, memory, attention span, and even coordination. We knew she was a smart girl and the information was there, but she just had trouble recalling it. She also constantly ran into things and had little coordination. Her Speech Therapist recommended we take her to Advanced Eye Center for an evaluation.

I was shocked to learn of Chloe’s vision problems. Not knowing what to expect but willing to help her in any way, we gave it a try. This has been the best thing we could have ever done for her. We could visibly see a difference in just 10 weeks.

Now 46 weeks later Chloe is an outgoing little soccer player. She loves sports and is able to run backwards and catch a football. When we started vision therapy she could not recall her ABC’s, point out colors or even write her name. Now she not only can do all of those things, but she is reading!

We are very blessed to have had the opportunity to share our daughter with Dr. Jong, Sarah Olivier and the rest of the staff. We will miss our weekly visits, but the difference this therapy made has changed Chloe’s life!

—Angie (mom)

Through vision therapy, my daughter has made tremendous improvements-academically, socially and emotionally. She is in fifth grade now, but by the time she entered second grade, I realized that she was having more difficulties than I could “fix” myself. She had already been diagnosed with Asperger’s, and we had done much therapy for things like sensory and social issues, anxiety, etc. In her school work she struggled to get through each lesson. She couldn’t focus, lost her place every other line while reading, forgot day to day lessons (especially math facts), complained of headaches, etc. She wanted to do well but couldn’t!

I began my search by looking into ADD. She was diagnosed with ADD and we began medication as well as my changing the way I was teaching her (we home school). This seemed to help at first, but I could still tell there wasn’t something right. So I took her to an eye doctor as a start (headaches). They said she was farsighted and needed glasses. Again, this seemed to help at first, but then she said the glasses didn’t help her at all; she could see just as well without them.

So it went for two years…trying various methods to help her. Then in one of my internet searches, I read about vision therapy. As I read I saw my daughter in everything I read. At the beginning of her 4th grade year we began vision therapy. We really worked hard during the year. The work that was done with my daughter through Advanced Eye Center had amazing results. By the end of that year, she was reading with expression (she began to comprehend what she was reading!!). She wasn’t losing her place as she read, her memory had improved (so math facts weren’t so hard for her anymore), her handwriting improved and she DID NOT need glasses. Also, on daily comprehension practices, she went from scoring 40-50% to 90-100%! On her end of the year California Achievement Test, she scored a 98% in Reading and the test went smoothly!!

We have been doing various therapies and treatments since my daughter was 4 years old and I would have to say that our year in vision therapy was the most productive year seeing the most amazing results. For anyone considering this, I would tell you that it is worth every penny and minute you put into it.

—Mother of Hannah

Wyatt was diagnosed with strabismus when he turned three years old. Our eye doctor recommended corrective surgery. After research, we were hesitant due to the many cases of repeat operations and temporary results. Over the course of four years, we saw four different Optometrists. All of them kept increasing Wyatt’s prescription strength and insisted surgery was our only option. When is left eye started turning inward even with his glasses, we became frustrated and searched the internet for alternative treatments. We learned about vision therapy and found Dr. Jong in Baton Rouge.

We were shocked with the results of his initial eye examination. His strabismus had caused his brain to distrust the image it was receiving from his left eye and was only accepting what he saw with his right. He had no depth perception. This finally explained his inability to catch a ball. He was unable to track it in the air.

Vision therapy has been a blessing for Wyatt. After working with his therapist Tabitha for a year, there have been multiple improvements. His left eye no longer turns inward with or without glasses. He has depth perception and can finally catch a ball! He does not skip lines while reading aloud. His self-confidence has increased.

We are thankful we chose vision therapy over surgery. We are grateful to Dr. Jong, Tabitha, and the rest of the dedicated staff.

—Haley (Wyatt’s mom)

“We thought for years Ava might have dyslexia. If you knew the struggle she has had since Kindergarten you would understand how ecstatic I am! It turns out that she has a muscle in her right eye that wasn’t working the way it was supposed to. We have gone to Baton Rouge every week and she has worked so hard. Well, I am happy to say her hard work is definitely paying off! She is getting more and more papers home from school with an A+ and this momma is so proud of her!”

—Mother of Ava