Could You Share How Much Cost the Therapy Session?
I got a message from a stranger on Yelp, where I had reviewed the only office in our area that offers Vision Therapy. The message said:
“Just read about your experience with the VT. Could you share how much cost the therapy session? Trying to see if budget allows before the appointment.
Thanks
Luci”
Shane was born with a vision processing disorder. He knew all the letter sounds at age two, but he still couldn’t read when he was almost six. He would listen to audiobooks, and wouldn’t pay attention to the words on the page when I read to him. When he was old enough to try to read, he would rub his eyes and say he was “too tired” to read.
Vision Processing Disorder is very real, and very tangible, and mimics dyslexia in many cases. Shane rarely looked me in the eye as a baby. He simply couldn’t. His hearing was over-developed, so he was ultra-sensitive to noises. When watching a movie, he would cover his ears when he was scared, rather than his eyes. He used his ears for everything because his eyes didn’t track what he needed them to track.
Vision Therapy is a relatively new treatment, and insurance won’t cover it. For the most part, people don’t “believe in it” yet.
But Vision Therapy changed Shane’s life.
So I wrote this response, and said a little prayer for Luci.
“As the old adage goes, if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it. Insurance covers very little (if any) and the initial exam is a few hundred dollars. Over two years, we spent slightly less than $20,000. Insurance SHOULD cover this – because it is a physical problem – but it does not. So it was very, very expensive.
That said, our child could not read. He could not process letters or numbers, so school was nearly impossible for him. He would have been in the learning disabled program (if he’d been lucky) because he couldn’t function the way most kids do. He knew letter sounds but he simply couldn’t focus on the letters.
After the $20,000 therapy, he is one of the top readers in his class. He writes books in his spare time. He is in the gifted program for math. He is athletic now – he wasn’t before. He can make baskets in basketball, hit a tennis ball, catch a baseball. He’s a drummer in the school band and could not have read music before Vision Therapy. His whole life has been different (he is now 12) because we were able to spend that money.
His eyes and brain did not work together. He was sad and frustrated and his whole life was difficult. He would have needed special education in school, and he seemed to have issues with hearing ‘too much.’ Now his brain and eyes DO work together. He has no issues with hearing, reading, playing, or seeing. We would absolutely, without a doubt, find a way and pay that money again. It is the best thing we’ve ever done for our son. I know it’s a ridiculous amount of money – but it is worth it to change the life of a child, or even an adult. I wish you the very best.”
Please say a prayer for Luci, too. So few people can afford $20,000. We sure couldn’t.
The fact that insurance doesn’t cover this service is abominable.
But we made it happen, and it changed the life of a child: mine.