Jillian's Story

Book excerpt: The “inspiring and beautifully told” story of one mother’s determination to help her child overcome amblyopia (Susan R. Barry, PhD, author of Coming to Our Senses). Vision challenges present a real and devastating problem among children in the USA—the correlation between vision-related learning challenges and juvenile delinquency is shocking. Jillian’s Story: How Vision Therapy Changed My Daughter’s Life shares how one family triumphed over vision problems. At the age of five, Jillian Benoit was diagnosed with amblyopia, a condition in which a child is born with good vision in one eye and extremely weak vision in the other—Jillian had been legally blind in one eye since birth, and no one knew it. After receiving the diagnosis, the Benoit family embarked on a six-year journey to improve Jillian’s vision. It wasn’t until after eye patches, thick glasses, visits to doctors’ offices, and constant struggles with academics that Robin Benoit took matters into her own hands and discovered the wonders of vision therapy. A truly inspiring tale of determination, Jillian’s Story offers a deeply personal account along with life-changing information on vision therapy. “A fascinating book that should be required reading for any parent who is struggling with the challenges of a child who is a victim of medical system that is sometimes blind.” —Todd Huston, author of More Than Mountains “Jillian’s parents prove that knowledge and answers are out there if people have the endurance to find them—a true and beautiful message of faith, hope, and love.” —Carol Dean Schreiner, author of Laugh for the Health of It!