Her Title Now Is Vision Therapist at Dr. Graebe’s Office

Eight years into her career as a Montessori teacher in Versailles, Angela Roberts enjoyed unmatched job satisfaction.

“To have an impact on such young absorbent minds… I loved it,” she said. “I’ve worked with kids my whole life. My first job was babysitting.”

But when friend Jennifer Ciecorka mentioned that Dr. Rick Graebe, a behavioral optometrist in Versailles, needed summer help, Roberts signed up.

“Right away I was working with Vision Therapists and I thought, ‘Wow. We’re retraining people’s brains and eyes so they can read better.’ This is cool.”
Before long she was training in Vision Therapy, which is a highly effective non-invasive treatment for the visual system – a kind of physical therapy for the brain, eyes and body.

The neurocognitive training creates new, permanent pathways in the brain that provide life-long benefits for the patient. It treats such common conditions as amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (eye misalignment), convergent deficiency (inability of eyes to track and point together), and blurred and double vision.

Therapy entails a series of systematic, non-academic exercises that are actually fun for children, who perform hands-on activities, play games and puzzles, bounce and handle balls, walk on balance beams often while wearing specialized lenses.

Students who struggle at school because of reading problems routinely improve up to three grades in reading proficiency after 30 weeks of treatment.

“Dr. Graebe offers lots of hands-on training, and anything you want to know, you just ask him,” Roberts said. “He’s wealth of knowledge. He and the therapists took me under their wing.”

Before the summer was out, Roberts was treating patients herself – and thinking she may have found a new calling.

As she puzzled over how she could both teach and work as a Vision Therapist, Dr. Graebe solved her problem – he offered her a full-time job.

Even he didn’t know that her back story made her ideally suited for her new career.

Nine years ago, a bad batch of contact lenses shredded her corneas, gave her a staph infection in her eyes and left her legally blind.

“I couldn’t see clearly. Everything was fuzzy and all I could see was shadows. I was scared to death,” she said.

Luckily, she tried an experimental medication and her vision returned. The ordeal gave her empathy for her patients, some of whom have suffered strokes or brain injuries that have impaired their vision.

Six years into her new career, she marvels at the effect Vision Therapy has on her patients, who range from 4 to 80 years old.

“We’re reteaching people how to use their vision and that’s exciting,” she said. “I love being able to help people.”

And that’s what Dr. Graebe values most about Roberts.

“She meets patients where they are at, which is what I look for most in a therapist,” he said. “She’s dedicated to helping patients. She really has a servant’s heart.”