"My daughter began the 2nd grade at Mesilla Valley Christian School reading very poorly.  Her MAP (Measurement of Academic Progress) score in reading for the fall was 162 which was a drop of 17 points from the spring of her first grade year.   MVCS suggested that I take her to the NMLCRF Reading Lab and they also recommended that she see Dr. Sowards; an optometrist specializing in eye tracking problems.   We visited the optometrist first and my daughter not only needed glasses but she was diagnosed with convergence insufficiency which is the inability of the two eyes to work together comfortably at near point.  Next, we made an appointment to visit the Reading Lab.   Mr. Allen Crane tested my daughter's eyes with a Visagraph which confirmed the convergence insufficiency, that is, she could not focus her eyes at normal reading distance. In fact there were times when my daughter’s eyes would cross while she was reading!  Mr. Crane recommended two programs; Lexia and Fluent Reading Trainer.  My daughter began those programs immediately and we visited the Reading Lab three days a week until Christmas break.   During the Christmas break we continued to use the programs at home four days a week.  Upon returning to school from the break she scored 172 on the MAPS evaluation.   At this time her MVCS teacher recommended we quit the Reading Lab because she was not seeing enough improvement.   I went to Mr. Crane feeling defeated and he encouraged me by giving my daughter another Visagraph which showed that her eyes were now working almost perfectly together and he had her take a RAPS 360 test which showed her reading had improved by 2 grade levels.  We decided to continue in the Reading Lab and she went four days a week through the spring.    In late spring she was again given another MAP test at school and this time she scored a 193.   A 31 point jump from the fall score!   My daughter then went to the Reading Lab during the 6 week summer session for four days a week.   At the end of the summer she was given another RAPS 360 test which showed her to be reading at a 7th grade level!"