"As for putting glasses on a child, it is enough to make the angels weep" - William H. Bates, MD

Robert has given me invaluable advice on how to help my daughter reverse the nearsightedness she has begun to develop, and we are already seeing results.It is so utterly obvious that vision is all about tension and strain and locking the eyes. When she relaxes she can SEE.
Liana S

Parents who have put their children in glasses understand what Dr. Bates meant. Children change once they start wearing glasses. Their smiling faces become strained. Their postures become tighter. Their gaze becomes fixed, lacking the natural movement and fluidity of those with normal eyesight. Myopes tend to be more thin-skinned and withdrawn. Almost everyone I have spoken to who started wearing glasses as a child has related a sense that, as children, they felt crushed under the burden of expectations-real or imagined-from parents, teachers, or themselves. If a child fails a math test, it has no bearing on the rest of his or her life. Even if a teenager does poorly on an SAT, the test can be re-taken. But kids who fail an eye test see their life permanently changed, their vision permanently impaired, their comfort within themselves stolen away. In short, there is a lot of anguish hidden behind those glass walls that too often goes unnoticed until adulthood. Even then, we spend thousands of dollars and hours on therapies that don't give us quite what we need because they never address and release the stress of chronic eyestrain. Yet kids are routinely given glasses out of misplaced intentions. Parents who want the very best for their children, who want to prepare them to face adulthood as confidently as possible, have no choice but to view glasses as, at best, a last resort.

Note that Outlook Insight is a complement to, and not a substitute for, professional eye care. While your doctor is eminently qualified to diagnose and treat visual pathologies, Outlook Insight teaches your child how to relax and see correctly, effortlessly, and with confidence.

Bradley

While vision correction is often not easy for adults, it is usually a relatively simple process for children. This is especially true for children who have never worn glasses. Take the case of Bradley. Upon entrance into first grade, his school nurse tested his vision as 20/50 in both eyes. According to the nurse, this meant he needed to get fitted for eyeglasses. However, his mother had studied with me and knew that fitting him for glasses would only start him on the road to ever worsening vision and dependence on lenses. As a psychologist, she knew that eyeglasses would pose mental challenges as well. She did not want to see him physically and mentally handicapped by "visual crutches", so she called me. We discussed a simple plan of games they could do together that would relax his mind as well as some instruction on how to see, pay attention without straining, and handle stressful situations. After a month, Bradley's vision was tested by his optometrist at 20/25 in both eyes. Due to his enlightened parents, Bradley was spared and is the same free and emotionally present child he always was.

Anna

A similar case is the case of Anna, another six year old who impressed me with the openness of her spirit. She had lately been getting headaches from reading and objects were beginning to blur in the distance. Her mom called me and the three of us met for an hour. We discovered that Anna's schedule of after school activities was a little too heavy and she had begun to strain to keep up with the pressure. I taught her some games to encourage her to relax when looking into the distance and to enjoy her vision, and she too has avoided the modern plague of myopia and eyeglasses. Here's a letter from her mom, a hypnotherapist:

My daughter had enjoyed perfect health when one day, at age 6, she was complaining of blurred vision. I took her to a doctor and he found it OK, yet she still experienced blurriness. This was disturbing and the doctors were unable to help.

I started looking for alternatives and found Robert. With one session, my daughter was able to improve her vision and still uses these techniques in school when she feels she needs some relaxation for her eyes and mind. She is eight years old now and has no need for glasses.

It was very easy, quick, and no stress; the genius of this technique is its simplicity. I’d recommend it to anyone, it’s like magic.

Natalia Rosen, MA-CHT

Harry

Harry was a thirteen-year-old boy about to enter junior high school. He had been to a respected behavioral optometrist in New York who gave him a series of "therapies" designed to "strengthen" his eye muscles. Harry described going to his office like "being locked in a prison cell", because the doctor erroneously wanted him to strain more, not less. I explained to him that his problem stemmed from trying too hard to see, not from weak muscles. We then went over some techniques, and Harry was able to see clearly and fuse correctly (not see double) without any effort. He was amazed and pleasantly stunned. It felt good to see a young man who reminded me so much of myself getting the proper intervention to avoid going through the heartaches I endured.

Note: The child in the photograph above is my niece, Kate, who at three years old serves as my perfect eyesight spokesmodel.