"Because Rens had trouble reading comprehensively, it took him far too long to master the subject matter"

In group seven of primary school, Peter and Floor Jonkers realised that their son Rens had difficulty reading comprehensively. "We noticed that he had a lot of trouble learning and preparing for tests on certain subjects," says mother Floor. “Those were mainly subjects that required a lot of reading, like geography and history. Close reading and spelling were also a problem for Rens, because he wasn’t very good at memorising the spelling rules." 

Divergent eyes 

When Floor worked with Rens to help him with those subjects, she realised that he often couldn’t remember what he had just read. “But if I read the text to him, and then asked him to repeat it or to tell me what it was about, he was much better at it." After consulting his school she was assured that Rens was not dyslexic. “So why he was having those problems remained a mystery," said Floor. A visit to an optometrist finally brought Rens’ problem to light. Rens was diagnosed with a condition called exotropia, or divergent eyes. "This means he has trouble focusing properly on one spot, which is a problem, especially when reading." 

Dislike of reading

Rens' parents noticed that Rens was really starting to hate reading. Telltale signs were procrastination and extreme fatigue during and after reading. "He really had trouble sitting still for half an hour, and started doing other things in between." The eye exercises prescribed by the optometrist helped to improve Rens’ eyes, but only slightly and certainly not as much as they had hoped for after exercising for 20 minutes every day for a whole year. When Rens entered group 8, his new teacher took his problem very seriously. "A reading comprehension competency test clearly showed that Rens achieved better results with auditory support," said Floor. 

Tutoring does not help

"That was in line with what I had already noticed when I read things to him and quizzed him about it." Rens decided to attend pre-university education, but there he didn’t receive the support that he eventually had received in group 8. “It meant no more auditory support and no tests printed in a larger font on A3 paper size, enabling him to focus a bit better." With hard work and a lot of help from mother Floor, Rens was eventually able to move to the next school year. When Rens’ results proved to be unsatisfactory, he and his parents decided he would benefit from tutoring. "That was four times a week from 3 pm to 6 pm." When Rens still had learning difficulties, mother Floor made an appointment for Rens at the Functional Neurology Institute in Lisse where his father, Peter, had previously booked good results. 

Low oxygen level

Diagnosis showed, among other things, that Rens' oxygen level was exceptionally low. Rens visited the practice in Lisse every week with his mother from mid-April to early June. Rens responded well to the prescribed eye training programme, XO-7 salmon oil and GyroStim sessions. The GyroStim is a high-tech computer-controlled chair that can rotate around its axes in different directions, helping clinicians to cure patients of their neurological complaints. The first time he saw it, Rens had no second thoughts about getting into the futuristic-looking GyroStim. "I wasn't scared or anything and just knew from the start that that chair would help me." 

Huge improvement

The progress that Rens is making at school is nothing short of spectacular. “As an example, Rens scored 4.7 out of 10 for Dutch language in the first test period, but scored 7.3 in the second test period. And his biology score improved from 4.1 to 6.1." Floor has also noticed that Rens now has far less trouble learning. "He no longer gets so tired from reading and studying. And it is also good for his self-confidence. I am very pleased." Rens himself is also pleased with the results of his treatment at the Functional Neurology Institute. "I think I have conquered many of my reading problems and I can concentrate much better than before. I am very happy that I am doing better at school and I just know that it will all work out in the end."