For those of us who love reading, seeing a child go from reading because they must to reading for pleasure is a true joy. That is what one grandparent who had her granddaughter using the Attention Arcade recently shared with me. I can certainly relate.

Imani is a very independent 10-year-old girl who was a struggling reader and has been diagnosed with some convergence issues. She saw a vision therapist to help. Unfortunately, she decided she was not going to wear the prism glasses the optometrist provided (no adult in her life can even find them) and she was not doing the prescribed exercises once she left Grandma’s house.

The good news is that she was also training with the Attention Arcade. Video games are more fun than most vision exercises, so she kept at them… with a few incentives from her grandma.

As always, Grandma bought her some books for Christmas. This year, rather than her usual “[sigh] Thanks Grandma…” response, Imani said “I’ve been looking forward to reading this new book!” and she promptly sat down on the couch and started reading. Her grandma was delighted: “Imani is reading 10 times as much as she was just a year ago!”

Reading efficiently requires children to be able to track their eyes across the page and absorb the information. The Attention Arcade can help build the non-language skills that are so important to reading efficiently. And once a child becomes an efficient reader, they are much more likely to start reading for pleasure.