Vision Therapy

Vision therapy is an individualized treatment program designed to improve or correct dysfunctions of the visual system, similar to “physical therapy for the eyes.” It addresses the entire visual system, which includes the eyes, brain, and body. The goal of vision therapy is to train an individual’s brain to use the eyes to receive information effectively, understand it quickly, and react appropriately.

What does vision therapy help with?

The brain is heavily involved in vision, and that is why vision therapy can be the key to decreasing or eliminating vision symptoms that patients (adults and children!) are having.

Someone can have 20/20 vision, but still struggle due to deficits with the following:

Amblyopia - poor vision in one eye, and is sometimes referred to as “lazy eye.” It usually occurs before the age of eight. Infants born prematurely or with low birth weight are at greater risk.
Strabismus - when the eyes do not align properly
Binocularity - the ability to use the eyes together for single vision and depth perception
Accommodation - the ability to maintain clarity while adjusting from distance vision to near vision
Oculomotor Control - the ability to move the eyes accurately and quickly to follow a target or move between two targets
Visual Processing - the ability to make visual information meaningful for understanding
Visual-Motor Integration - the ability to use visual information to guide motor movement
Visual Memory - the ability to remember information presented visually

These skills can all be improved through our vision therapy program.

Does my child need vision therapy?

Statistics show vision disorders are the number one handicapping condition for children. Use of the Snellen chart (the 20/20 eye chart) alone will only identify five percent of the vision problems in children.

Learning-related vision problems affect how the brain collects and interprets visual information. In many cases, a child’s visual abilities aren’t sufficiently developed for them to be able to read – or learn to read – effectively. Unfortunately, children with learning-related vision problems usually don’t tell a parent or teacher they have a problem because they don’t realize how they are supposed to see letters, numbers, or objects. They may see them doubled, blurred, or backwards and think that is "normal" and how everyone sees. They may lose their spot and think that indicates they aren’t smart when instead their eyes aren’t moving across the page appropriately.

Strabismus and vision therapy

Strabismus is a condition where one or both eyes are turned in different directions, either upward, downward, inward, or outward. This misalignment is most common in children, but can also be treated in adulthood. If your child has strabismus, they’re likely experiencing sight related symptoms like double vision, headaches, or lack of depth perception because their brain is trying to compensate for the eyes not facing forward.

Some signs of strabismus are:

Eyes that cross or turn in different directions
Double vision
Poor depth perception
Headaches
Squinting
Closing one eye
Head tilting
Trouble with reading and comprehension