just 20/20 more than

story by | dr. melissa mcculley

Seeing your child struggle in the classroom is heartbreaking. As a parent you want to make sure any diagnosis is correct and you have provided your child every opportunity to conquer their struggles. It is important to know that how your child’s eyes function is just as important as how far they can see. Vision Therapy is an option that should not be overlooked.

vision therapy?

Think of Vision Therapy [VT] like physical therapy for your vision system, which includes the eyes and the parts of the brain that control vision. VT goes way beyond just checking for 20/20 vision. This nonsurgical treatment is highly effective for many common visual problems that are often misdiagnosed as reading and learning disabilities, ADD, ADHD and dyslexia. While glasses and contact lens help compensate for vision problems and eye surgeries alter the anatomy of the eye, VT teaches the brain how to use the eyes effectively to gather information, understand it quickly and react to it appropriately.

who’s it for?

Children as young as 5 years old can benefit from VT. Physical signs of an eye turn, frequent headaches, poor hand-eye coordination, double vision and avoidance of close work or other visually demanding tasks are clues that an eye problem exists. Other symptoms that are not as obvious can include being a slow reader, having difficulty with comprehension, skipping words when reading, getting headaches when reading, or reversing letters and/or numbers when reading or copying from the board in the classroom.

Sometimes delays in gross motor skills such as riding a bicycle without training wheels, skipping or hopping also improve with VT.

The first step to determine if your child is a good candidate for VT is completion of a Symptoms Checklist form followed by an in-office initial evaluation. The type of symptoms and severity of the complaints, determine if your child can benefit from VT.

what does VT consist of?

Typical VT programs consist of about 9 months of therapy and include in-office and at-home eye exercises designed to train the eyes to become more efficient in their movements and focusing abilities. The program includes the use of special lenses, prisms or filters, in association with procedures designed to enhance the brain’s ability to control eye alignment, eye movements, focusing ability and eye teamwork. High levels of visual-motor efficiency and endurance are developed during carefully monitored therapy sessions. Patients experience improvements in accommodation [near focusing], convergence [eyes