Vision
Therapy
Has
many names:
vision training, visual training, visual therapy, visual processing
therapy, eye
training, behavioral optometry or orthopedic therapy.
Vision
Therapy can be been described as physical therapy for the visual system
which includes the brain and eyes. Through a series of progressive
therapeutic procedures (eye exercises), patients develop or recover
normal visual skills.
Your child can have "20/20" sight,
but may have a vision problem.
Vision problems include:
- involving focus
- eye teaming
- eye movement
- visual perception
- eye-hand coordination
- visual imagery
A list of some common issues:
- Trouble coping from the board, depth perception (eye
teaming issues),
- Student covering one eye (eye teaming issue)
- Head movement (instead of eye movement, eye tracking)
- Easily distracted, high verbal, avoidance (known as lazy
student),
blinking eyes, etc.
Occupational
Therapies (OT's) are the
providers who are most likely to recommend the therapy (there is some
overlap with the type of therapy)
One
parent described vision therapy as "sort of OT for the eye".
Helpful extracurricular activities
with eye health in mind, actives can include actives like:
swimming, gymnastics, marshall arts, etc.
These include the use coordinated
seeing movement and equal reliance on both eyes crossing the
mid-line.
Myopia is Nearsightedness, is
seeing more easily at near than at distances.
One parent reported to us that vision
therapy was not recommend to reducing the progression of myopia.
Vision problems can interfere with a child's academic performance
and effect a child's ability to learn to read.
The child's vision problem should be check and remediated if possible.
Doing vision therapy can help
solve
part of a reading problem, it does not mean the
student can learn to read by traditional reading methods. If they have a learning disability (LD)
in reading,
they will still need to be taught the sound symbol relationship, using systematic, explicit taught phonics
reading
methods.
Articles:
Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ)
on vision therapy
Articles
about Vision Therapy
Organizations:
College of Optometrists in Vision
Development (COVD)
Optometric Extension Program
Foundation (OEP)
Parents Active for Vision Education
(P.A.V.E.®)
Recommend
Behavioral
Optometrist / Developmental Optometrist, they
will evaluate and do vision therapy. 
