What is Vision Therapy?

Vision Therapy is a behavioral approach to correcting various eye problems that affect one’s ability to receive and process visual information. A person may have “perfect” vision while reading an eye chart, pass a vision screening by reading 20/20, and still have developmental vision problems. The areas most often affected are focusing, eye teaming, eye movements and visual processing.

Vision Therapy is an individualized treatment program designed to improve and sometimes eliminate conditions such as lazy eye (amblyopia), crossed eyes (strabismus), focusing insufficiency and excess, ocular muscle dysfunction, and learning-related vision disorders. Specialized lenses, filters, prisms and instruments are used in a training program, which is customized for each patient. Vision Therapy is a sub-specialty of Optometry and only 5-10% of optometrists provide Vision Therapy.

Important Statistics

1 in 4 children have some sort of vision related problem that affects learning. 1
22% of children without learning disabilities have a vision related problem. 2
73% of children labeled reading-disabled have a vision disorder. 2
As many as 2-5% of pre-school children (4 million nationwide) are estimated to have impaired vision. 3
Only 66% of preschoolers received a vision screening by their pediatricians. 4
30% of children who receive a late diagnosis of amblyopia were screened as pre-schoolers. 5
Recent estimates conclude that up to 100,000 four-year-olds in America have amblyopia. 6
Requiring universal, comprehensive eye exams would result in 51% more children being successfully treated for amblyopia by age 10. 6

1. College of Optometrists in Vision Development,ajc.com 2004

2. The Intelligencer - The Record, pg. c-1, 1993

3. American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001

4. Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 89, No. 5

5. Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 87, pp. 178-185

6. White, Alan J. Ph.D. Vision Council of America, 2004

Determining if Vision Therapy is the Answer

All children should have their first comprehensive eye exam, performed by and optometrist or ophthalmologist, between the ages of 6-12 months. If the initial examination is normal, then the next exam should be at age 3. If there are no problems to be treated or monitored then the next exam should be performed prior to starting formal schooling, usually at age 5. Routine eye care should be at regular intervals of 1-2 years for most healthy children.

A comprehensive eye exam is necessary prior to a vision therapy evaluation to rule out disease and to correct any vision problem with glasses or contact lenses if necessary. A vision therapy evaluation consists of more specialized testing of the focusing, binocular, oculomotor and visual processing systems.

If vision therapy is determined to be necessary, a weekly in-office program with home involvement is prescribed specifically tailored to the individual patient’s needs. The specialized program targets the problem areas of the visual system. Each week the patient meets with a vision therapist in our office. Activities are completed in office to train the visual system, monitor progress and a daily homework plan is given. Weekly consultations are held by phone or in office with the parent and supervising doctor. The duration of a typical Vision Therapy program lasts from 12-36 sessions.

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