VISION THERAPY
BUILDING A BETTER CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE EYES AND BRAIN.
Many vision problems can be corrected with glasses or contacts. Others require a much more comprehensive approach that goes beyond correcting for 20/20 vision.
Vision therapy is an individualized program that corrects visual motor and processing deficiencies. It strengthens the connection between the eyes and brain to improve:
eye alignment
eye tracking
eye focusing
eye teaming
visual processing
VISION THERAPY CAN IMPROVE LIFE.
Eyes can be trained to better gather visual information from the world around us. Visual dysfunctions can be treated at any age. And because the reason for therapy varies, no two treatment programs are alike.
Who benefits from vision therapy?
Students struggling with vision or learning
Individuals post-concussion or with other head injuries
Adults who may have struggled with learning their whole life
Athletes who want to reach peak performance levels
STUDENTS STRUGGLING WITH LEARNING
Problems with eye teaming, eye focusing, and eye tracking make reading and learning more difficult in school-aged children. These problems are also more prevalent in school-aged children with dyslexia. A developmental eye exam is essential if your child has struggles with reading and writing, especially if dyslexia is suspected.
VISION THERAPY FOR KIDS
Vision therapy helped me see 3D for the first time. I can also ride my bike better, even without training wheels! I can now read my piano music much better, too. When playing baseball at home, I can hit the ball.
WHAT CONDITIONS ARE COMMONLY TREATED WITH VISION THERAPY?
EYE TEAMING / CONVERGENCE INSUFFIENCY
Muscles help the eyes work together as a team so they point in the same place at the same time. When you look at something close, the eyes must come together or converge. When the muscles fail to work together, they must work harder to align, which leads to strain. The best treatment for convergence insufficiency is office-based vision therapy.
EXAMPLE:
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
excessive blinking, squinting or closing an eye, inability to sustain attention for near tasks, moving words or doubling print.
EYE TEAMING / BINOCULAR VISION DYSFUNCTION
Your eyes are supposed to work together as a team along with your brain. Muscles guide the eyes to point in the same place at the same time. When the two eyes work effectively, they perform as one. When the muscles fail to work together, you must work harder to align your eyes which leads to strain and frustration.
COMMON EYE TEAMING ISSUES INCLUDE: convergence insufficiency, convergence excess, esophoria, exophoria, and general binocular dysfunction.
EXAMPLE:
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
excessive blinking, squinting or closing an eye, loss of efficiency with near tasks, headaches and double vision.
EYE FOCUSING / ACCOMMODATIVE DYSFUNCTION
Your eyes have a focusing mechanism that kicks in when you look at objects up close, and relaxes when you look at objects far away. This process should be effortless, but when it’s not, you must work harder to engage and sustain near point focus.
COMMON EYE FOCUSING ISSUES INCLUDE:
accommodative spasm, accommodative insufficiency, and accommodative fatigue.
EXAMPLE:
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
headache, eye strain, fatigue, intermittent blurred vision, and inability to sustain attention for near tasks.
EYE TRACKING / OCULOMOTOR DYSFUNCTION
Your eyes should move swiftly and accurately to follow moving objects or track across a line of text while reading. If they don’t, it’s difficult to organize visual information and make sense of it.
COMMON EYE TRACKING ISSUES INCLUDE: saccadic dysfunction and pursuit dysfunction.
EXAMPLE:
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
loss of place when reading, skipping words or letters, difficulties with spacing when writing, and challenges with fixation.
Itt a kes morew orktou nder stan dwhat ouse ewhe nyouh ave difficult ie swith eyet racking.
DID YOU KNOW?
Children with ADD/ADHD are 3x more likely to have an underlying vision problem.
These children commonly:
Show a short attention span for close work
Skip and reread lines
Have poor comprehension
Take longer to do homework
Many times, attention problems go away when the vision problem is fixed.
VISION THERAPY FOR TEENS
I didn’t like how I felt when I took ADD medication. When talking with my eye doctor, he referred me to Visions. As a high school student, I was hesitant because there were a lot of younger kids, but I put in the work in vision therapy and no longer lose my place or attention when reading. Homework goes faster, school is easier, and I can compete better in sports.
VISUAL THINKING / VISUAL INFORMATION
PROCESSING DYSFUNCTION
When information goes from your eyes to your brain, it’s integrated with other sensory information so it can be understood. If this type of processing doesn’t happen, it makes it difficult to recall or process new information.
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
challenges with spelling, memory, expressing thoughts in written form, reading comprehension, and letter/word reversals.
VISUAL PROCESSING SKILLS HELP YOU:
• find similarities and differences between pictures
• find similarities and differences between words
• spot details among distracting information
• analyze how objects relate to others
• recall information previously seen
• learn how forms can change and stay the same
EXAMPLE:
Study the picture and see if you can recall the details before you see the picture again.
EYE TURN / STRABISMUS
When your brain is unable to guide your eyes to align together, binocular vision is disrupted, resulting in an eye that turns, wanders in or out or sometimes up or down. The same eye may consistently drift or the eyes may alternate in fixation.
FORMS OF STRABISMUS INCLUDE:
esotropia, exotropia, hypertropia and hypotropia.
EXAMPLE:
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
physical appearance of eye misalignment, double vision, challenges with depth perception, or motion sickness.
exotropia
hypotropia
hypertropia
esotropia
LAZY EYE / AMBLYOPIA
When the brain receives conflicting information from the eyes, it will ignore information that is entering from the challenged, amblyopic eye. The conflict can be due to prescription difference between the eyes or an eye turn. While amblyopia used to be treated with eye patching, it is now commonly treated more comfortably and successfully through binocular treatment methods such as SHAW lens technology and vision therapy.
EXAMPLE:
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
visual discomfort, challenges with depth perception, poor reading eye movements, difficulty driving or motion sickness.
What a well-developed eye sees
What an amblyopic eye sees
CONCUSSION + BRAIN INJURY
Concussions or other brain injuries can affect the ability to properly use eye teaming, tracking and focusing skills. Over 50% of individuals that have suffered a concussion experience vision problems that can cause headache, eye strain, blurred vision or double vision.
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
headache, eye strain, blurred vision or double vision.
NO TWO PROGRAMS ARE ALIKE
Reasons to consider Vision Therapy are as unique as you are. Visual dysfunctions can be treated at any age. Call us today!
DO YOU KNOW THE SIGNS
OF VISION PROBLEMS?
How often do these symptoms occur?
Add up the points for your responses and see what you should do below.
SIGNS OF A VISION PROBLEM
FREQUENCY
Blurry vision when looking close
Words on page appear to double, move, or overlap
Headaches while or after working close
Words run together when reading
Burning, itchy, or watery eyes
Falls asleep when reading
Seeing or performing worse at the end of the day
Skips or repeats lines when reading
Dizziness or nausea with near work
Tilts head or closes one eye when reading
Difficulty copying from the board at school
Reversals of letters (b/d or p/q) or words (was/saw)
Avoids near work such as reading
Omits or skips small words when reading
Writes uphill or downhill
Misaligns digits or columns of numbers
Low reading comprehension or worsens at end of day
Poor or inconsistent performance in sports
Holds reading material close or leans in to computer
Trouble keeping attention on reading
Difficulty completing assignments in reasonable time
Responds “I can’t” before trying something new
Avoids sports or games
Poor hand/eye coordination
Poor handwriting
Does not judge distance accurately
Clumsy, often knocks things over
Poor use or management of time
Does not make change well
Misplaces or loses belongings
Car or motion sickness
Forgetfulness or difficulties with remembering
Question of ADHD or behavior problems
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less than 15 points: routine exam recommended call 605-274-6717
16-24 points: developmental vision problem possible, vision therapy evaluation recommended call 605-271-7100
greater than 25 points: developmental vision problem likely, strongly recommend vision therapy evaluation, call 605-271-7100
THE BRAIN IS
DYNAMIC AND
FLEXIBLE
The brain is dynamic, flexible, and able to learn at any age. Children with untreated vision problems become adults with untreated vision problems. Adults figure out many ways to compensate for their visual problems. They can continue with any strenuous visual work they need to do, but often come home extremely tired after sitting at their desk all day. Vision Therapy can help the connection between the eyes and brain!
VISION THERAPY FOR ADULTS
Before I did vision therapy, I was not wanting to read at all because all I saw was double. Now I can see way better and because of vision therapy, I’ve read 30 books! I’m very happy with myself. I have learned so much!