Vision Therapy (Eye Therapy, Visual Therapy or Vision Training)

Beyond Standard 20-20 Eye Care

Some visual conditions cannot be treated adequately with glasses, contact lenses, surgery, and/or eye patching and are best resolved through a program of Vision Therapy.

Beyond Eye Exercises

Doctor-supervised in-office vision Therapy is much more than eye exercises.

What is Vision Therapy?

Vision Therapy is an individualized, supervised, treatment program designed to correct visual-motor and/or perceptual-cognitive deficiencies. Vision Therapy sessions include procedures designed to enhance the brain's ability to control:

• eye alignment

• eye tracking and eye teaming,

• eye focusing abilities,

• eye movements, and/or

• visual processing.

Eye, Visual-motor, and Cognitive Skills Therapy

Visual-motor skills and endurance are developed through the use of specialized computer and optical devices, including therapeutic lenses, prisms, and filters. During the final stages of therapy, the patient's newly acquired visual skills are reinforced and made automatic through repetition and by integration with motor and cognitive skills."

Who Benefits from Vision Therapy Eye Exercises?

• Vision, Reading & Learning: Visual Learning Disabilities

  Vision Therapy can help those individuals who lack the necessary visual skills for effective reading, writing, and learning (i.e., eye movements, eye tracking, eye teaming, and focusing skills, convergence, eye-hand activity, visual memory skills, etc.).

  Find out more about Vision, Reading & Learning - Learning Related Vision Problems - Visual Learning Disability

• Children or Adults with Eye Tracking Problems

  Vision Therapy helps individuals develop normal eye tracking and eye teaming skills. When the two eyes fail to track and move together as an effective team (binocular vision), performance in many areas of life can suffer (reading, writing, sports, depth perception, etc.).

  Find out more about Vision Therapy for Eye Tracking and Eye Teaming Problems

• Problems with Binocular Vision (2-eyed vision) - Eye Teaming, Depth Perception, etc.

  Vision Therapy helps individuals develop normal response, coordination and teamwork of the two eyes (binocular vision, eye teaming, depth perception, etc.).

  When the two eyes fail to work together as an effective team, performance in many areas of life can suffer (school achievement, reading skills, sports abilities, depth perception, hand-eye coordination, eye contact, etc.).

  Treatable problems with binocular vision are not uncommon in the general population and they are very common in the special needs or developmentally delayed populations. Binocular vision disorders can occur for a variety of reasons, such as:

  • Reduced vision in one eye (e.g., Lazy Eye or Amblyopia, Cataracts, etc.)
  • Deficient eye movements or lack of normal coordination between the two eyes (e.g., Poor Eye Tracking, Strabismus / squint, or Convergence Insufficiency, etc.)
  • Problems with the brain comparing images from both eyes (e.g., can be due to any of the above and/or Double Vision, Astigmatism, Anismetropia, and/or many other medical and visual conditions.)

• Children and Adults with Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)

  Vision Therapy programs offer much higher cure rates for turned eyes and/or lazy eye when compared to eye surgery, glasses, and/or patching, without therapy. The earlier the patient receives Vision Therapy the better, however, our office successfully treats patients well past 21 years of age.
  
  Recent scientific research has disproven the long-held belief that children with lazy eye, or amblyopia, can’t be helped after age 7.
  
  Find out more about Vision Therapy for Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)

• Children and Adults with Strabismus (cross-eyed, wandering eye, eye turns, etc.)

  Vision Therapy is a the successful non-surgical treatment for strabismus that works to improve both vision and cosmetic appearance. Strabismus surgery often frequently only gives cosmetic benefits (even with repeated surgeries) whereas Vision Therapy provides vision improvement and a much greater cure rate. Strabismus in children does not go away on its own and strabismus in adults is treatable, so we strongly recommend treatment with Vision Therapy for strabismus.
  
  Find out more about What is Strabismus, Strabismus vs. Lazy eye, Vision Therapy for Strabismus

• Convergence Insufficiency (common near vision disorder)

  Peer-reviewed national scientific studies -- funded by the National Eye Institute and also conducted at Mayo Clinic -- have proven that in-office Vision Therapy is the best treatment for Convergence Insufficiency.
  
  See What is Convergence Insufficiency? Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment w/ Vision Therapy

• Double Vision (diplopia)

  The goal of Vision Therapy is to help the patient develop or restore normal single vision. Non-surgical vision Therapy treatment —with or without glasses or surgery— offers much higher cure rates for double vision as compared to eye surgery, glasses, and/or patching, without therapy. Vision Therapy can help children and adults develop or recover single binocular vision with depth perception at any age. Age is not a barrier to successful treatment. It is possible to change the brain at any age, thanks to something called “neuroplasticity”.
  
  Find out more about Eye Exercises for Double Vision with Vision Therapy Treatment

• Vision Rehabilitation for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) including Stroke, Birth Injury, Brain Damage, Head Injury, Whiplash, Cerebral Palsy, MS, etc.

  Vision can be compromised as a result of neurological disorders or trauma to the nervous system. Vision Therapy can effectively treat the visual consequences of brain trauma (including double vision, balance disorders, reading problems, dizziness, etc.).
  
  Find out more about Eye / Vision Problems and Traumatic Brain Injury

• Visual Rehabilitation for Concussions, Post-concussive Symptoms, etc.

  We are expert in the evaluation and treatment of post-concussion eye / visual symptoms and vision problems. Vision happens in many areas of the brain and many people don't realize that many of the physical, behavioral, and cognitive symptoms and changes that occur after a concussion are due to vision problems that can be effectively treated with Vision Therapy (also called Vision Rehabilitation Therapy).
  
  Find out more about Vision Problems After Concussion and Vision Rehabilitation Therapy for Concussion Recovery

• Special Needs - ADD, ADD/ADHD, Attention Deficit Disorders

  “Vision Therapy is a life-changing treatment for many children and adults who are diagnosed or misdiagnosed as ADHD.” says Dr. Glen Steele, O.D., Chair of American Academy of Optometry (AOA) InfantSEE™ and Children’s Vision Committee.

  Numerous recent scientific studies draw a strong connection between eye movements and suspected or diagnosed ADHD. For example, a new study from Tel Aviv University in Israel found strong evidence that involuntary eye movement may be an indicator of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

  According to Dr. Glen Steele, O.D., Chair of the AOA’s InfantSEE™ and Children’s Vision Committee, “Optometry has always stated that eye movements are linked to reduced attention, often leading to a misdiagnosis of ADHD...this [the Tel Aviv University] study furthers the understanding that eye movements are linked and should be addressed.”
  
  Find out more about Eye Exams & Vision Therapy for Kids and Adults with ADD / ADHD

• Special Needs - Autism Spectrum Disorders

  Vision therapy eye exercises stimulate, organize, integrate and stabilize visual arousal, eye contact, eye movements and the central visual and vestibular system for autistic children and adults. Dr. James D. Hemmig is highly experienced in examining and treating autistic individuals with Vision Therapy and/or prism lenses.
  
  Find out more about Special Needs: Vision Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Special Needs - Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

  Visual processing skills are often affected in individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Specialized testing and treatments such as Vision Therapy, tinted lenses and/or prism glasses treat the problems with eye focusing, eye coordination, and eye movements in children or adults with Sensory Processing Disorder.
  
  Find out more about Sensory Processing Disorders Symptoms, Tests and Treatments

• Visual Rehabilitation for Special Needs - Developmental Delays

  Vision can be compromised as a result of neurological disorders or trauma to the nervous system. Vision Therapy can effectively treat the visual consequences of brain trauma (including double vision).
  
  Find out more about Autism Eyes Test, Vision Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Yoked Ambient Prism Lenses

• Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) or Visual Stress from Reading and Computers

  21st-century life demands more from our vision than ever before. Many children and adults constantly use their near vision at school, work and home. Environmental stress on the visual system (including frequent or excessive computer use or close work) can induce blurred vision, eyestrain, headaches, even motion sickness, etc.
  
  Find out more about Computer Vision Syndrome

• Sports Vision Training

  Strong visual skills are critical to sports success. Not much happens in sports until your eyes instruct your hands and body as to what to do! We can measure and successfully improve eye-hand coordination, visual reaction time, peripheral vision, eye focusing, eye tracking and teaming, visualization skills, and more. Find out how children and adults improve coordination and sports ability through Vision Therapy.
  
  Find out more about Sports Vision Training

Vision Therapy can be the answer to many visual problems. Don't hesitate to contact our office with your questions.