Vision Therapy
Our eyes need to not only provide a clear image for our brain to process, but they also must work together to perform many other functions including aiming correctly to allow our brain to fuse the two images we see (one from each eye) into one single image. Our eyes must be able to move smoothly across a page of text, and then they must make jumps from one area of interest to another with precise accuracy and control. When any of these functions is not working smoothly, we may still see “20/20″ but will function poorly in visual tasks at school or work.
Vision Therapy Program
If you or your child is having trouble with visual tasks such as reading, sports, or work, we are able to perform a comprehensive binocular evaluation designed to detect any binocular vision problems. If a problem is detected, we can create a vision therapy program designed to maximize visual performance and increase efficiency at school, work, or other activities. Vision therapy generally requires you to work at home on visual training exercises designed to improve your focusing and image fusing ability of your visual system. Periodically, you will have scheduled visits to our office to check your progress and modify your training exercises.
Limits of Vision Therapy
It is important to understand what vision therapy is not. Despite what you may see advertised online as “vision therapy,” it is not a cure for presbyopia (the loss of focusing power due to age) or nearsightedness. It is also not a treatment for dyslexia. A person with presbyopia will still need reading glasses or progressive lenses after vision therapy, and person with dyslexia will still have dyslexia after vision therapy. However, vision therapy will allow a person with a binocular vision problem to address that particular visual hurdle and improve their visual efficiency, which is necessary for fluent reading.