What is Vision Therapy? And how can it help your child, teen or an adult you know?

Vision Therapy is a specialty of Optometry that really helps mainly kids and some adults be able to focus on near tasks and reading in a way no other treatment can.  Our visual system has to function in a very complex way in order for us to see things clearly and comprehend them.  The first thing that needs to be done if your child, teen or an adult you know is having difficulty at near is to have an comprehensive eye exam to see if there is any difficulties in basic focusing or a prescription to see clearer.  If there still remains a near oriented problem that affects studying or work a vision therapy work-up would be recommended.  Many kids are diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, developmental delays, are in occupational therapy, go to a learning center, dyslexia and/or just seem to have a near problems.  Many kids, teens and some adults have underlying visual problems that can cause or exacerbate symptoms of all of these problems.  If a child cannot fixate his eyes or focus properly, then his attention will be short, will get upset easily and can have a host of other responses that seem like lack of motivation, but usually are coping mechanisms. So, If a visual disorder is found that vision therapy can help or resolve, other problems may be much more manageable as vision is the fundamental sense that leads everything we do.  I have collected a comprehensive list of links to introduce you to vision therapy and what it may be able to do for your child,teen or an adult you know.  

VISION THERAPY LINKS

General Vision Therapy Information

• What is vision therapy?
  Various definitions of vision therapy by American Optometric Association, eye doctors and advertising-free patient education web sites.
  
• Vision Therapy FAQs
  Don't miss this interview with an expert eye doctor. Frequently Asked Questions are answered.
  
• lazyeye.org
  All about amblyopia. What is Lazy Eye? Detection, Causes, Treatment, etc.
  
• Vision Therapy Research and Medical Literature.
  
• Vision Therapy Success Stories
  Hundreds of Success Stories submitted by parents, children, adult patients, and educators.
  
• United States Directory of Vision Therapy Providers
  This directory provides free and immediate referrals to board certified providers of vision therapy. Find an eye doctor in your local area.
  
• What is a complete eye exam?
  It is not enough to test the clarity of eyesight at a distance of 20 feet (known as 20/20). A complete visual evaluation needs to tests many aspects of vision.
  
  
• Optometrists and Ophthalmologists
  What are the differences in practice focus between a pediatric optometrist and a pediatric ophthalmologist?
  
  
• Choosing an Eye Doctor
  Comments by educators on choosing pediatric vision care for a child.
  
  
• Vision Glossary
  Build your visual health vocabulary!

Vision Therapy and Learning

• Attention Deficit Disorder and Vision
  Is it really ADD/ADHD? Or is it an undetected vision problem?
  
• Convergence Insufficiency and Reading Problems
  This article by an eye doctor explains how and why convergence insufficiency causes problems with reading and learning. See the illustrations!
  
• Dyslexia and Vision Therapy
  The American Academy of Optometrists and the American Optometric Organization discuss vision, learning-related vision problems and dyslexia.
  
• Tracking Problems and Reading Difficulties
  Article by an eye doctor explains explains how and why tracking problems interfere with reading skills. See the illustrations!
  
• Vision therapy and LDs
  As part of an interview, an eye doctor discusses whether vision therapy helps learning disabilities or learning-related vision problems.

Binocular Vision Impairments

• Binocular Vision
  How does it work? Why do we need it?
  
  
• strabismus, crossed eyes, cross-eyed, esotropia, exotropia, hypertropia, etc.
  Strabismus is the medical term for an eye that turns, wanders, crosses or deviates. www.strabismus.org, published 2001, is the most comprehensive site on this medical condition on the Internet.
  
  
• Eye Muscle Surgery and Vision Therapy
  Eye muscle surgery, a common treatment for crossed eyes and lazy eye, does not have great success rates. Learn all about eye muscle surgery at this eye doctor's web site.
  
  
• children-special-needs.org -- lazy eye, crossed-eyes, strabismus, etc.
  A large web site with many pages of easy-to-understand information on crossed-eyes, lazy eye, developmental delays, vision therapy, dyslexia, vision impairments, and much more.
  
  
• Eye Doctors and 3D Vision
  Eye doctors use stereoscopic 3D images to develop and reinforce 3D vision.
  
  
• The Stereo Vision Project
  What is stereo vision? What is a binocular vision impairment?
  
  
• vision3d.com
  Learn to see in 3D! Visit the 3D Art Gallery and view Magic Eye stereograms, stereo photographs, optical illusions and much more.

New Web Vision Care Videos

 I am creating videos for my Web Vision Care websites and Blogs to increase the awareness to the public of the need for  annual eye exams, eye care  and vision care reading glasses after age 40 when presbyopia starts. 
Presbyopia is a process whereby our ability to focus up close starts and progressively becomes diminished as the crystalline lens inside our eyes starts to become more rigid and does not change curvature as easily which is what allows us to focus at distance and up close.  I will add videos over time as I create them.  They are short visuals and I hope you enjoy them.

Read-Rite* Reading Glasses:  Our Online Eye Doctors at Web Vision Care are now offering people with near vision and reading difficulties, a quality and affordable reading glasses choice that has individually designed non-prescription Lens Power for each eye.   Read-Rite* Reading Glasses  helps both eyes see well and work together as a team giving you greater comfort and ease when reading and doing detailed near tasks over long periods of time. Typically, most people pick out regular reading glasses at retail outlets by trial and error where there is a tremendous variability in the optical quality of the lenses and can have a level of distortion which can cause severe eyestrain and headaches. At Web Vision Care, our Online Eye Doctors use only premium quality lightweight corrected curvature lenses to give the clearest optics for the best vision. We offer fashionable classic and contemporary frame styles as well.