Reading difficulties? Dyslexia?

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

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 teaming
• eye focusing abilities
• eye movements, and/or
• visual processing.

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?

Children and adults with visual challenges, such as:

Learning-related Vision Problems

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

Poor Binocular Coordination

Vision Therapy helps individuals develop normal coordination and teamwork of the two eyes (binocular vision). When the two eyes fail to work together as an effective team, performance in many areas can suffer (reading, sports, depth perception, eye contact, etc.)

Strabismus and 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.

Stress-induced Visual Difficulties

21st century lifestyles demand more from our vision than ever before. Children and adults in our technological society constantly use their near vision at work and at home. C.V.S. (Computer Vision Syndrome) is one of the fastest growing health concerns in the workplace today. Environmental stresses on the visual system (including excessive computer use or close work) can induce eyestrain, headaches, and/or visual difficulties which can be effectively treated with corrective lenses and/or Vision Therapy.

Neuro Optometric Evaluation and Treatment

Vision can be compromised as a result of neurological disorders or trauma to the nervous system (such as, traumatic brain injuries, stroke, whiplash, developmental delays, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, etc.). Vision Therapy can effectively treat the visual consequences of trauma (including double vision).

Vision Therapy can be the answer to many visual problems. Don't hesitate to contact us with your questions. To read definitions of Vision Therapy by outside sources, visit children-special-needs.org.

For more details on these on these services please call and arrange an appointment.

Dyslexia

Any parent looking for help for their child with learning difficulties should ensure that they have checked out the possibility of vision problems at an early stage.

Recent studies have suggested that up to 80% of dyslexic children have unresolved visual problems contributing to their reading and spelling difficulties even though they may see well and pass the simple eyesight tests which are carried out in schools.

If a student has failed to benefit from modern teaching strategies then it is time to examine the neurological equipment of the child.

• It is estimated that >80% of all learning is via the visual system.
• 70% of all sensory fibres that reach the brain come from the two retinae of our eyes.
• 2/3 of all neural activity is involved in processing visual information.

This is an illustration of the significant influence that our visual system has on us as functioning individuals. When the visual system is operating more efficiently more information can be received, processed and understood.

For example:

• Convergence – when there is a weakness in eye teaming it is not unusual to tire quickly.
• Concentration span will be poor and they often daydream whilst attempting to read.
• Accommodation (Focusing Ability) – a deficiency may increase the time necessary to copy from the board, induce fatigue and result in reduced reading comprehension. Occasionally the child will simply avoid close work. Rapid automatic focus adjustment is essential to efficient visual function. This skill also relates to the ease with which visual attention may be sustained.

Recently there has been work carried out on the development of coloured spectacles and contact lenses to try and stabilise print when people are reading. However, these systems would appear to work by relieving the symptoms and not by changing any underlying mechanism. A full Optometric assessment would show how much visual information is being used, processed and how it is comprehended. We will also look at the interactions between vision, our vestibular (balance) and our directional awareness mechanism. Children with these associated complications are often the ones who get easily lost in new surroundings, have difficulty learning to tell time on an old fashioned clock and have poor organisational skills.

Contact us for more information

For more information look at these websites:

www.babo.co.uk
www.nora.cc