It makes use of therapeutic lenses, prisms, filters, occluders or patches, timed electronic targets, balance boards as well as other tools made specifically for unique vision therapy activities.
Who Can Benefit From Vision Therapy?
Studies show that one in 10 children have visual issues that impact their academic life negatively, especially those whose eyes do not function well. Regardless of their visual acuity―which is defined as sharpness of vision―this type of therapy helps patients follow objects around them with their eyes.
Having normal visual acuity, that is, having “20/20 vision“, does not equate to have perfect vision. It merely gives a numerical measure for the sharpness or clarity of one’s vision at a certain distance.
Vision therapy addresses other essential visual skills, such as peripheral awareness (side vision), eye coordination (mentioned earlier with regards to teaming), depth perception, color vision, and focusing ability.
Vision therapy is useful for people, regardless of age, who are afflicted with amblyopia (“lazy eye“), convergence insufficiency, some forms of strabismus (misaligned eyes), and eye movement issues also known as oculomotor dysfunction, among other problems.
What Visual Issues Can Be Helped by Vision Therapy?
Amblyopia
This refers to poor vision occurring only in one eye. Information from the affected eye cannot be processed by the brain, thus resulting in a lack of coordination between the two. Its moniker, “lazy eye,” comes from the stronger eye being able to work better.
This condition starts in childhood and is the most common cause of vision loss in children. It affects three out of 100 kids, but treatment is effective and can prevent long-term vision problems.
Convergence insufficiency
This is when the eyes cannot work together when viewing objects close by. One eye turns inward rather than inwards with the other eye, resulting in double or blurred vision. This causes difficulty in reading and is often misdiagnosed as a learning difficulty.
Strabismus
This condition can either be “crossed eyes” or “walled eyes”. Strabismus causes issues with eye movement control, where treatment includes eye patches, glasses, eye exercises, topical medication, and surgery.
Oculomotor dysfunction
This disorder is caused by a developmental delay or brain trauma affecting the central nervous system that impairs the brain’s ability to coordinate the eyes so they move with accuracy and control.
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