What is Vision Therapy: Everything You Need to Know

What is vision therapy?    

Vision therapy is a personalised program of exercises and activities designed to improve visual function, eye movement, and communication between the eyes and brain. This approach has changed the way we address certain vision problems, offering a non-invasive and effective solution for individuals of all ages. Before commencing therapy, one must consider the time and effort required for success, and make sure that it is something you can commit to for the period of time recommended by the optometrist.

Symptoms of reduced visual function would include the following:

1. Headaches

2. Blurred or double vision

3. Suppression or covering of one eye during tasks

4. Discomfort or fatigue, especially towards the end of the day

5. Poor or erratic academic performance

Vision therapy targets specific visual skills, such as:

1. Eye movement and tracking: The ability to smoothly move eyes between two points.

2. Eye teaming: The ability to use both eyes together as a team.

3. Focus and accommodation: The ability to switch between near and far objects.

4. Vision related learning difficulties: Vision is a fundamental factor in thinking and learning.

Benefits of vision therapy

For many children, their visual skills are not up to the demands of the classroom. Some of the benefits of visual therapy include: 

1. Improved eye coordination: Enhanced ability to work together, reducing eye strain and fatigue.

2. Increased accuracy: Better eye movement and tracking lead to improved accuracy in reading, writing, and sports.

3. Reduced eye strain: Decreased fatigue and discomfort when performing visual tasks.

4. Improved academic performance: Enhanced visual skills lead to better reading, writing, focusing and learning.

Some of the conditions treated using visual therapy include:

1. Vergence insufficiencies: Difficulty combining visual input from each eye.

2. Amblyopia (lazy eye): Reduced vision in one eye due to abnormal brain-eye connection.

3. Strabismus (squint): Misalignment of the eyes.

4. Learning difficulties: Difficulties related to the visual demands of learning

5. Traumatic brain injury: Vision problems resulting from head trauma

Vision therapy isn’t for everyone - where to start?

Initially one would have a thorough evaluation to identify visual strengths and weaknesses. If visual therapy is recommended, we then move onto the following steps:

1. Customised program: A personalised program of exercises and activities is worked out for your individual needs.

2. Regular sessions: 8 weekly sessions are set up with a vision therapist. At times, 2 cycles of 8 week sessions could be recommended.

3. Home exercises: Activities to do at home, which must be done regularly to see the results.

What to expect from vision therapy sessions

The fundamental approach of vision therapy is a sequence of activities presented by an optometrist or a trained orthoptist whereby a person develops and learns to control their vision system to ensure it operates efficiently. This in turn allows the person to understand and use visual information more effectively.

1. Exercises and activities: A variety of games, puzzles, and tasks to challenge and improve visual skills.

2. Technology-based training: Utilisation of software, apps, and VR to enhance visual training.

3. Progress monitoring: Regular assessments to track progress and adjust the program where required.

Expected outcomes of vision therapy

This would depend entirely on what your initial symptoms were, but could include reduced headaches, less or no blurred or double vision, no more covering of one eye, comfortable vision with reduced end of day fatigue and improved academic performance.

Although vision therapy is suitable for all ages, it is best to start at an age where the child can understand and follow through when given simple instructions. Where possible, it is best to start visual therapy earlier rather than later for optimal results. 

If vision therapy is recommended for you or your child, be assured that we design the exercises to be engaging and it can yield great results, given the right effort and consistency (especially with homework tasks). At For Eyes Optometrist Fremantle, we have experience in providing vision therapy and always available to discuss this with anyone who is interested and thinks that they may benefit.