Vision Therapy

Is there a difference between "eyesight" and "vision"?
What is vision therapy?
Who needs vision therapy?
What is the appropriate age to benefit from vision therapy?
What is visual perception?

Is there a difference between "eyesight" and "vision"?

Yes, those words cannot be used interchangeably. "Eyesight" refers to the clarity or degree of distortion of light focused within our eyes. When we point our eyes at something such as a tree, light energy, bouncing off the tree, enters our eyes and each point of light stimulates a corresponding area in the back of our eyes. At this point, we haven't really "seen" the tree yet. The light energy, stimulating the corresponding areas in the back of our eyes, gets conducted along the nerve which connects each eye to areas in the brain. Now, by an amazingly complex process, our brain derives meaning from the light energy and we finally "see" the tree.

The above explanation takes the place of the "camera" model of the eye. Despite what you may have learned, there is no little upside down image on the back of your eye, only the light energy reflected by the thing to which you're pointing your eyes.

Eyesight occurs in the eye whereas vision occurs in the brain.

Vision: The assimilation of light energy which gets filtered by the eye then interpreted by the brain to derive meaning and direct action.

What is vision therapy?

General definition- A progressive program of prescribed procedures to help an individual's eyes work together and with their brain to properly interpret visual information.

Our definition- An arrangement of conditions such than the individual discovers how to interpret visual information more effectively, free of adaptation.

It is important to understand the doctor's or therapist's role is to guide each individual's visual discovery. Each individual comes about truly understanding their vision differently.

Before a vision therapy program can begin, a comprehensive ocular health examination must be performed. It is our policy, at the Vision Development Center, for you to receive your comprehensive eye exam from your primary care optometrist before we extend our services to you.

Who needs vision therapy?

Anyone who is uncomfortable with their vision can benefit from vision therapy. Uncomfortable vision may include headaches, eye strain, dizziness, double vision, or blurred vision with near work. Tracking, fixating, and scanning problems may contribute to reduced reading speed, poor comprehension when reading, or sports related problems especially those involving fast moving objects. Other issues related to vision include poor peripheral awareness, automaticity, hand-eye coordination, visual memory and spatial awareness.

What is the appropriate age to benefit from vision therapy?

Infants from about 3 months to adults 90+ years old can benefit. Strategies to guide an infant's visual development begin at home. There are many passive types of therapy a parent can do with their baby outside of the office environment. However, should an infant begin showing signs of an eye turn, a comprehensive eye exam should be performed in short order.

In-office therapy may begin once the child is able to reason and comprehend oral instruction. Usually this occurs around the ages of 4 or 5 years.

There is no upper age limit for vision therapy. Our visual system never becomes fixed since it takes place in the brain. Many people have had to re-learn basic bodily functions after a stroke for example. The same principle can be applied to re-learning vision.