When most people think of good vision, they think of seeing clearly – that is having 6/6 (20/20) vision. While seeing clearly is important, it is only one aspect of vision. Having good vision involves much more than seeing 6/6. Being a good reader, a good driver, or a good athlete requires mastering a complex set of vision skills, such as eye tracking, eye teaming, focusing visual perception and visual memory. Unfortunately, many children and adults have problems with these types of visual skills. Although they may see 6/6, they do not have good vision. They may have trouble reading, copying from the board or working on a computer. They may have difficulty driving or excelling in sports. Research shows that as many as 20% of people may suffer from these types of problems, The good news is that highly effective treatment for these types of problems is available. Optometric Vision Therapy (VT) is a type of therapy that has been used for over fifty years to improve eye muscle control and coordination. VT also treats visual processing, or visual perceptual problems.

Here are the most frequently asked questions about VT:

1. How do I know that I may need VT?

There are many symptoms that indicate a need for VT. Some of the more common symptoms are: eyestrain associated with reading or computer use, double vision, print that appears to "move" on the page, losing your place while reading. Special tests will determine if your specific vision problems can be treated with VT.

2. What is involved with VT?

A VT program incorporates many different exercises that train deficient visual skills. Learning visual skills is like learning to play the piano, or a new sport. VT is not about strengthening muscles. Its about learning new skills. Things learned well stick with you your whole life. Ant today more than ever we understand that you're never too old to learn ! VT exercises are performed in our office under the supervision of a Vision Therapist. Home therapy is also prescribed to reinforce and accelerate the development of newly learned skills. The length of the VT program depends on the nature and severity of your vision problem.

3. What results can I expect?

You can expect your vision skills to improve significantly or completely if you stick to the program as prescribed. The amount of your improvement depends on the type of vision problem(s) you have, how motivated you are, and how regularly you practice your vision exercises.

4. Will my insurance cover VT?

We are a private office and have no formal agreement with any insurance program. Some of our patients have received re-imbursements when approaching their health-insurance provider directly and presenting receipts.

5. What kind of vision problems can be treated with VT?

VT can treat a variety of vision problems including:
Visual Dysfunctions, strabismus (eyeturn), amblyopia (lazy eye), oculomotor dysfunction, focusing problems, double vision, convergence insufficiency or excess.

Visually-related Learning Problems.
Visual motor or visual perceptual problems can interfere with the input and processing of visual information. This decreases a student's performance on reading, writing and spelling tasks which are highly dependent on visual skills (see symptom checklist below).

Visual motor problems can occur in these skills: tracking, eye teaming, or focusing.

Visual perceptual delays can occur in: visual-motor integration, visual memory or sequential memory, visual discrimination, or speed of visual processing.

Enhancement of Sports Performance:
VT can be used to improve athletic performance through increasing speed of visual reaction time, depth perception, tracking speed (to follow a quick target), or increasing the span of recognition. Enhancing Executive Performance VT can be used to improve work productivity by increasing visual stamina, decreasing symptoms such as eyestrain or headaches associated with desk or computer work, improving speed of scanning and reading.

For more information, and a symptoms checklist to determine if we can help make you more productive and comfortable while working at your desk or computer, please refer to the Vision Care section on Computer Vision.

Brain Injury Rehabilitation, Visual skills, and activities dependent on visual skills (such as walking and driving) are often impaired after brain injury resulting from stroke, trauma, tumors, etc. VT can be used to retrain affected visual skills.
Symptoms of brain injury-related visual impairment include double vision, poor judgment of distance while driving or reaching for objects, frequent loss of place while reading, skipping words, sensitivity to light, vertigo, fluctuating vision, bumping into objects, decreased depth perception, leaning to one side, and eyestrain.
Please refer to the Vision Care section on Brain Injuries for more information.

Can I Benefit from VT?

If you have 2 or more of the following symptoms, you can benefit from VT. It takes energy to compensate for a vision problem, which results in discomfort and loss of productivity. Improving your visual skills can improve your academic, executive and athletic performance.

• My eyes feel tired or uncomfortable while reading
• Headaches while reading or studying
• Reading or computer use makes me sleepy
• I have difficulty remembering what I have read
• Frequent loss of concentration while reading
• Words move, jump, or appear to "swim"
• Double vision
• I am a slow reader
• "Pulling" sensation around eyes while reading
• Words blur, or go in and out of focus
• I often lose my place, or jump over letters & words
• I often re-read the same line over and over
• I do not like to read for pleasure
• I have a short attention span while reading compared to other activities
• I have poor eye-hand coordination while playing sports
• I have poor depth perception
• I learn better verbally than visually