Vision and learning are intimately related. In fact, experts say that roughly 80 percent of what a child learns in school is information that is presented visually. Good vision is more than seeing 20/20. How the 2 eyes work together as a team (binocular vision) has a profound effect on a person's ability to recall fact, comprehend new information and solve problems.

"I have been cross-eyed since early infancy and had three surgeries as a child that made my eyes look more or less straight. However, I did not develop stereo vision until age 48 when I underwent optometric vision therapy under the guidance of a developmental optometrist."
Sue Barry, PhD, author of Fixing my Gaze.



Many people think that vision therapy is only for children. However, adults have as much need for this type of vision care as children. When people have trouble using both eyes together or can't focus for great lengths of time, they do not simply grow out of these problems.

For decades eye doctors believed that there was a small critical window for treating patients with eye issues such as eye turns and lazy eye (strabismus and amblyopia). It was believed to be imperative that for any treatment to have a chance of success, it had to be at a young and developing age. Research has scientifically proven this to be incorrect.

Optometric Vision Therapy has opened new doors for those suffering from vision disorders of this nature and, depending on individual prognosis, can now be successfully treated at any age.

Vision therapy is often effective for adults because they are motivated to improve their visual abilities. When people have trouble using both eyes together or can't focus for great lengths of time, they do not simply grow out of these problems.

VISION THERAPY IS NOT JUST EYE EXERCISES!
The goal of optometric vision therapy ("VT") is not to strengthen eye muscles. Your eye muscles are already incredibly strong, and the vision problems VT aims to treat are rarely caused by muscle weakness. Optometric vision therapy is supported by ongoing evidence-based scientific research.

Vision therapy is safe, drug-free, and effective for both children and adults. While visual acuity (the "20/20" part of vision) requires glasses to improve, visual skills such as tracking together along a line of text must be learned during development, these skills can also be improved later in life at any age.

First we need to understand what vision is. Nearly all humans are born with the potential for good eyesight, but vision the ability to identify, interpret and understand what is seen is learned and developed, starting at birth.

In learning to walk, a child begins by creeping, crawling, standing, walking with assistance, and finally, walking unaided. A similar process from gross to fine motor control takes place in the development of vision.

One visual skill builds on another, step-by-step. But many people miss or don't complete a step, or must begin to perform school or other visually demanding tasks before an acceptable foundation of basic visual skill is in place.

Science indicates that we do not see with our eyes or our brain; rather, vision is the reception and processing of visual information by the total person. Since two-thirds of all information we receive is visual, it becomes clear that efficient visual skills are a critical part of learning, working and even recreation. Athletes, for example, use visual training for improved performance in their sport.

Developing visual skills includes learning to use both eyes together effectively. Having both eyes move, align, fixate and focus as a team enhances your ability to interpret and understand the potential visual information that is available to you.

Intelligent persons who are very highly motivated can be good achievers, even with very poor visual skills and abilities, but at untold cost in wasted energy, effort and stress. For those who are less motivated, even one or two deficient visual skills can produce enough stress and frustration to create a non-achiever.

Building visual skills also increases the ability to visualize, conceptualize and to create. Vision therapy trains the entire visual system which includes eyes, brain and body. However, it is important to understand that vision therapy is a form of neurological training or rehabilitation (it can be compared to some forms of occupational therapy or physical therapy).