Vision Therapy

Good eyesight does not necessarily mean good vision. Although many people think of eyesight and vision as the same, there actually are fundamental differences between these two. Good eyesight means that you have clear images forming at the back of your eyes and a 20/20 eyesight does not necessarily have perfect vision!

Some common warning signs of vision problems to look out for: 

• Losing place whilst reading or the need to use finger to guide words

• Sitting too close to the TV or holding book/devices too close to face when reading/using or the avoidance of any digital devices due to discomfort

• Frequent headaches or tired eyes

• Sensitivity to light, excessive tearing, or frequently rubbing eyes

• Performing poorly academically or in a classroom setting

• Blurred views or double-vision or moving vision

• Squinting or tilting head when trying to see something

• Tendency to close one eye when reading or watching TV

• Avoiding activities that require near distance (reading or homework) or distance vision (playing sports)

What do we work on?

• Eye Focusing – the ability to swiftly and accurately maintain clear vision when moving focus from a near object (eg. Book on a desk) to another at a distance (eg. Whiteboard) or vice versa.

• Eye-Hand Coordination – The coordinated control of eye movement with hand movements along with the processing of visual input. (eg. Reading and writing at the same time or throwing and catching a ball).

• Eye Sight – the ability to see clearly up close (eg. Reading a book), within an intermediate distance (eg. Completing tasks on a computer), and from a distance (eg. Taking notes down from the whiteboard in a classroom setting).

• Eye Teaming – the ability to coordinate both eyes precisely together (eg. The ability to judge distances).

• Eye Tracking – the ability to keep eyes on a target when looking from one object to another, vertical/horizontal movement of the eyes along with a printed material (eg. Reading a magazine), or following an object in movement (eg. A thrown ball).

• Visualisation – The ability to “picture” a story in your mind or the formation of a mental image of something. (eg. “Picturing” the happenings of a story when reading a comprehension).

• Visual Attention – The ability to sustain good concentration in a visual task.

• Visual Memory – The ability to retain visual information along with remembering and recalling details of what was read or seen.

• Visual Perception – The brain’s ability to make sense of what the eyes see.

How do we do it? 

Our vision therapy is a safe, drug-free, and effective program designed for both children and adults. It is beyond just mere eye-exercises. This is a type of physical therapy for the eyes and brain aimed at developing or improving fundamental visual skills and abilities, and also improving visual comfort, ease, and efficiency. We also work on changing how visual information is processed or interpreted through a variety of cognitive practices. Our vision work is mainly focused on Visual input skills; Visual processing skills; and Visual perceptual skills along with primitive reflexes activities (gross motor and ocular motor activities – foundational/prerequisite skills required at all stages of vision program). In addition, our vision program utilizes the use of light therapy (Syntonics) – the use of specific frequencies of visible lights projected into the eyes to enhance visual processing and overall visual efficiency. 

To better understand how to correct visual problems, we will first need to understand the visual system and this can be broken down into three different categories: Visual input skills; Visual processing skills; and Visual perceptual skills. 

Visual input skills

Our eyes need to move, focus, and work together properly. Our activities involve visual motor activities such as eye-hand coordination activities and bilateral coordination activities working on tracking, focusing, and eye teaming (as explained above). 

Visual processing skills

This is basically how the eyes move, collect information and make sense of the information. Visual processing skills include tracking, convergence, divergence, saccades, visual fixation, and visual attention. Refer to our Brain Training program on Visual attention and Visual processing.

Visual perceptual skills 

Visual perception is made up of a complex combination of various skills. Visual perceptual skills include visual memory, visual closure, form constancy, visual spatial relations, visual discrimination, visual attention, visual sequential memory, and visual figure ground. Refer to our Brain Training program on Visual attention and Visual processing. (Brain Training – link tab to the brain training page). 

Before your child starts reading and begin pre-school, these visual skills need to be ready otherwise, it will impede learning to their potential. If any of these visual skills are lacking or not functioning properly, any individual will have to work harder and usually this struggle could lead to headaches, fatigue and other eyestrain problems.

The link between Vision and Learning… Let’s disentangle disruptions in this link together! We offer both FREE Consultation and FREE Evaluation. Call us now to learn more about our Vision therapy program.