What is Vision Therapy?

Vision Therapy (VT for short) helps to build the eye-brain-body connection in patients with binocular vision dysfunction or visual-perceptual challenges.

Who needs Vision Therapy?

Young boy holding a glass ball

  • Patients of any age with eye-teaming problems, such as strabismus (eye turn) or amblyopia (“lazy” eye)
  • Children who struggle with learning, due to delays in visual development (including strabismus, amblyopia, eye movement or focusing disorders, or visual processing delays)
  • Patients of any age who suffered damage to visual processing ability (head trauma, including concussion or mild traumatic brain injury, stroke or progressive neurological conditions)
  • Adults with decompensation of visual skills (double vision, headaches, eye strain with computer use)
  • Athletes with a desire to enhance visual function.

How does it work?

We do this through the following methods:

  • Awareness & Monitoring – Learn what the eyes and body are doing.
  • Correction – Understand how can we use our eyes in a more efficient manner.
  • Loading – Utilize these new techniques under pressure: with additional visual, auditory, motor or cognitive processing. For example, reading letters on a chart while moving or to the beat of a metronome.
  • Application – Apply this new way of using the eyes, brain and body in real life: school, work, athletics, or simply watching a 3D movie.

What steps do I take?

Comprehensive eye examination – If this was recently done at another eye doctor’s office, great! Please have them fax the exam information to us for Dr. Carter to review.

Referral evaluation – Dr. Carter will want to thoroughly review the patient’s developmental history and any other pertinent information, such as a symptom review or the pertinent information related to a traumatic event, if indicated. She may repeat some testing that was done in a comprehensive exam, but she will also do further testing of focus, eye movement, and binocular vision function at this evaluation. Learn more.

Visual Information Processing Evaluation – This one-to-two-hour appointment takes an in-depth look at how the eyes, brain, and body work together. We will look at many areas of visual perception, visual motor integration, body awareness and bilateral integration, laterality, directionality, and primitive reflexes. Dr. Carter reviews the information from this evaluation and writes a detailed report. Learn more.

Consultation – the parents (or patient, if older) discuss the results of the testing.

Vision therapy – Most patients are scheduled for weekly, one-hour vision therapy sessions. Home reinforcement activities are updated each week.

Mid-therapy evaluations – Dr. Carter provides evaluations after every 10 weeks, to assess progress and determine length of time remaining in therapy. A detailed report is written following this appointment and the results are given to the patient/parents at the following vision therapy session.

Graduation – Our goal is to provide new connections in the brain so that our patients have a better ability to use their eyes, brain and body together. When their vision is maximized, we are delighted to see them graduate! See testimonials of our graduates.

Post-therapy evaluation – Three months after graduation, the patient returns for their final evaluation. After creating a “new normal” for our patients, they are typically the same or better than when they graduated!

Miss Amanda describes the process of setting goals with new therapy patients and the joy of achieving those goals throughout the vision therapy process.

Start Your Journey to Better Vision Today!