Vision and learning
New Research

Documents


Additional References

Ciuffreeda KJ The scientific basis for and efficacy of optometric vision therapy in non-strabismic accommodative and vergence disorders. Optometry 2002 Dec; 73 (12):735-62.
This article summarizes models of the accommodative (eye focusing) and vergence (eye teaming systems), as well as cure rates of vision therapy for problems with accommodation and vergence.

New Research on Vision Therapy

Published in the Archives of Opthamology 2005

by Dr. Leonard Press

Many parents, when faced with the prospect of their child doing vision therapy, wonder why they can’t simply be given something to do on their own at home.

For the first time, a landmark study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology in January 2005, shows conclusively that vision therapy done under supervision in an optometric office yields considerably better results than therapy done only at home.

The most common condition benefiting from vision therapy is known as “convergence insufficiency”. This is a difficulty in coordinating both eyes together effectively at near, as when reading. Some of the symptoms studied included:

  • Eyes feeling tired or uncomfortable when reading
  • Words moving, jumping, or unstable when reading
  • Losing ones place while reading, or reading slowly
  • Eye strain or fatigue when using a computer

This was a “gold standard” study. A prospective, multicenter clinical trial, with children age 9 through 18 randomly assigned to control, experimental, or placebo group. Simple, do-it-yourself exercises like “pencil push-ups”, as prescribed by most eye surgeons, had no significant effect on symptoms or clinical findings, with the placebo group showing 8% improvement as compared with 0% in the control group. In contrast, optometric vision therapy resulted in 53% of the patients being totally cured, and 80% improved.

This exciting study which matches the experiences that we, as clinicians, have had in our offices, can be found in:

 Scheiman M, Mitchell GL, Cotter S, et al. A randomized clinical trial of treatments for convergence insufficiency in children. Archives of Ophthalmology 2005;123:14-24.


Learning Disabilities Association Journal shows benefits of vision therapy

by Dr. Leonard Press


If you try to discuss vision therapy with school personnel, or your pediatrician, are you still encountering people who say “we don’t think that stuff works”? It wouldn’t surprise us if you do, because the research on vision therapy has, until recently, not been published widely in journals outside of Optometry.

Teachers and other professionals don’t read Optometry journals. A “must-read” article for anyone who doesn’t appreciate the application of vision therapy to reading, learning, and attention disorders was recently published in the multidisciplinary journal of the Learning Disabilities Association of America. If anyone tells you that there isn’t research to back up the power of vision therapy as related to learning, there’s no longer any excuse for ignorance on this matter.

The source of this new information is: Solan HA. Learning-related vision problems: How visual processing affects reading efficiency. Learning Disabilities 2004;13(1):25-32.

Put this information into the hands of people who have the best interests of children at heart, but sadly do not mention the option of vision therapy to parents. Dr. Solan’s article emphasizes that there is much more to vision than 20/20 eyesight, and reviews the research that vision therapy improves attention and reading in particular, and learning abilities in general.