Vision Therapy in Summerland, BC

What is Vision Therapy?

Vision is very complex and goes much beyond the ability to see 20/20 – vision happens in the brain. Optometric vision therapy is a rehabilitative program that is prescribed to treat dysfunctions of the visual system.

Vision therapy can be an effective treatment for many vision problems that cannot be treated with eyeglasses or contact lenses alone. It is an individualized program designed to enhance vision processing skills such as eye-tracking, focusing and eye teaming abilities, as well as hand-eye coordination and visual processing speed.

Exercises are completed in-office on a weekly basis and then the skills are solidified with at home practice throughout the week. Programs can vary in length, all depending on the patient needs and complexity of the visual problem.

The Facebook group ‘Vision Therapy Parents Unite’ contains more information and testimonials from patients and parents.

I’m interested in vision therapy. What’s next?

How Long Will It Take to See Results with Vision Therapy?

Programs can vary from 10 weeks to a year or more, all depending on the patient’s needs and complexity of the visual problem. Over the course of the program, follow-up appointments will be scheduled with Dr. Kimberley Goods to track progress. The decision to continue or complete treatment will be a decision we will make together. The frequency of sessions, the amount of home training, and the duration of the program depends on the severity of the problem, the goals of the patient, their age and their commitment/participation level in the program.

What is Strabismus?

Strabismus is a condition when the eyes are misaligned. The affected eye often appears as if it is turned inwards (esotropia) or outwards (exotropia). Strabismus treatment can involve glasses, vision training, prismatic correction and sometimes even require surgery. Uncorrected strabismus usually leads to amblyopia (see below).

Vision therapy can be a very effective treatment!

It can help correct the eye misalignment and trains the brain to use both eyes simultaneously. If we can correct the misalignment without surgery, the prognosis for good stereo-acuity (depth perception), is much greater. We feel strongly that vision therapy should be the first line of treatment – if we cannot get success, then surgery is required. If surgery is required, post-operative vision therapy can help improve the outcomes.

What Symptoms Should You Look Out For?

Vision disorders in this category occur when the eyes struggle to work together properly. Signs of these disorders may include poor eye movement control, inability to properly focus, poor hand-eye coordination, and difficult with motor skills and eye teaming activities.

If you suffer from eye strain and headaches with near work, sometimes, an inefficient visual system can be at fault. Diagnoses such as convergence insufficiency, accommodative disorders, binocular oculomotor dysfunction fall into this category.

Other Symptoms

• Using a finger to read
• Difficulty Reading or avoiding reading
• Headaches
• Favours one eye over the other
• Poor handwriting
• Double Vision
• Intermittent blurred vision
• Headaches
• Movement of text on paper
• Poor classroom performance
• Difficulty staying focused
• Poor hand-eye coordination
• Constant squinting/head tilting
• Squinting, rubbing or closing one eye
• Loss of place, repetition, or omission of words while reading