Vision problems can affect learning and development in children. Developmental optometry evaluates vision issues beyond visual acuity to identify problems like eye teaming, tracking, and visual processing. Vision therapy uses in-office procedures and home activities to treat issues through neurological training, helping children overcome challenges mistaken for conditions like ADHD. Seeing a developmental optometrist allows specialized assessment and treatment including glasses with bifocals or prisms and vision therapy.
2. Let’s Talk About . . .
• Developmental Optometry
• Vision
• Vision Related Problems
• Identifying Vision Problems v. ADHD
• Vision Therapy
We’re going to
talk about some
things you may
recognize in
yourself, a family
member, or a
patient
Please ask
lots of
questions
5. “I Can’t”
“It’s blurry”
“The words
move”
“I’m tired”
We work with students who struggle with learning due to vision problems
(sometimes confused with other learning issues like ADHD)
6. We also work with developmental disabilities including
Autism, CP, and Downs Syndrome
9. It is more than 20/20 (acuity at 20 feet)
Most classroom learning
occurs at 20 inches!
Acuity is
important
but it is only
one aspect of
vision
10. Vision is the comprehensive ability to organize what is seen so
that it can be understood and used to guide and direct one’s
actions to interact with the world.
“Sight is what our eyes see. Vision is what our mind understands what we see.”
From Ricki G. Robinson, MD, MPH, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics USC (CA)
13. Vision is our
Dominant
Sense
“The brain receives about 3 million bits of
information at every moment, and 2 million
of these are from vision”.
From V. S. Ramachandran MD, PhD
14. Vision develops over predictable stages
Primitive
Reflexes
Gross
Motor
Fine
Motor
15. “When we open our eyes each morning,
it is upon a world we have spent a
lifetime learning to see.”
From An Anthropologist on Mars By Oliver Sachs, MD
32. WHAT DO WE NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT
VISION
PROBLEMS?
33. "National PTA recognizes: Early diagnosis and treatment
of children's vision problems is a necessary component to
school readiness and academic learning . . .”
Learning-Related Vision Problems Education and Evaluation - National PTA resolution June 1999
34. 20% of the
US
population
cannot view
3-D movies
It is estimated that more
than 10 million children
(ages 0 to 10) suffer from
vision problems
35. “Results from a
nationwide clinical
trial…many children
ages 7 through 17
with amblyopia (lazy
eye) may benefit from
treatments that are
more commonly used
on younger children.”
"3-fold incidence of
ADHD
with presence of
convergence
insufficiency.”
“Office-based
vergence
accommodative
therapy is an effective
treatment for
children with
symptomatic
convergence
insufficiency (CI).”
Research?
National Eye Institute
April 11, 2005
Ratner Children’s Eye Center,
Department of Ophthalmology,
University of California
Convergence Insufficiency
Treatment Trial (CITT)
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
October 13, 2008
37. See a
Developmen
tal
Optometrist
who can . . .
Glasses may contain
bifocals and prisms
Virginia Vision Therapy Center
. . .
prescribe
Specialized
Glasses
. . . conduct
Developmen
tal Vision
Assessment
and . . .
38. Vision Therapy is neurological training
Does not
strengthen
eye
muscles
In-Office
Procedure
s and
Activities
Home
Vision
Training
Vision
Therapy
39. From 2-D to 3-D Sight:
How One Scientist Learned to See
Scientific American August 4,2009
From www.stereosue.com