Vision Therapy is also referred to as:

• Visual Training
• Vision Training
• Visual Therapy
• Optometric Vision Therapy
• Orthoptics (not entirely accurate)
• Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation
• Behavioral Optometry
• Developmental Optometry

• What is Vision Therapy or Vision Training?
  -- FAQs, Links, Scientific Studies, Research, etc.
What is Vision Therapy?
by the American Optometric Association.
Answering Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Vision Therapy
An Interview with Dr. Leonard J. Press, FCOVD, FAAO.
What is Vision Therapy?
by ADD-ADHD.ORG
This site reports on the connection between attention deficit disorders, learning, reading, behavior and undetected visual problems in children and adults.
Treatment Options: Vision Therapy, Eye Surgery, or Orthoptics
by Dr. Jeffrey Cooper, expert on Strabismus and Lazy Eye.
Vision Therapy is defined and compared to Eye Surgery and Orthoptics.

1. The Bates Method - Self-Directed Vision Improvement Invented in the 1920s
   The Bates Method is NOT to be confused with Vision Therapy. The Bates Method was invented by W.H. Bates, an ophthalmologist who wrote Perfect Sight Without Glasses in 1920! Optometric Vision Therapy, on the other hand, has continued to evolve into the 21st century with new research, treatment technologies, and cross-disciplinary work with medical professionals, such as neurologists, occupational therapists, audiologists, etc.
   
   The National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health has published new research on the Successful Treatment of Lazy Eye (Amblyopia) in Older Children and Treatment of Convergence Insufficiency. Research on neuroplasticity by neuroscientists also shows that the brain is capable of much greater change in adulthood than was previously thought possible.


2. Self-Help Eye Exercises with Pencil Push-ups, Kits, or Computer Programs
   Self-help eye exercise programs such as the now defunct See Clearly Method or the Vision for Life program are NOT to be confused with Vision Therapy. Vision Therapy involves therapeutic procedures supervised by an optometrist or vision therapist as well as the use of medically regulated devices, such as lenses and prisms. Self-directed eye exercise programs are not an adequate substitute for professional evaluation and treatment of binocular vision conditions, such as Amblyopia (Lazy Eye), Strabismus (Congenital Esotropia, Intermittent Exotropia, Hypertropia, etc.), Anisometropia or Convergence Insufficiency Disorder.


3. Vision Therapy is Not Orthoptics Alone
   Vision therapy programs include orthoptics, but, technically there are broad distinctions between Vision Therapy and orthoptics. Learn more at What are Orthoptics?

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To locate an eye doctor who provides comprehensive pediatric vision examinations and treatment, including Vision Therapy, request a referral through our Referral Directory: Find a Pediatric Eye Doctor.

All other images and text: copyright © 1996- by Rachel Cooper. All rights reserved.