VISION THERAPY

Vision therapy is a doctor guided, therapist facilitated, series of exercises and activities that are designed to give the patient the opportunity to learn new visual skills to allow for more efficient, comfortable vision.

These exercises are completed in office and then the skills are solidified with at home practice. Dr. Hutchens also uses lenses, prisms and filters to enhance a patient’s visual efficiency.

Every therapy program is individualized to the unique needs of the patient. Programs can vary from 16 weeks to upwards of a year, all depending on the patient needs and complexity of the visual problem. 

Vision Related Learning Difficulties

Many children with learning difficulties may actually have a vision problem, such as Ocular Motor Dysfunction (OMD). OMD is an eye movement disorder that is associated with reading; patients may display frequent loss of place, omission of words, skipping lines, slow reading speed, poor comprehension and/or a short attention span.

15 of the 18 symptoms of ADHD/ADD are the same as those of a vision problem. While Dr. Hutchens certainly does not contest that ADHD/ADD does exist, often times a vision problem can look like an attention problem.

Crossed/Lazy Eyes

Many believe there is a critical period for lazy eyes to be fixed; however, Sue Barry proves this to be untrue. Check out her story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCCtphdXhq8

Post-Concussion

Seeing that vision occurs in the brain, any head injury can easily affect the visual system. Often times post-concussion patients may have light sensitivity, balance issues and/or difficultly with near work.

Non-Strabismic Binocular Vision Disorders

If you suffer from strain and headaches with near work, sometimes, an inefficient visual system can be at fault. 

 A Functional Assessment encompasses a very detailed, in office evaluation of how the visual system works and responds to stress. In addition, many functional tests are performed, including assessing eye movements for reading. As part of the assessment, many patients will undergo Visual-Perceptual skills testing.

The Functional Assessment takes approximately 2.5 hours. There is also a 0.5-1 hour parent (or patient) consult. The consult takes place approximately two weeks after the assessment and includes a detailed written report of findings.