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OUR VISUAL SYSTEM is fascinating and
complex. The system includes the eyes, brain and the entire
body.
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The above screenshot are taken from
the Nintendo DS video game Flash Focus,
which is designed to "sharpen your eye
power." |
Our eyes gather the information, the brain processes and interprets that information, and then it sends messages to the body to tell it how to react.
There are various visual problems that can arise and disrupt this sensitive system. Many of these problems can be effectively treated with conventional vision aides, such as glasses or contacts. But there are some visual problems that may be better treated through the use of vision therapy.
Vision therapy is a form of neurological training. It is a series of activities, vision exercises, and procedures designed to correct defects or problems in our visual system. Vision therapy can be an effective treatment option for the following conditions:
- Accommodative disorders - focusing issues
- Amblyopia - reduced visual acuity, which is unable to be corrected by refractive means, lazy eye
- Binocular disorders - eye teaming issues
- Ocular motility issues - eye movement disorders
- Strabismus - turned or crossed eye
- Visual processing disorders
- Accident or trauma victims – brain trauma, closed head trauma, strokes, etc.
These visual dysfunctions may affect a patient's ability to maintain attention. They may even create headaches, eyestrain, excessive fatigue and stress. Patients with these visual dysfunctions may have difficulty following print as they read, or they may appear to be clumsy or awkward. Many of these patients have difficulty learning.
When a patient is found to have a visual dysfunction, vision therapy can be prescribed, and is generally done in office. The doctor will evaluate the patient thoroughly and an individualized program will begin. The training often takes place once or twice a week for a half hour to hour session. Duration times for vision therapy vary greatly depending on the severity of the patients conditions, the patients motivation, the amount of sessions a patient can commit to, and the dedication of the patient. The supervising doctor may use many specialized devices.
The use of various lenses, patches, filters, and prisms may also be used. The doctor incorporates electronic targets, vestibular (balance) equipment, and visual-motor-sensory integration training devices. Computers have produced huge advancement in the training procedures for vision therapy patients. Computers allow the doctors the ability to offer patients challenging programs to aide in their training. The patients may also be trained to do some visual exercises at home between sessions. Home training may consist of using special lenses, cards, computer software, and any patches or filters that the doctor recommends.
The goal of vision therapy is to get the patient's brain to use the information gathered by the eyes effectively, to comprehend that information, and to be able to act on it correctly. Achieving the desired visual outcomes, fulfilling the patient's needs, alleviating the symptoms or dysfunctions, and improving the patient's life determine the success of vision therapy.
Vision therapy has its roots in Orthoptics. The late nineteenth century ushered in a new era of treatment of strabismus. A French ophthalmologist, Emile Javal, concluded that there must be a better treatment for strabismus than surgery. He had a father and a sister that underwent the surgery. Javal considered these surgeries massacres of the eye muscles. He developed a training program as an alternative to the surgery. Vision therapy evolved from Orthoptics to treat the other issues already mentioned in this article. Modern Optometric vision therapy was introduced to the United States in 1928.
Vision therapy plays a major role in athletics. Modern athletes depend on any competitive advantage that they can get over their opponents. Athletes depend on a perfect balance of visual information gathering and deciphering of that information. Vision therapy training can help the modern athlete in a number of key visual areas:
- Reaction time
- Concentration
- Accommodation
- Peripheral vision
- Eye hand coordination
- Eye-tracking
- Visual acuity
- Depth perception
- Superior visual acuity
The 2008 Olympics are going on as I finish this article. I am in awe of the athletic abilities of the athletes. As I watched the performance, I wondered how many of the athletes have undergone vision therapy. We often hear about the training that these athletes go through, but I have never heard any mention of vision therapy!
My introduction to vision therapy came around 1992. I came across a copy of "20/20 is not Enough" by Seiderman & Marcus. This is a fantastic book on the subject. It works off of the premise that we are born with sight, but vision is learned. The use of vision therapy provides the learning for vision to take place at optimum levels. The book details case studies of various visual dysfunctions in patients and how vision therapy resolved these issues.
While researching information for this article, I came across a new technology that really caught my attention. The video game giant, Nintendo, has introduced a game for their popular DS handheld game system. The new game is called Flash Focus, and is designed to "sharpen your eye power." The game encourages the user to train everyday to lower what they call your "eye age" and to challenge your "Focus Ability." They break "Focus Ability" into five categories: Hand-eye coordination, momentary vision, peripheral vision, dynamic visual acuity, and eye movement. This program sounds very fun and interesting! I may have to get Nintendo DS to check out this type of home vision therapy for myself!
The world of vision therapy is a very broad and fascinating field. The training is individualized to address the visual dysfunctions of each patient. The next time that you deal with a patient that may have some of the listed visual dysfunctions, put some thought into the possibility of using vision therapy to improve the patient's life!
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