Unlike eyeglasses or contacts that compensate for vision problems, the goal of vision therapy is to teach the visual system how to correct itself. Vision therapy is highly customized to address each patient’s specific visual challenges. As such, vision therapy may include the use of lenses, prisms, metronomes and balance boards.

Accurate vision is an important part of performing well at work, school, and in other everyday activities. In certain cases, however, medical conditions or injury may lead to visual impairment. For individuals with functional limitations resulting from visual impairment, visual rehabilitation can improve or restore everyday abilities. The most effective model for visual rehabilitation is one in which a patient receives input from his or her optometrist, medical doctor, psychologist, neurologist, and other allied health professionals to create an individualized visual rehabilitation plan.

Vision therapy, also referred to as vision training, neuro-vision therapy, or vision rehabilitation, is an optometry subspecialty. Vision therapy is prescribed to develop, improve and/or enhance visual function so an individual’s vision system functions more smoothly.

Vision therapy programs are designed to correct complications like astigmatism, wandering eyes, lazy eye or crossed eyes – all of which can affect eye focus, eye movement, visual perception and coordination. With visual therapy, a combination of vision exercises and specialized equipment are used to train the visual system to repair itself, or strengthen itself, so that eye problems can be rectified or diminished enough to improve how the patient views the world and functions in it.

Executed under the supervision of an optometrist, visual therapy is implemented in an office once to twice a week for up to an hour. Exercises and equipment will be personalized to meet the patient’s needs based on the severity of the problem and related symptoms. These components will also be considered when determining how many sessions the patient requires. To accompany in-office visits, the optometrist may also educate the patient on how to perform specific vision exercises at home.

When visual therapy is complete, and all necessary sessions have ended, the patient’s visual skills and capabilities should have improved and any symptoms associated with their eye condition should have reduced significantly. In addition, visual efficiency should have enhanced and the patient should be more efficient when it comes to processing and understanding visual information.

Visual Rehabilitation Procedures

Visual rehabilitation involves constructing an individualized treatment plan to address each person’s unique issues. In some cases, this may involve occupational therapy to make a person’s environment easier to navigate. For many patients, however, vision therapy offered by an optometrist is an excellent way to improve or fully restore visual functioning.

Analogous to physical therapy for the vision system, vision therapy involves special exercises designed to retrain eye-brain circuits to perform more normally. Patients may be asked to view objects through special prism lenses, focus on an object as it moves, coordinate eye-body movements, or perform computerized tasks. Over time, these exercises improve visual deficits and reduce functional impairment.

The goal of vision therapy is to treat vision problems that cannot be fully addressed through eyeglasses, contact lenses or surgery. For example, studies show that vision therapy may be beneficial for addressing eyestrain and other issues that can affect a child’s reading abilities.