VISION THERAPY

When having an eye exam, our Doctors of Optometry check your refraction (to find any near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism or presbyopia), check the health of your eyes and look for any disease, but also they look at how the two eyes work together. Sometimes, the eyes can see well but have trouble working together, or the brain is having trouble interpreting the messages it is receiving from the eyes. Either way, these problems can lead to headaches, lack of concentration, and eye strain. Often these symptoms go unnoticed by parents and teachers or the children may be labelled as inattentive or learning disabled.

Our vision therapy program is directed by Dr. Tamsyn Sitler. Vision therapy (VT) uses a prescribed program of visual based activities to develop, or improve upon, current visual performance. Through the use of lenses, prisms, patches and other equipment, we strive to help patients relearn and establish new brain processes, which will allow the visual system to function more efficiently.

The therapy consists of an hour long one-on-one session, once a week, with an optometrist or vision therapist trained in visual therapy and behavioral optometry. Activities are also prescribed to be done at home a few times a week. Progress checks and evaluations are also done periodically to measure how the therapy is progressing.