Monday, June 22, 2009

Optometric vision therapy described as life-transforming

In an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times Susan R. Barry, professor of neurobiology in the department of biological sciences at Mount Holyoke College and the author of Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions, writes, Children are still not routinely tested for binocular vision deficits because the standard school vision exam (reading the eye chart with one eye at a time) doesn't screen for defects in eye coordination or stereovision. As a result, many children with vision problems may be labeled learning disabled, or if they misbehave in frustration, diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
At age 48, Barry, who suffered from crossed eyes and stereoblindness since childhood, consulted a developmental optometrist who prescribed a program of optometric vision therapy, which taught her how to coordinate her eyes so she could see things in three dimensions. Wishing she had had this therapy as a youngster, she concludes, Detecting these problems early and then seeking proper treatment can improve a child's vision and transform a child's life

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