VISION THERAPY IN CINCINNATI
Did you know that there are two Certified Optometric Vision Therapy doctors right here at Montgomery Vision Care?
According to the website COVD.org., The other closest doctors are in Middletown and Springboro.
Dr. Laura Fiorenza and Dr. Beth Munzel have been practicing Vision Therapy for several years, and are certified by the COVD, College of Optometrist in Vision Development. They are experts in diagnosing and treating common visual irregularities, which may result in poor academic and athletic performance. Even if a patient’s visual acuity is good, sometimes 20/20 is not enough. If the eyes are not working together properly, you can experience visual fatigue, pain, and learning problems. And this is not limited to children! Many adults can benefit from these therapeutic sessions as well.
“Plenty of people have visual problems sustaining near-centered work, including reading, writing, and computer use. When people have trouble using both eyes together or can’t focus for great lengths of time, they do not simply grow out of these problems. Children with visual problems often become adults with visual problems.” -COVD website.
Many times, a child is misdiagnosed as having ADD or a Learning Disability. Recent research indicates a strong correlation between an ADD/ ADHD diagnoses and a common visual deficiency called Convergence Insufficiency. Convergence is the ability to draw eyes together at near distances for reading and seeing fine details. Children who cannot adequately “cross their eyes” cannot see well at near and have difficulty tracking words on a page. This leads to problems reading and writing, the basis of all learning. We know that 80% of what we learn is visual, and leaving this untreated can lead to long-term problems.
“This new research supports what COVD optometrists have known for some time — a significant percentage of children with learning disabilities have some type of vision problem. One study found that 13% of children between nine and thirteen years of age suffer from moderate to marked convergence insufficiency, and as many as one in four, or 25%, of school age children may have a vision problem that can affect learning.” -COVD website.
There are three areas to evaluate good vision:
- Can you see clearly? Are corrective lenses needed?
- Are your eyes working efficiently? Are they working together, or is one eye weaker than the other?
- Visual processing—Can your brain adequately process what you see?
When your child has a Vision Screening at school this fall, remember that it’s just that—a screening. The school nurse is usually just testing for vision problems, (#1 on the list above), not for inefficiencies with binocular vision (#2) or Visual processing issues (#3). See an Optometric Vision Therapist if you suspect that you or your child may suffer from these visual inefficiencies. With proper diagnoses and treatment by on Optometric Vision Therapist, your child can begin enjoying reading, experience improved academic and athletic performance.
For more information, visit our Vision Therapy page and VT Video Gallery. The book, 20/20 Is Not Enough by Dr. Arthur Seiderman and Dr. Steven Marcus is a great place to start!
Vision Therapy- 20/20 Is Not Enough: Dr. Arthur Seiderman and Dr. Steven Marcus reveal the astonishing new advances in vision therapy that can significantly reduce eye strain, improve concentration, enhance peripheral vision, depth perception, visual reaction time, and much more.
