Great Lakes Vision Rehabilitation at Excel Neuro-Optometric Clinic

It is a misconception that vision therapy is reserved for the pediatric population. Many adults have performed and completed vision therapy throughout time. One of the most notable examples of an adult doing vision therapy is Dr. Sue Barry. She holds a Ph.D in biology and suffered from strabismus as a child. She had strabismus surgery, but despite the surgery, she did not have any depth or 3-D vision! Then she decided to meet with a board-certified optometrist (FCOVD) who specialized in vision therapy. Throughout her therapy program she started to notice many changes to her visual system, and by the end of her therapy, she even gained stereopsis! She published a book about her journey and it can be found online. The book is called, Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist’s Journey into Seeing in Three Dimensions.

Her story is not standalone! Many other adults have gone through vision therapy to improve their quality of life and decrease their symptoms from their visual deficits. The number of adults starting a journey of their own in vision therapy is growing.

In the past it was believed there was a critical period for the visual system, and beyond the age of 6, no improvements could be achieved with visual dysfunction. In fact, the researchers who provided this data won a Nobel Prize for Physiology. Unfortunately, some providers still abide by this dated evidence, and may discourage adults from performing therapy to improve or enhance their visual systems. Fortunately, Dr. Norman Doidge has written two comprehensive books about the science behind neuroplasticity. His books titled, ‘The Brain’s Way of Healing’ and ‘The Brain That Changes Itself’ have in depth evidence relating to adults who make improvements through many therapy modalities. He even includes a chapter dedicated to vision rehabilitation and neuroplasticity!

With the growing evidence in neuroplasticity and vision therapy/rehabilitation it is never too late to make changes and provide the best visual system for maximal comfort. Even if an adult has done patching and failed with compliance when they were younger, or had eye surgery, vision therapy can still be beneficial and the changes can improve quality of life.

PLEASE CALL TODAY IF YOU ARE AN ADULT AND HAVE VISUAL SYMPTOMS, CHALLENGES WITH WORK TASKS, TIRED WHILE READING, MOTION SICKNESS WHEN DRIVING, DOUBLE VISION, OR MORE CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR COMPREHENSIVE SENSORIMOTOR EVALUATION!