Help Your Child Improve School Performance with Vision Therapy With A Montpelier Optometrist

If you’re concerned that your child isn’t doing as well as he or she should in school, vision therapy from your Montpelier optometrist, or an optometrist in our other Shippee Family Eye Care offices, may be the answer! As part of a program of pediatric eye care, your optometrist uses a method called vision therapy, where needed, to help students improve school performance. This eye therapy can help patients improve the physical function and coordination of their eyes, leading to improved eyesight and a better quality of life overall. 

What is Vision Therapy?

Vision therapy is physical therapy for the eyes, helping them to better coordinate with the brain. The process is like occupational therapy, or supervised exercise, which increases your eye efficiency. Visual therapy exercises help your child better (and more quickly) understand what they see, so that they can do better in school and function better when completing daily tasks. It offers an alternative to eye surgery in some cases, and it can treat vision problems that eyeglasses cannot help. This innovative therapy helps patients (children and adults) with these conditions:

• Learning disabilities related to eye-brain coordination or visual-information processing

• Reading problems

• Lazy eye (amblyopia)

• Crossed eyes

• Double vision

• Eye strain and concentration problems caused by long hours of computer use (often found in adults with computer-related jobs)

• And more

How Your Lancaster Optometrist Conducts Vision Therapy

The first step is a thorough exam from your Montpelier optometrist to diagnose your/your child's eye problem. Treatment is custom-designed to enable the brain to properly interpret information received through the eyes. The optometrist-prescribed exercises, are taught to the patient and tailored to his/her specific needs. Exercises are practiced under eye doctor supervision in 30 to 60-minute sessions, scheduled once or twice per week. Successful therapy gradually strengthens neurological pathways that form the eye-brain connection.

If you'd like to learn more about vision therapy or have your child evaluated by a pediatric optometrist, contact Shippee Family Eye Care, P.C. at one of our three locations. Call us in Lancaster, St. Johnsbury, or Montpelier to schedule your appointment today!