| Once again mainstream medical specialists have | | | | one child will handle a large amount of long sight, while |
| launched their "once a decade" attack on Vision | | | | another will fail to cope with a far smaller amount. We |
| Therapy and Behavioral Optometry. They are using | | | | are human, after all, not robots! |
| the internet news sites to lead an assault on a | | | | 4.Can the child converge? Can they turn their eyes in |
| scientifically supported and well established treatment | | | | to keep the print single, and most of them can. |
| option for children with learning disabilities, claiming it has | | | | Where I differ is that, in addition to the above |
| no science behind it at all, and this has been | | | | measures, I like to go beyond these to examine |
| propagated across learning blogs as if it were gospel | | | | exactly HOW children with learning disabilities process |
| truth. | | | | information and use it, in real ways and in real |
| The fact is, as many parents and children with learning | | | | situations. |
| disabilities can attest, the right vision therapy can and | | | | So, in addition to the above, we also look at |
| does work for many children with learning disabilities! | | | | 1. Eye movements- which help children flow in their |
| For the forth time in four decades, the American | | | | reading and stops them misreading words or skipping |
| Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of | | | | lines, and it also helps in ball sports. |
| Ophthalmology, American Association for Pediatric | | | | 2. Focus and Eye Coordination- which helps children |
| Ophthalmology and Strabismus, and American | | | | concentrate and apply themselves to their school |
| Association of Certified Orthopedists have combined | | | | work. |
| their efforts to publish this notion in the guise of public | | | | 3. Visualization and Recall- which helps children to |
| interest. | | | | effectively remember sight words and spelling, giving |
| Their view is limited, slanted and offers little hope to the | | | | them a large vocabulary to help them to read. |
| parents of children with learning disabilities other then | | | | 4. Directionality- which helps children with learning |
| "keep pounding away at reading!". The fact is, they are | | | | disabilities overcome reversals, writing letters back to |
| re-hashing a previous argument in the guise that it is a | | | | front. |
| break through statement. This obviously biased joint | | | | 5. Cross Patterning- which allows children to use both |
| statement has been rebutted, point by point, by The | | | | sides of their brain efficiently. |
| American Optometric Association and the American | | | | 6. Other developmental areas, including coding, |
| Academy of Optometry. A point-by-point rebuttal of | | | | sequencing, fine and gross motor, etc. |
| the misleading information intended to discredit | | | | These are not innate abilities, and they are not |
| optometric vision therapy was published by the | | | | refractive errors. These are skills, and the need to be |
| American Optometric Association in its journal, | | | | learned in order for children to learn to read, write and |
| Optometry. (Bowan MD, 2002). | | | | spell effectively. |
| Could it be that groups trumpeting the use of powerful | | | | And, they can be trained, altered and enhanced in |
| drugs and psychotherapy are threatened by a small | | | | simple, non-surgery, non-drug, non-colored lens ways. I |
| group of practitioners who are getting results using a | | | | have spend years developing a series of therapies |
| non-invasive, non-drug, relatively cheap alternative? | | | | that actually work, and instead of the hundreds and |
| Now, please do not read this incorrectly. I am not | | | | thousands of dollars most learning disability treatments |
| saying that vision therapy can cure every ill known to | | | | charge, these will cost just over $6 a week, for 6-8 |
| man, or every case of dyslexia in the world, but this I | | | | months of therapy. |
| can tell you, having worked for so long in the field... | | | | But is it rubbish? Am I profiteering from the unfortunate |
| There are a significant number of children with learning | | | | parents of children with learning disabilities. Hundreds of |
| disabilities who have underdeveloped visual skills. I am | | | | changed children who have conquered their learning |
| not saying sight, because they all see. I am taking | | | | disabilities with my specially designed Vision Therapy |
| about how the eyes work together, and how the | | | | say I am not, as do their satisfied parents. |
| brains interprets and understands visual information | | | | But this is not a scientific rebuttal of this vicious attack |
| that comes in through the eyes. | | | | on my profession. I simply cannot be bothered, and I'm |
| Most conservative medical practitioners look at ONLY | | | | too busy treating real children with learning disabilities. |
| these areas: | | | | However, I can direct you to a place that can give you |
| 1.Can the child see? (Their visual acuity, as represented | | | | real science, if that is what you are into. |
| by figures like 20/20) | | | | In the mean time, let the academics slug it out and let's |
| 2.Is there any disease present? In children, almost | | | | get on with the business of helping these children who |
| always there is none. | | | | struggle with learning disabilities. And if you are the |
| 3.Is the child long sighted, short sighted or astigmatic, in | | | | parent of a child with learning disabilities, and you are |
| an amount that we judge to be over the required level | | | | not sure who to believe, why not take a $6 a week |
| of significance? Often there is a significant amount of | | | | chance on a guaranteed Vision Therapy program you |
| long sight in children with learning disabilities, but we | | | | can do in your own home and check out our site for |
| argue about what is actually significant! My experience | | | | more information. I believe, after all the arguments are |
| is that arbitrary figures are exactly that: arbitrary. So, | | | | over, that your child is worth it. |