Autism Eye Doctor

Autism Eye Doctor Near You in Fair Lawn, NJ

At PressVision, our optometry office caters to children of all backgrounds and abilities, including those who have special needs, including autism.

We’re able to provide your child with the eye care that they need in order to be successful – no matter what their vision problem may be.

The conditions we treat that may be presenting vision problems for your loved one include:

blurred vision
double vision
eye teaming
eye problems due to traumatic brain injury
amblyopia (also called “lazy eye”)
eye tracking problems
difficulties processing visual information
strabismus (eye turn)

Improving Visual Skills

The process starts with an eye exam to evaluate eye health. We will evaluate your child’s eye alignment and eye movement to test for common visual problems.

From the results of the eye exam with one of our eye doctors, we are able to properly assess your child’s visual condition or needs. If your special needs child does have an eye disorder, we create a customized patient treatment plan to effectively improve your child’s overall vision development.

In many cases, this treatment may involve vision therapy and a yoked prism to improve their overall visual performance. Both prism lenses and vision therapy program exercises are used as an effective alternative to eye surgery in order to attain significant visual improvements in young patients.

Autism and Developmental Delays

What is ASD?

According to the organization Autism Speaks, “Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children in the United States today.”

These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. They include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger Syndrome. ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances.

Vision problems are common with autism and many times overlooked. Characteristic autistic behaviors, such as poor eye contact, looking though or beyond objects, extreme aversion to light, unusual reaction to sight, lack of reciprocal play, inordinate fear of heights or lack of appropriate fear of heights and stimming, could all be visual symptoms.

Visual problems are common with those that have a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. Having a visual evaluation by a developmental optometrist may lead to treatment that can have a ripple effect on sensory development and integration.

Symptoms of ASD

How is Autism Identified?

According to authorities, early identification and intervention for Autism gives the best opportunity to help guide a child’s development. Developmental optometry provides a unique window into early visual development.

What Are the Visual Factors of ASD?

Many children on the Autistic Spectrum have difficulty maintaining eye contact. While there are different theories as to why this is so, one underlying reason is difficulty in integration central visual processing with peripheral visual processing. This is one reason why individuals with ASD function with sideways glances. There are often social issues involved, and the ability to read faces requires complicated linkages in visual portions of the brain.

Do Persons with ASD Always Have Visual Problems?

While an autistic person may have unique visual strengths, but have problems with various aspects of visual processing and are in need of strengthening their visual skills. Temple Grandin, one of the most famous individuals with ASD, wrote: “If visual processing problems are suspected, the child should see a developmental optometrist. This is a special eye doctor who can do therapy and exercises to help the processing problems that are inside the brain. In many of these children, the eye itself is normal but faulty wiring in the brain is causing the problem.”

Our Treatment of ASD

Can Vision Therapy Help Children With ASD?

Potentially, yes. It is important to note that developmental optometrists are the authorities on this subject. A great article was written about this by Audrey Adams, the parent of an autistic child. There is no single panacea or magic bullet for children with ASD. No one therapy will help all children with ASD, but visual processing is one part of an overall sensory approach that must be considered. Below is an excerpt from Audrey’s article.

“If a child with autism/PDD is unable to read, is uncooperative with close tasks, has illegible handwriting, or is disruptive in class, too often we assume these are “autistic” behaviors that must be modified behaviorally or taught with numerous repetitions. When these same characteristics are present in non-disabled children, most primary grade teachers would ask if the child has had a complete visual examination. My son’s first, second, and third grade teacher all did and I regrettably ignored them until the fourth grade. Though he read and was disruptive, these regular education teachers all saw signs of possible vision problems: eye contact avoidance, blackboard visual avoidance, poor and uneven handwriting, inability to listen and look simultaneously, over use of peripheral vision, a stiff-legged walk and poking at the sides of his eyes.”

To read this article in its entirety, visit our Vision Help Website.

Why Isn’t Vision Part of Early Intervention Services?

Most patients who come to us have already had contact with EI, or early intervention services. These consist of occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (SLP) who all agree that visual processing is a crucial area of development that to date has been too often overlooked.

Where Can I Learn More About Vision and ASD?

Dr. Melvin Kaplan has written an excellent book on vision and ASD, Seeing Through New Eyes. Patty Lemer is the editor a valuable book that includes much information about vision and ASD, Envisioning a Bright Future.

Insurance and Payment Plans

No Insurance? / Don't See Your Insurance?

No Problem!

At PressVision, we know how confusing insurance can be for our patients. Our patients appreciate that we go the extra mile when it comes to helping our patients and their families deal with their insurance provider.

Making Insurance Make Sense

We will explain how your deductible works. We’ll also explain what services are fully or partially covered. We’ll also tell you what services are unlikely to be covered. Based on our experience, we’ll even give you our estimate of what you can expect back from your insurance company.

Insurance Submission

We also take care of submitting all required paperwork to your insurance company. We do this every day, and we know the ins and outs of getting insurance claims submitted properly to your insurer.

What to Expect

Insurance providers are always changing coverages for services. While we can’t guarantee that your insurance company will approve or cover all provided services, you can be sure that we will fully explain everything to you and properly submit all required paperwork to your insurer.

Our Modern Fair Lawn Office

Our office is warm and welcoming to both adults and children. We have the latest technology to assist with proper diagnosis and with vision therapy.

(Click a photo above to view a larger version)

Autism Eye Doctor