Vision Therapy for Adults & Seniors: Improve Visual Performance in NY / NJ

Vision Therapy Can Change Your Life…

Vision Therapy for adults at PressVision is a doctor supervised non-surgical treatment program that can in most cases successfully treat the following problems:

Lazy eye
Eye alignment problems
Focus problems
Blurred Vision
Eye Tracking Issues
Convergence Insufficiency
Hand-eye coordination problems
Binocular Vision
Double vision
Depth Perception Problems
Traumatic Brain Injury
Crossed Eyes

You may be experiencing a vision problem due to previous accidents or injury – or you may be experiencing declining visual performance due to the natural aging process. The good news is that in many cases, visual performance can be improved with a vision therapy program – complete with vision therapy eye exercises.

Vision Therapy Research Study:
Older Adults Can Improve Visual Performance

According to Journal of Vision in November, 2010, confirms that vision therapy for adults is effective. Perceptual training (including vision therapy) can improve visual performance among older adults and the elderly. The study used an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group showed significant improvement while the control group experienced no improvement.

Meet Dr. Laura Knapp - Vision Therapy Specialist

Dr. Laura Knapp (OD, FCOVD) has been in the field of optometry for over 15 years – specializing in vision therapy. Her extensive training has allowed her to provide highly effective vision therapy treatment to hundreds of patients over the course of her career.

Dr. Knapp’s passion is to assist in both pediatric and adult optometric care, helping to correct those with eye coordination difficulties. Her extensive training allows her to specialize in the treatment of these patients while simultaneously pursuing a particular interest in learning-related vision disorders.

How Vision Therapy for Adults Works

1) Office Evaluation and Eye Exam

A comprehensive in office evaluation will be conducted with our doctors and staff so that we can understand you, your history, and the current difficulties that you are experiencing. This evaluation includes a thorough eye exam to evaluate your overall eye health.

2) Your Unique Customized Program

If it is determined that Vision Therapy is right for you, a custom program will be developed based on the results of standardized tests, your needs, and your symptoms.

3) Your Vision Therapy Sessions Begin

After your program has been created, you will come into our office where Dr. Knapp and her team will conduct your vision therapy sessions.

Your Vision Therapy Sessions:

Typically 6-12 months
1-2 office visits per week
30-60 minutes per visit
Home Exercises to work on between therapy sessions

As an example, some patients will undergo vision training to improve overall eye movement. This might include exercises to improve eye teaming which is designed to get your eyes to work better in a more coordinated fashion.

Your treatment plan is designed to mitigate and in some cases eliminate the symptoms of the vision disorder which you’re currently suffering from.

What You Can Expect: Improved Vision and Better Eye Coordination

At the end of treatment, Vision Therapy allows you to develop efficient visual skills and processing as well as improved visual acuity. As a result, it can effectively treat a number of eye conditions (including problems with lazy eye, binocular vision, and even double vision).

Vision Therapy Eye Exercises = Physical Therapy for your Eyes!

In some respects, vision therapy is like physical therapy for the eyes. Rather than treating the muscles of the body, it works on the eyes and visual system through eye-brain connections. It is an invaluable tool that changes not only the vision of our patients, but improves many related areas of their lives as well. It can literally be life changing!

The College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) notes that vision therapy is generally conducted in-office, in once or twice weekly sessions of 30 minutes to an hour, occasionally supplemented with procedures done at home between office visits. You can view more information about vision therapy on the COVD website.

The Science Behind Vision Therapy

Vision occurs as collaboration between the eyes and the brain, informed by feedback from the rest of the body. The science of vision therapy is therefore rooted in the ability to guide an individual to make changes through feedback and awareness. As in any effective therapy, there must be a differential diagnostic process identifying which aspects of the visual system are mal-developed or in need of rehabilitation. Intervention can then be designed in accordance with generalized principles of therapy.

Individualized and Customized Vision Therapy Program

The science of therapy has established that to be maximally effective, therapy should be individualized and customized to the needs of the patient. Vision therapy may be implemented by a trained therapist, but must be administered under the supervision and guidance of a knowledgeable Doctor of Optometry. The patient must internalize changes and understand that the visual system is modified therapeutically, not by procedures done to the patient, rather to the extent the patient is responsible for viewing differently.

Technology has greatly aided the science of optometric vision therapy but placing the patient in front a computer cannot substitute for active observation and interaction with a therapist. In the next section we review research on vision therapy, but there is one major study that is crucial in understanding the science of vision therapy.

The CITT, or Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial, is a multicenter study funded by the National Institutes of Health (the original study name was CIRS, or Convergence Insufficiency and Reading Study). The group that created this study went on to publish the CISS, or Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey, to prove that pencil push-up therapy or base-in prism glasses used in isolation were NOT effective, and that home-alone therapy was equivalent to placebo therapy. This is where the science becomes pivotal. Anyone currently treating convergence insufficiency without the benefit of supplemental in-office procedures is essentially dispensing placebo therapy until proven otherwise.

Research on Vision Therapy

There are now many excellent compilations on the subject. Let’s start with a review, published in the highly regarded Cochrane Database Reviews on the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s Website. The citation is Scheiman M, Gwiazda J, Li T. Non-surgical interventions for convergence insufficiency. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2011 Mar 16;(3):CD006768.

Office-Based Vision Therapy is Far Superior to any Other Form of Intervention

Convergence insufficiency, or CI, is a condition for which research has proven that office-based vision therapy is far superior to any other form of intervention. Two important points to keep in mind about this gold standard study, the citation for which is as follows:

Scheiman M, Cotter S, Mitchell GL, Kulp M, et al (CITT Study Group). Randomized clinical trial of treatments for symptomatic convergence insufficiency in children. Arch Ophthalmol 2008;126:1336-49.

A successful or improved outcome was found in 73% of the office-based therapy group, 43% of the pencil push-up group, and 35% of the office-based placebo therapy group, and 33% of the home-based computerized therapy group.

The results of this study are now being used by some insurance carriers to support the need for office-based vision therapy, but only of 12 weeks duration, as was used in the CITT study.

This demonstrates several very significant points about research on optometric vision therapy:

Unlike drug studies, in which the patient takes a placebo pill, it is challenging to design a placebo therapy group. Placebo therapy must be designed well enough that neither the patient nor the therapist knows that the therapy is not directly addressing the condition. The CITT group did a brilliant job designing this group, which is why they were able to generate such a good rate of improvement that came about from improving sustained visual attention – in fact, a couple of percentage points greater than the home-based computerized therapy group!

Although the outcome after 12 weeks of therapy was impressive at a 73% rate of improvement, we do not settle for that in our practice. Why would you want only a 73% rate of improvement if by going beyond 12 weeks, and/or adding additional procedures, you can generate a 95% rate of improvement?

Even if we take what the CITT has proven at face value, since ophthalmologists and pediatricians profess to practice only evidence-based medicine, that means that in the years since the CITT was published the field should have been transformed and have integrated the research outcomes of the CITT. Unfortunately for many patients in need, almost no pediatric ophthalmologists prescribe office-based vision therapy.

Vision Therapy Blog

For more information, contact us, or see the latest finding on our vision therapy blog.

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)

Vision Therapy for Adults & Seniors: Improve Visual Performance in NY / NJ

Vision Therapy Can Change Your Life…

Vision Therapy Research Study:
Older Adults Can Improve Visual Performance