Vision Therapy in Bolton, Vaughan & Brampton

Vision is all about the way our brains and eyes interact. Whether it’s reading words on the board, catching a ball, or tying our shoelaces, we depend on our visual system to work properly in order to succeed at any of these tasks.
This is because vision isn’t just what we see, it’s how we interpret and interact with that information. In fact, you can have perfect visual acuity―able to rattle off all the symbols on the reading chart―but still struggle with dyslexia, poor focus, hand-eye coordination, or vision conditions like strabismus, amblyopia, or convergence insufficiency.
Our Optometrists have extensive experience providing vision therapy for children and adults in Vaughan, Brampton, and Richmond Hill, with incredible results. We are a proud member of:
MEET OUR DR.'S
MEET OUR DR.'S
Dr. Virginia Donati FCOVD
Dr. Virginia Donati
FCOVD
President of the COVT&R
Dr. Michelle McKenzie FCOVD
Dr. Michelle McKenzie
FCOVD
Vice President of the COVT&R
Dr. Olivia Wiebe
Dr. Olivia Wiebe
COVD
Developmental and neuro-rehabilitative
MEET OUR DR.'S
MEET OUR DR.'S
Dr. Virginia Donati FCOVD
Dr. Virginia Donati
FCOVD
President of the COVT&R
Dr. Michelle McKenzie FCOVD
Dr. Michelle McKenzie
FCOVD
Vice President of the COVT&R
Dr. Olivia Wiebe
Dr. Olivia Wiebe
COVD
Developmental and neuro-rehabilitative
Vision Therapy helps patients improve their foundation for reading, learning and playing sports. It’s a series of custom and individualized activities and exercises which function as a form of neuro-optometric rehabilitation.
In other words, Vision Therapy retrains the brain to more effectively interact with the eyes and therefore improve vision functioning. The goal is to enhance eye tracking, focusing and eye teaming abilities as well as eye-hand coordination and visual processing speed.
The program is not only for children. Vision Therapy is effective for adults, especially if they are motivated to improve their visual abilities.
Your Bolton Developmental Optometrist can help with lazy eye (amblyopia), eye turns (strabismus), traumatic brain injury (concussion, whiplash) and special needs populations. Research has shown that 20% of children have a vision issue that affects their learning.
What is Amblyopia?
Amblyopia, commonly referred to as “lazy eye” is when there is a significant difference in power between the eyes. This is often, but not always, caused by an alignment or eye-teaming problem such as strabismus.
Some common symptoms and problems associated with lazy eye:
- Poor depth perception
- Head tilting
- Social stigma
- Slow reading*
*According to a study published on November 2015 by the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, children with amblyopia read slower 42 words per minute than children without amblyopia that read 81 words per minute.
Treatment for Amblyopia: It’s Not about the “Bad” Eye
Amblyopia or “lazy eye” is best treated by Vision Therapy.
First, the source of the amblyopia must be identified. When indicated, eyeglasses are prescribed. Many eye doctors, particularly Pediatric Ophthalmologists, begin treatment by patching the "bad" eye. However, numerous studies have indicated that patching has been proven to be ineffective! Likewise, some doctors recommend atropine eye drops. However, atropine eye drops merely address the symptoms and not the neuro-optometric cause itself.
The common approach treats the problem as a problem in that one eye. Treating one eye may improve the acuity (being able to see letters on a chart) for a while, but often reverts and regresses.
The developmental approach taken by Vision Therapists realizes that amblyopia is really not an eye problem, but rather a problem of not being able to use the two eyes together as a team (eye-teaming). This approach is therefore often much more successful. In the same way that it was difficult for a parent to identify if someone had the problem, to begin with, it is often difficult for them to know if an eye doctor's recommendation to patch the eye is really working. They, therefore, may be losing time with an ineffective and outdated treatment plan.
Amblyopia does not go away on its own, and it can significantly affect a child’s ability to both learn and thrive socially in school. Untreated amblyopia can lead to permanent visual problems and poor depth perception. To prevent this and to give your child the best vision possible, amblyopia should be treated early by vision therapy.
At What Age Can Vision Therapy Treat Amblyopia?
An old axiom that is still held by many eye doctors is that amblyopia must be detected and aggressively treated before the age of 8 or 9. In reality, treatment for amblyopia or lazy eye is effective for adults as well as children. A child’s visual system is more malleable at a younger age, making treatment quicker at a younger age. However, adults with amblyopia or “lazy eye” tend to be more motivated patients. Improved eye teaming is nearly always achievable.
What is Strabismus?
Strabismus, often referred to as “Crossed Eyes”, “Wandering Eyes”, or “Wall Eye” is a condition where the eyes fail to align properly. Beyond the social stigma, strabismus often results in other vision and visual processing problems such as diplopia (double-vision), amblyopia, and problems with depth perception. A major concern for developmental optometrists is that strabismus is not as simple to diagnose as a visual check. In fact, you can have strabismus without any obvious crossing or eye turn.
There are four kinds of strabismus, two horizontal and two vertical:
- Esotropia: one eye may turn in relative to the other
- Exotropia: one eye turns out relative to the other
- Hypertropia: one eye turns up relative to the other
- Hypotropia: one eye turns down relative to the other
Treatment for Strabismus
All too often, parents are told not to worry about their child's Strabismus symptoms and that their child will 'grow out of it'. This is a mistake. In many cases, the symptoms of the problem do not improve as the child grows, and meanwhile, strabismus causes significant difficulties with reading and learning. Treatment varies depending on the cause of the eye-turning, and may include:
- Eyeglasses
- Vision Therapy
- Prism
- Eye muscle surgery
Eye muscle surgery can sometimes make the eye appear to others as if it is straight, but it rarely aligns with the other eye, and the symptoms associated with Strabismus continue. A program of Vision Therapy for children or adults is usually required in order to restore visual function and the ability to properly use the two eyes together as a team.
Convergence Insufficiency is a neuro-visual condition where the eyes fail to come together (to converge) enough to enable proper visual perception. The condition is particularly related to near-vision or near-center and visually demanding activities. This can result in:
- Poor school performance and behavioral problems
- Eyestrain
- Blurred vision
- Diplopia (double-vision)
- Asthenopia (eye strain and fatigue)
- Difficulty making eye contact
- Fatigue
- Headaches and migraines
- Difficulty reading and concentrating
- Avoidance of “near” work
- Poor sports performance
- Dizziness or motion sickness
A study of almost 700 5th and 6th graders indicated that convergence insufficiency is much more common than many assumed with 13% of students having convergence insufficiency. Also, the children who showed three signs of convergence insufficiency, 79% were classified as being accommodative insufficient as well.
Treatment for Convergence Insufficiency
Eye coordination problems such as convergence insufficiency and convergence excess generally cannot be improved with eyeglasses or surgery. Likewise, research demonstrates that the traditional focus exercise often called "pencil pushups" are ineffective. The only consistently effective treatment for convergence insufficiency is office-based Vision Therapy, which will improve eye coordination abilities and reduce symptoms and discomfort when doing close work.
According to research performed by The AAO 32% of university students had Binocular Vision Issues. The conclusion of this study is:
"Because these dysfunctions have a negative effect on performance, appropriate vision evaluation for this population is extremely important.
In this study, 31% of the students needed Vision Therapy for symptoms such as eye strain, double vision, and headaches.
Vision Therapy Can Help With Vision Problems From Concussions, Brain Injury, and Stroke
Neuro Optometry involves the rehabilitation of visual skills that were degraded due to a traumatic brain injury, stroke or other neurological issues. These visual issues affect how someone is able to function on a daily basis. Addressing these vision conditions is crucial to the recovery process. In fact, patients typically gain more from neuro-developmental vision therapy than they do from other therapies, such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, or cognitive therapy, etc. Vision issues such as the ones listed below are all too often the main obstacle in achieving a full recovery.
When someone has a Traumatic Brain Injury (for example a car crash or a bad fall) or an Acquired Brain Injury (stroke or brain tumor), it is common to then develop problems associated with vision. Making sense of what you see is one of the most basic and important brain functions. Your Bolton Neuro-Optometrists help individuals solve the vision problems brought about by that brain injury. Addressing the vision problem often facilitates improvement with other therapies. Neuro-Optometrists diagnose and treat the vision problems in order to maximize the patient's outcome, with the ultimate goal of these services to improve the patient's quality of life.
Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation at our vision therapy center serving Bolton,Vaughan,Brampton ,and Mississauga treats patients with a specialized Vision Therapy program for those who have suffered a brain injury, that effectively treats visual problems including:
- Diplopia (double vision)
- Eye-tracking problems
- Binocular Vision Dysfunctions (the ability to coordinate the two eyes to work together)
- Reduced visual acuity at far (how clear the letters are at distance)
- Reduced visual acuity at near (how clear the letters are at reading distance)
- Accommodative Disorders (physically focusing the eyes)
- Difficulties in visual perception (are objects where I think they are?)
- Visual Field loss (not being able to see on the right side of the right eye, for example)
- Deficits in visual motor (eye movement problems)
- Ocular Motility disorders integration (putting together eye movement with body movement)
- Visual Information Processing (making sense of what you see)
- Strabismus (eye turns)
- Mental visual focus
- Physical eye focus
A brain injury such as a concussion will often disrupt the visual process that interferes with how information is taken in and processed. Vision can be also be compromised as a result of a neurological disorder such as a stroke, a brain tumor or Multiple Sclerosis. These are termed Acquired Brain Injuries.
No. There is no age limit because of the brain’s neuroplasticity. Our brains are dynamic and flexible. Just like a muscle or playing an instrument, the more we practice and hone our ability and memory, the more skillful we become. Children's brains are more malleable than adults, and for this reason, it is assumed that children will have better results with Vision Therapy. While true, adults possess a strong motivation to make the treatment plan a success, and we successfully treat patients of all ages.
Teachers, parents, and adults should learn to be on the lookout for the symptoms listed below as they may indicate a vision issue.
- Lazy Eye, cross eye, double vision
- Difficulty Reading
- Poor Classroom Performance
- Difficulty staying focused
- Strabismus
- Poor hand-eye coordination
- Constant squinting/head tilting
- Uses fingers to read
- Favors one eye over the other
- Poor handwriting
- Difficulties with geometric shapes
- Headaches after reading or computer work
- Feeling of fatigue after reading or using the computer
Vision therapy is NOT the same as self-help programs that claim to reduce refractive errors and the need for glasses. There is no scientific evidence that these "throw away your glasses" programs work, and most eye care specialists agree they are a hoax.
In contrast, vision therapy is approved by the Ontario Association of Optometrists (OAO) for the treatment of non-refractive vision problems, and there are many studies that demonstrate its effectiveness.
However, Not every vision problem can be helped with vision therapy. Children that can be helped must adhere to the established vision program. The degree of success with vision therapy is determined by a number of factors. The patient’s age and his level of motivation are key factors. As important is the patient's performance of all eye exercises and visual tasks correctly. Furthermore, the type and severity of the vision problem are taken into account when evaluating the level of improvement with vision therapy.
One of the questions our optometrist receives from prospective patients is “does vision therapy work?”
We have compiled a short list of resources for you to help you understand the scientific basis for vision therapy and its effectiveness.
Changes in Scores on the COVD - Quality of Life Assessment Before and After Vision Therapy
Summary of Research on the Efficacy of Vision Therapy for Specific Visual Dysfunctions The Efficacy of Optometric Vision TherapyVision Therapy: Information for Health Care and Other Allied Professionals
Summary Of Research On Reading Disabilities and Vision Therapy
Research On Convergence Insufficiency and ADHD
Bolton | Vaughan | Brampton | Mississauga | and Ontario