What is
Vision Therapy
Vision therapy is experience-based learning for the purpose of building and strengthening visual function and processing skills.
These skills include:
Voluntary eye movement for reading and sport
Focussing – flexibility and stamina
Eye teaming – muscle control of the eyes as a team
Visual perceptual skills – visual discrimination, visual memory, visual sequencing
Visual-motor integration
Tachistoscopic or sight-grabbing skills
Improved acuity in cases of amblyopia
Spatial awareness
Left and Right awareness
Where can I have Vision Therapy?
A vision therapy program can only be prescribed after a Behavioural Optometry assessment. Vision therapy is conducted at our office at Smart Eyes Optical, 2/19 Smart Street, Charlestown.
To GET STARTED, You’ll need
Binovi Vision Therapy Kit ($190)
BiNOVI COAH HOME ACTIVITIES ($110)
weekly or fortnightly in-office vision therapy sessions ($150 per 40 min sessiON - medicare rebate of $30.05)
We do not prescribe a set number of sessions for in-office vision therapy, as everyone learns differently and at their rate. Instead, we have a set of learning objectives for patients to achieve and apply to daily life. This usually takes between 8 to 30 sessions.
We use a combination of lenses, prisms, equipment and digital instruments to provide a learning situation to improve visual function and information processing. Every program is unique, depending on the individual’s goals.
Daily home practice is essential to reinforcing skills to become automatic and transfer to general life. The responsibility of doing VT belongs to the patient and/or their caregivers.
What does In-Office Vision Therapy involve?
In-office VT is a one-on-one session with a Behavioural Optometrist or therapist. A variety of visual tasks is prepared depending on the patient's goals. The aim is not only to improve eye movement, focusing and eye teaming but attributes that contribute to good visual abilities such as:
Effective and controlled movement
Discrimination
Analysis
Central-Peripheral Integration
Integration of vision with all senses
Sustained attention, especially visual attention
Self Awareness/Consciousness
Self Control & Correction
Visual Thinking & Self Planning
VT helps a patient discover a new way of using their vision so they can make everyday tasks easier.
Vision Therapy Tools We Use
Binovi from EyeCarrot
VT is delivered through the Binovi Coach App
Binovi is a library of VT procedures that includes high-definition videos and step-by-step instructions. It is a home VT program that can supplement in-office VT.
Vision Therapy Kit
Binovi offers the opportunity for ongoing communication between the clinic and home. The parent routinely reports on the attitude of the patient and monitors performance each time the patient performs a procedure. In addition, the parent can write notes or ask written questions to the prescribing Behavioural Optometrist.
Currently, there are 117 VT procedures divided into 7 different categories:
Ocular motility / Reading eye movement
Accommodation / Focusing
Binocularity / Eye Teaming
Bilateral integration
Balance/visual-vestibular
Fine-motor control
Visual memory/visualization
Additional procedures can be added at no extra cost to you.
Some examples of VT activities on the Binovi Coach App.
Optics Trainer - Eye Tracking
Optics Trainer utilises infrared optical sensors to track the position of the user’s eye(s). With this advanced technology, we can train accurate eye movement and visual attention using fun activities. Other visual processing activities can be targeted with the Optics Trainer such as visual discrimination, figure-ground and visual-spatial manipulation. In some cases, we set the right eye to see 50% of the targets on the screen and 50% for the left eye. To complete the activities, all the targets need to be seen thus forcing both eyes to be engaged (as opposed to working separately). The optometry term for this is monocular fixation in a binocular field (MFBF).
VT has traditionally been done in 2D ‘flat’ space even though the real world we see is 3D. That is not to say, we don’t get the results, but it does potentially take longer to achieve results. VR creates an MFBF environment but the sensory stimulation to each eye can be adjusted so that the brain gets equal input. Thus, creating an environment that allows neural connection for normal binocular vision to develop.
Gerull Labs - Stereoscope for Ipad
A stereoscope is used to train convergence, divergence skills, visuomotor and visual-spatial organisation. An MFBF environment is created by either wearing red-cyan glasses or looking through the stereoscope. Gerull Labs has integrated an iPad into this instrument, which allows the patient to access more interesting and challenging activities than traditionally available.
