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Behavioral Optometry

By Bill Coughlin

Never heard of behavioral optometry?

Well, many people haven’t.

This growing sub-specialty of optometry uses vision therapy — eye exercises performed in the doctor's office and at home — to go beyond the usual concerns of vision care and treat

· Reading problems
· Learning problems
· Spelling problems
· Attention problems
· Hyperactivity,
· and Coordination problems

according to Visionandlearning.org, a behavioral optometry Web site. It can also treat a child who experiences “trouble in sports,” who “frustrates easily,” displays “poor motivation,” and “does not work well on his/her own.”

How is this possible?

Behavioral optometrists believe that these kinds of behaviors, as well as poor performance during visual tasks, are a sign of non-optimal visual skills.

According to Dr. Stanley Appelbaum, author of Eye Power: A Cutting-edge Report on Vision Therapy, this unique approach to understanding the role of the eyes in thinking and learning involves “ how eyes work together and move together and process information and store information and do something with the information.”

Therefore, so-called behavioral problems can be tackled from the standpoint of getting the eyes and brain to work together better.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is a good example. As a child, he did not do well in school and was a poor athlete. But his grandfather began to use vision drills, such as asking his grandson to balance on a board while trying to track a dot, or walk on a wood rail while focusing on an object.

This vision training was designed to improve perception, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, focus, and more; Fitzgerald credits it for his successes, both on and off the field.

Appelbaum himself suffered from chronic headaches as a child, and thus hated to read.

In optometry school he discovered he had “convergence insufficiency,” a condition characterized by eyes that don’t turn in together, affecting close work such as reading.

He was treated with eye exercises , and his headaches disappeared. Now he loves to read.

According to the American Optometric Association, “Studies indicate that 60 percent of children identified as ‘problem learners’ actually suffer from undetected vision problems and in some cases have been inaccurately diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.”

As a recent New York Times article noted, “Many behavioral optometrists say that 20 to 25 percent of children overall have vision problems that can impede their ability to reach their potential.

These problems commonly include: poor eye-movement control or ‘tracking issues,’ problems with accommodation (when the eyes don’t focus well together or sustain focus at various distances), convergence insufficiency, difficulties sustaining visual attention, poor visual-motor integration (bad hand-eye coordination), weak visual form perception (the ability to reproduce and generalize shapes) and poor visual memory.”

If behavioral optometry can help even a fraction of these kids reach their potential — and there is experiential evidence that it can — then this exciting new field has the potential to revolutionize the lives of millions.

“In college, most of the time you can get by on your athletic ability, ... Sometimes last year, I got by on athletic ability. But it only takes you so far. To be an upper-echelon receiver in the league to be Isaac Bruce or Torry Holt and those type of guys you've got to be consistent on a daily basis in route running.”
Larry Fitzgerald

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It's a new one to me Bill, but being a great believer in the fact that all the body is synergistically connected then I can understand that an eye problem could easily affect other parts and cause some learning difficulties.
Adrian.

The following is something I read this morning.

Adjust the foot to straighten the Eyes
A friend of mine always had a problem with his left foot. It turned in and he would stumble over it with his right foot and fall frequently. When my friend’s son was born, he had the same problem. We noticed his left eye turned in also. We made some lifts for his shoe to straighten his foot out, and when his foot straightened out, so did his eye.

Great intel... thanks for sharing all this good information.
I especially enjoyed visiting the links you provided.

Here is a link to another page I wrote about this.
Everything Old is New Again

A well researched and well written intel, Bill.
Thank you for sharing.
Keep up the good work.
Frederick

frederick Apr 18, 2010 12:05

It makes complete sense to me. I also believe that all parts of our body are connected via energy meridians, so what impacts one can have an impact on another. It also makes sense to me that eye exercises can do much to correct vision and other issues. If the eye contains many tiny muscles, then obviously strengthening those muscles can only be a good thing.

June Campbell Apr 18, 2010 12:44

When I was thirty-something there was a time of a year or more when my optometrist was not able to get any contact lenses to work right for me and regular eyeglasses not being as technological advanced as they are now, it was very difficult for me to tolerate them. This absolutely influenced my behavior and outlook on life. I felt really trapped and lacked my usual self-assurance. When he finally got it right, it was like coming out of a long tunnel back into the light.

Janet Jenson Apr 18, 2010 16:06

I've heard a radio commercial regarding this type of treatment. This is gonna be mainstream soon.

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