While parents will bring their children in to our office for help, once they understand the nature of their child's vision problem and how it is impacting reading, learning and/or activities of daily living, they often discover that one of the parents has the same vision issues. There really is no age limit to improving one's vision with vision therapy.
It is even possible to help adults who have had multiple surgeries to correct their eye turns (strabismus) over the years; while it may take a little longer than working with a child, help is still available.
While scientists used to believe that there was something called a critical period for treating patients with eye turns and lazy eye (strabismus and amblyopia), new research has found that this is not true.Thanks to optometric vision therapy, vision disorders of this nature can usually be treated at any age.
Dr. Susan Barry, interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air program, is famous for gaining 3D vision as an adult and sharing her experiences in her book, Fixing My Gaze.
Do You See What I See? A Scientist's Journey Into 3-D by Terry Gross
Cross-eyed since early infancy, Dr. Barry had three eye muscle surgeries to straighten her eyes as a young child. After the surgeries, she had “20/20” vision, meaning she could see the letters on the eye chart you are supposed to see from a distance of 20 feet. Everyone assumed that meant she had perfect vision. Yet, when she tried to read, the words appeared to her to move on the page.
It wasn't until Dr. Barry went through a program of optometric vision therapy as an adult that she understood why the words appeared to move on the page when she was in grade school. It was because her eyes weren't working together the way they need to when we read.
As a professor of neurobiology at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Dr. Barry speaks regularly to scientists, eye doctors and educators on the topic of neuronal plasticity. In addition, Dr. Susan Barry writes a blog for Psychology Today:
Dr. McDermed finds this area of optometric care particularly rewarding and provides Continuing Education classes and workshops for educators and allied health professionals in the Orlando and surrounding area. If you are interested in having her speak or would like more information please email us at: [email protected]