Looking for info on research re: behavioral optometry
As the only special ed teacher in a k-5 school, I often try to help parents through the confusing journey in identifying young students. Recently, a parent whose child has been referred for testing because modifications have not been successful said a “doctor” had suggested behavioral optometry. As a parent of child w/ADHD I know first hand what it is like to try to find easy answers. I asked her to show me the research and she brought in pamphlets. She mentioned prisms. I told her I had prisms in my glasses because my eyes don’t work together. They help me to see print but not process. Does anyone know of any research in this area pro or con? I need to be informed.
Re: behavioral optometry
Most of the evidence I’ve seen has been negative/skeptical of the claim, especially when dealing with children with learning disabilities. For a summary of the research (none of it primary, though), you can go to
www.pseudoscience.org/vision_therapy.
Don’t know if that helps at all. It is rather negative. Have you checked the primary literature?
Re: behavioral optometry
I went to http://www.pseudoscience.org to check out what they have to say about vision therapy. It’s the usual pseudoscientific academic trash. They start out by lambasting the vision therapy theories of 1917. This is, of course, incredibly helpful to those of us alive and kicking in the year 2001!
By the time these experts (and I use that term loosely) get to this decade, they are saying that there is no rigorous research to show that vision therapy helps anything but conversion problems. That’s fine. I agree that this kind of rigorous research doesn’t exist.
But then they go on to say that research shows that vision therapy does not help reading. To support this claim, they cite a study that compared 3 groups of 7th grade remedial students who were given vision therapy, reading tutoring, and computer games. At the end of 10 weeks all three groups improved equally in reading (although the vision therapy group improved eye-coordination, whatever that means). Well, DUH……. A child who doesn’t have vision problems will not benefit from vision therapy, and a child who benefits from vision therapy will not necessarily read better unless there is also reading instruction. This is just one example of all the rotten research out there that doesn’t prove a darn thing one way or the other, because the research is so un-rigorous it’s less than useless!
Orthoptics were given a thumbs-up at this website, apparently because these “scientists” are able to understand the role of muscles in convergence. Yet they totally neglect to mention the role of muscles in focusing speed.
I know the people at these websites are trying to save us all from quacks. Their intentions are good. It’s just too bad their science is so poor. They seem to think that something that hasn’t been through rigorous scientific tests can’t possibly work. ??? Logic was one of my specialties in college, and this kind of supercilious trashing irks me….. I’ve met a heck of a lot of Ph.D.’s in my life who couldn’t think, and a lot of physicians who didn’t know much.
Sigh.
Mary
There is little research about vision therapy. Basically, there’s no funding for it. Also, the types of vision problems children have vary so dramatically that screening alone — to get good sample and control groups — would be complicated.
The “eyes not working together” problem refers to convergence difficulty. Prisms are, I think, one way to address that problem. However, especially in children, it is often possible to train the eyes to work together with exercises. There are several different computer programs available that work on convergence, among other things. One is used by pilots to hone their vision skills. See http://www.visionaerobics.com
Websites with more information about eye problems in children that respond to vision therapy are http://www.vision3d.com, http://www.visionhelp.com and http://www.covd.org (which lists certified developmental/behavioral optometrists by geographic area).
My own daughter had severe developmental vision delays that were not detected by her highly respected opthalmologist — because he never tested for them!
Mary