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    #234298 10/14/16 10:17 AM
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    Portia Offline OP
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    Hello All,
    Could anyone explain to me the effect poor vision development has on near-sightedness? The doctor (new doctor - not our past VT doc) indicated to me today that near-sightedness is a compensation for muscles not relaxing, so the vision therapy has not been effective in preventing the nearsightedness. I am very confused as I thought eyesight was more a function of the shape of the eye. I kind of left feeling a bit of a failure to DS as he now needs glasses in addition to his various therapies.

    Thanks!



    Last edited by Portia; 04/11/19 04:02 PM.
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    I do not know about the relation to vision therapy, but have been told or read, can't recall and have no citations, that near sighted ness is accelerated by lack of daylight and lack of "seeing far" (as you would if you spent more time outside, hunting for mammoths or whatever) and my kids ophthalmologist says, simply by stress.

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    Portia,

    I've never heard of poor vision development having an impact on near-sightedness. I'm not an expert or even anything close to knowledgeable on the subject, so my lack of knowledge means nothing smile However, I wouldn't spend one nanosecond worrying that your ds might have not needed glasses for eyesight had he had more or different or "better" vision therapy. My dd who needed VT had 20/20 eyesight when she was 8 years old and started VT, but by the time she was 10 had very poor near vision and now has to wear strong prescription contacts. Her eye drs and behavioral optometrists have never seen one as relating to the other, and most of the kids that I've known who have to wear glasses usually start to experience changes in eyesight acuity from 6-9 years old... whether or not they had issues that had to be addressed by vision therapy.

    My guess is it's more likely genetics - are other people in your family near-sighted?

    Best wishes,

    polarbear

    ps - the other thing I'd add - my ds, who's never had issues requiring vision therapy, also wears glasses (contacts). We wanted to put him in contacts right away when he was first given a prescription for glasses at 10 and were told by our eye dr to wait because we'd be changing out prescriptions too frequently until he was a teen and his prescription was stable - were told the same for our dd also. Both of their prescriptions stabilized around their early teens. Not sure that relates to anything at all... but it might be related to changes in eye shape as children grow. In any event, you might consider how many people you know who are near-sighted yet never had challenges requiring vision therapy.

    Last edited by polarbear; 10/14/16 11:45 AM.
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    My DS8 has had VT for a year; at his last vision check in May, his vision was better than 20/20.

    I think genetics probably has a lot to do with it.

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    Val Offline
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    Originally Posted by Portia
    Hello All,
    Could anyone explain to me the effect poor vision development has on near-sightedness? DS9's eyesight is changing for the worse. The doctor (new doctor - not our past VT doc) indicated to me today that near-sightedness is a compensation for muscles not relaxing, so the vision therapy has not been effective in preventing the nearsightedness.

    Hi Portia,

    I think you've been fed a bit of a line on this one. The causes of myopia aren't fully understood. I'm definitely not an expert on the subject, but a few review papers I found don't support claims that exercises or vision therapy can prevent nearsightedness. What I found said that it's a mixture of genes and environment.

    Environmental factors that are correlated with nearsightedness include time outdoors (protective; may have to do with sunlight stimulating the eye), intensive studying/reading or screen time (increases risk), and high blood sugar (increases risk). Here's an article from NIH on the subject.

    I learned that nearsightedness is becoming a very serious problem in Asia. It's possible that the problem is driven by too much studying/screen time. Apparently, a new campaign in Singapore says, "Keep myopia at bay; go outdoors and play!"

    Here's an article on Quackwatch about vision therapy.

    Last edited by Val; 10/14/16 01:18 PM. Reason: Clarity
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    Val, in response to your concern and to be clear for others reading who might be wondering about the differences in vision therapy vs eyesight correction, I also want to clarify my original reply - vision therapy was *extremely* helpful for my dd. It was recommended for dd by a neuropsychologist, and recommendation was supported by our family eye dr. Since that time (approximately 6 years ago) our family eye dr has added routine screenings to check for tracking issues. None of these recommendations were made by quacks, and the results speak for themselves.

    I do agree that VT isn't a solution for ADHD/dyslexia/etc as it is sometimes advertised, but otoh, my child with vision issues was suspected as having ADHD, and dyslexia/dyscalculia before her vision challenges were recognized and remediated by VT.

    The key is that vision therapy exercises and makes muscles stronger that in turn make it possible for the two eyes to work together. Glasses/contacts are used to correct deficiencies in eyesight in each individual eye. There are people who need either corrective lenses (glasses or contacts) (or surgery that reshapes the lens) to see accurately out of each individual eye, and there are many people who's eyes don't track/focus together or who lack peripheral field of vision due to low muscle tone and they benefit from vision therapy. It's quite possible for a person to have one issue without the other, or to have both.

    Best wishes,

    polarbear

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    The way I have (totally inexpertly) understood it is that "normal" near/ farsightedness (and various other things optometrists usually look for) relate to physical issues with your eyes. Vision therapy doesn't address these. Instead, it deals with problems in the cognitive processing of the signal your brain is getting from the eyes (and especially with effectively merging the signals being received by the two eyes.)

    I wouldn't expect vision therapy to have any effect - positive or negative - on near or farsightedness and the need for glasses to address them. I would be cautious around a therapist who claimed a relation.

    Similar to comments from other posters, many people I know - and now their kids - experienced rapid deterioration in distance vision in pre-adolescence to adolescence. I've never looked this one one up, but they tell me the new and stronger prescription every year at this age is quite common.

    I've found these clinical practice guidelines helpful. Numbers 18 and 20 address vision therapy; you may be able to find info related to your original question in here too, maybe in the first one related to paediatric care?

    http://www.aoa.org/optometrists/too...tions/clinical-practice-guidelines?sso=y

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    Originally Posted by Platypus101
    Similar to comments from other posters, many people I know - and now their kids - experienced rapid deterioration in distance vision in pre-adolescence to adolescence. I've never looked this one one up, but they tell me the new and stronger prescription every year at this age is quite common.

    As polarbear alluded to upthread, it has to do with a child's growth. When kids undergo growth spurts, the eyeball tends to grow as well. (And most myopia is directly related to the physical shape of the eyeball, which has a large genetic component.)

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    I recall that the year before finals in law school, ie the one that is basically spent in the library every waking hour, had everyone's eyesight deteriorate by at least +/-1. I am extremely farsighted from childhood, to the extent that new eye doctors or opticians flat out used to tell me "this is not possible at your age", until they actually started checking, of course) and I ended up more farsighted. There must be a stress component quite independent from adolescent growth.


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