A non-doctor friend of mine recently posted this on FB. I thought Id share it: A doctor posted a link to an article that discussed whether vision therapy is also psychological therapy. Having authored a report on vision and juvenile delinquency some years ago, I had to add my 25 cents. The changes in behavior following vision therapy are often amazing. What follows is my post in response. Thought any parent who has a child with emotional or behavior issues might find it helpful. The impact of academic failure on a child is quite profound psychologically. The child has no idea why they are failing, they are simply aware that they are losing. How they react to that varies, but often follows the path of withdrawal, avoidance and a chain of reactions that can lead to being a class clown, self destructive choices, misbehavior. In studies over at least 6 decades, between 90 and 95 percent of incarcerated juveniles failed one or more tests of the visual skills needed to be successful in school. By removing the vision-related source of the behavior, the young person is able to be more successful as a student. Among delinquents, for example, a major intervention project conducted by the California Youth Authority and optometry students at Southern California College of Optometrists, there was a 60 percent reduction of recidivism that was consistent over the 12 years of the study. More practically, nothing builds self esteem (and good behavior choices) as well as well as real individual accomplishment. The positive reinforcement that is so important in therapy in this sense is psychological in nature, but not psychological per se. I am so happy that you made this post. When you look at outcome studies for VT patients, you nearly always see positive changes in attitude, behavior, self worth and reports of a more cheerful and happy child. Every doctor, therapist, teacher or professional who has followed a child through therapy has seen this phenomenon first hand. Doctors may not promise such changes in behavior, but most parents are in for a pleasant surprise as these changes occur in their child during vision therapy. In my own experiences with a step daughter whose vision problems werent dealt with until middle school, the VT changes were amazing, but we also provided an equal number of psychological counseling sessions to contend with the emotional consequences of her long entrenched misbehavior.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 19:56:04 +0000
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