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[quote=Anonymous][where are u located
quote=Anonymous]I'm a Developmental Optometrist who just happened to stumble upon this in a Google search.  The bottom line is vision is much more complicated than most people realize.  You need to see someone who can check ALL aspects of vision to truly rule out a vision problem.  The basic optical and eye health exam you can get with any standard eyecare provider is very important.

The basic eye exam is really good enough for a lot of people and that's all you're going to get with most Optometrists and Ophthalmologists.  The problem is that if you have a functional vision problem, it's probably not going to be addressed.  Here are some examples: difficulty using your eyes together as a team, difficulty making adjustments in focus, unable to move the eyes accurately, etc.  There can also be visual perceptual problems (which OT's and psychologists can also test for.)
If you really want to rule out a vision problem, you need to see someone who can check everything.

You also should realize that Opthalmologists don't know a whole lot about vision therapy.  They focus much more on diseases of the eye tissues and perform surgeries.   In the same way that I did not get much training on surgical procedures, they did not get much in the way of functional vision training.  Unfortunately there are also political and economic motives in play as well.  Ophthalmology works hard to limit our scope of practice as much as possible.  Even though there is a lot of research on the efficacy of vision therapy, it is much more convenient for them to ignore it.  They're not all like that though.  I do get an occasional referral from a local respected strabismus surgeon.

If you are considering vision therapy, you need to see someone who provides quality therapy.  Unfortunately some Optometrists say they do vision therapy, but they just send you home with a computer program or a couple things to work on at home.  This can give vision therapy a bad rap.   You must also realize it is a significant investment of time, effort.  If you do the work, you will make the improvement.  Vision skills are learned and developed.  The changes happen in the brain, and this won't just happen overnight.  It takes some time and repetition.
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