When reading struggles aren't only about language.
Some of your clients are working hard on language and literacy, but their eyes aren't keeping up. We evaluate and treat the visual skills behind reading, so your clients can get more out of the therapy you're already providing.
Reading takes both language and vision.
Your work builds the language side of reading: phonological awareness, decoding, vocabulary and comprehension. But reading also depends on the eyes teaming, focusing and tracking accurately across a page for minutes at a time.
A client can pass a school vision screening and still have trouble with these skills. When they do, reading feels effortful and tiring, and progress in therapy can stall even when language skills are improving.
Signs you may notice in sessions
- Loses place, skips lines or re-reads when reading aloud
- Fatigues quickly or rubs eyes during print-based tasks
- Reading fluency lags behind decoding skills
- Avoids reading even when decoding is improving
- Tilts head, covers one eye or moves very close to the page
- Reverses letters or confuses similar words past early grades
- Struggles to scan picture cards, worksheets or AAC displays
- Copies slowly or inaccurately from a model
How we complement your services
Different systems, shared goals. We don't replace speech, language or reading intervention. We address the visual part of the picture.
What you address
- Language comprehension and expression
- Phonological awareness and decoding
- Articulation, fluency and voice
- Cognitive-communication after brain injury
- Pragmatics and social communication
What we address
- Eye teaming (binocular vision) and convergence
- Focusing (accommodation) stamina at near
- Eye tracking (saccades and pursuits) across a line of print
- Visual-perceptual skills: discrimination, memory, spatial relations, closure
- Visual-motor integration for copying and writing
Where a vision referral can help.
Literacy and reading fluency
Clients whose decoding is improving but whose fluency, stamina or comprehension still lag, or who lose their place on the page.
Learning differences
Students with dyslexia or other learning differences who also show signs of visual fatigue or tracking problems. Vision therapy doesn't treat dyslexia, but it can remove an added visual barrier.
Concussion and brain injury
Adults and teens in cognitive-communication therapy who report visual fatigue, motion sensitivity, double vision or trouble reading after an injury.
Visual supports and AAC
Clients who have trouble scanning picture cards, visual schedules or communication displays, or who tire quickly during visual tasks.
Simple for you and the family.
We contact the family
Our Patient Care Coordinator reaches out to answer questions and schedule a Binocular Vision Evaluation.
Evaluation
A 90-minute evaluation of eye alignment, teaming, tracking, focusing and visual processing. A Visual Information Processing Evaluation may be recommended for academic concerns.
Findings shared with you
With the family's permission, we send you our findings and recommendations so we can work toward the same goals.
"When the visual system is working efficiently, students can get more out of the therapy they're already receiving."
Questions from SLPs
Is vision therapy a treatment for dyslexia?
No. Vision therapy doesn't treat dyslexia or language-based learning disabilities. It treats visual problems, like eye teaming, focusing and tracking, that can make reading harder. When those skills are working efficiently, students can get more out of their speech and language therapy.
Do you replace speech or reading intervention?
No. We work alongside SLPs, reading specialists, tutors and occupational therapists. Our role is the visual part of the picture.
How do I refer a client?
Use our Referral form, or ask the family to submit an Evaluation Request. Our Patient Care Coordinator will contact the family to schedule a Binocular Vision Evaluation.
Will you send me the results?
With the family's permission, we're happy to share our findings and recommendations with you so you can coordinate goals.
My client already passed a vision screening. Should I still refer?
Possibly. Most screenings check how clearly a child sees letters on a chart at distance. They usually don't test eye teaming, focusing or tracking at reading distance, which is where many reading-related vision problems show up.
Do you see adults?
Yes. We evaluate children and adults, including adults with visual symptoms after a concussion, stroke or brain injury.
Do you take insurance or FES-UA funds?
We're fee-for-service and don't bill insurance. We're an approved provider for the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA) through Step Up For Students.
Have a client in mind?
Send a referral, or call to talk through whether a vision evaluation makes sense. We're glad to be part of your client's team.