EXCELerated Vision: The Wow Vision Therapy Blog

Who is the VisionHelp Group?

Watch this short video to learn about VisionHelp, a group of developmental optometrists who are focused on raising awareness for developmental vision and vision therapy!

Our very own founder of Wow Vision Therapy, Dr. Dan Fortenbacher, O.D, FCOVD has been a member of VisionHelp since it's inception over 20 years ago. The mission of the VisionHelp Group is to facilitate advocacy to end the senseless struggle through better vision for humankind.

 

Fixing Aloise's Gaze

In this short video you will see 6 year old Aloise overcoming her constant right esotropia (crossed eye). Take a look at Aloise show off her emerging ability to consciously straighten her eyes. This important "motor fusion" ( eye muscle control) is an essential step in her ability to gain "sensory fusion" which is her neural "visual lock" and 3-D vision experience through binocular coordination of her eyes. When Aloise began with us at Wow Vision Therapy she had a constant 25 degree right eye-turn (with correction) at distance and near. Her right eye also had moderately reduced visual acuity due to amblyopia (lazy eye). Aloise is moderately farsightedness and wears spectacle correction full time including a bifocal. She works with us 2 days a week in office-base optometric vision therapy and does 15-20 minutes a day of home oriented activities on the days she is not here. She has never had eye muscle surgery as part of her treatment.

 

AJ's Story: Treating Developmental Delays with Vision Therapy

Take a look at AJ's story and you will see how a child with developmental delays can also have vision-related delays that interfere with many areas of life. AJ is not alone as children with delayed vision development will typically show poor academic progress and struggle with many routine activities in daily living. While age is not a barrier to treatment, when caught early and treated with office-based optometric vision therapy, a child with vision related developmental delays can often times catch up and show the progress expected for their age. In this short video you will hear AJ's parents describe their experience and AJ's success at Wow Vision Therapy.

  

 

 

Domenic's Story...Vision Problems Associated with Developmental Delays

"Developmental delays" is a common diagnosis for many children in our care at Wow Vision Therapy. In addition to office-based optometric vision therapy, helping children with developmental delays often requires a multidisciplinary approach, including occupational therapy, speech therapy and physical therapy.

In this short video, Domenic's story is told by his father along with video footage of Domenic while he was in vision therapy at Wow Vision Therapy. We invite you to take a moment of time and see if Domenic's story resonates with you and if so, help pass it on so that those children with developmental delays can be recognized and provided the vision care that is so important to their future. We are also happy to provide answers to your questions if you wish to leave a comment.

 

 

 

Treating Developmental Delays with Vision Therapy

Nathan is a child who had a history of significant developmental delays. Before vision therapy he struggled with hyperactivity, lack of focus, poor balance and difficulty with gross and fine motor ability. But, now thanks to early intervention and a multidisciplanary approach involving vision therapy, OT and speech therapy, Nathan has caught up and even begun to excel! Take a look and hear from Nathan's mother...

 

For more insights check out the post written by Dr. Dan Fortenbacher on the VisionHelp Blog entitled: 

Good sight and bad vision…recognizing the difference and how to explain it to parents

 

 

CPA speaks out on her life changed through vision therapy

Most educational meetings for doctors involve presentations on the latest research and clinical insights by other doctors. But, at this year’s Annual Michigan Vision Therapy Study Group Meeting  on February 8, 2013, the audience of doctors and vision therapists had the opportunity to hear a presentation instead from a Certified Public Accountant…and in this case the CPA was the patient!

 

 

What 3-D movies can tell you about your vision

The VisionHelp Group just produced and launched this 2 minute video to help the public understand how 3-D movies can be difficult to watch for individuals with binocular vision problems. Wonderfully done...take a look and enjoy Bobby's story!

 

Advanced Amblyopia Treatment...better results at any age without patching

Drs. Fortenbacher, Stull and Tran presented a lecture to the Annual Michigan Vision Therapy Study Group on February 8, 2013 outlining the latest research in visual neuroscience and techniques to treat ambyopia regardless of age and without an emphasis on occlusion therapy (eye patching).

The lecture featured one of our adult patients, Emily who at age 18 is a bright and talented young lady. In her senior year of High School she is also on the school’s swim team, a sport that she could excel, even with no depth perception. Yes, Emily’s story begins with stereo blindness.

 

Like so many patients who begin with occlusion therapy, the outcomes are often limited to modest improvement in visual acuity in the amblyopic eye (lazy eye) and little or no depth perception, with usually significant resistance by the patient. 

Emily was referred to Wow Vision Therapy by her primary care optometrist for advanced amblyopia treatment, binocular vision therapy.  Listen to Emily describe in her own words in this video entitled, Emily's story.

 

To learn more details about the Advanced Amblyopia Treatment paradigm,  you can view the Wow Vision Therapy 2013MVTSG Lecture - Advanced Amblyopia Treatment for faster and better outcomes, in a Slide Show video here:

 

 

The concluding 3 slides summarize the essense of the lecture

You can also download a pdf copy of Drs. Fortenbacher, Stull and Tran's lecture by clicking here

Dan L. Fortenbacher, O.D., FCOVD

 

Vision rehabilitation to treat visual field loss post stroke

How does vision therapy help a patient who has suffered a visual field loss due to a stroke? Take a look at our patient Darlene who just complete her vision rehabilitation. She tells her story best...

 

 

New video answers common questions about vision therapy

One of the major obstacles in public awareness of Convergence Insufficiency is that this condition is clearly not a household word. Parents whose school-age child is newly diagnosed with CI frequently will ask, “Why did no one recognize this in my child earlier?” 

To address this  common question, our office has produced a video, entitled: Looking Inward: The Vision Therapy Treatment of Convergence Insufficiency  to help bring about a better understanding for diagnosis and effective treatment of this common and yet potentially disabling binocular vision problem...Convergence Insufficiency.