Gainesville, NY, -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/20/2012 -- If your child passed the standard eye examination given by your family optometrist and is still struggling to read or do his homework, you may want to have his vision evaluated by a developmental optometrist. According to Dr. Tod Davis, a developmental optometrist with more than 30 years of clinical experience, healthy vision is more than just being able to read 20/20 on a standard eye chart.

“There are many symptoms that appear to be related to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), poor behavior or learning problems that are actually vision related,” Dr. Davis said. “Sometimes it takes a special set of tests to determine whether the eyes are working well together and how the brain is receiving the images it receives.”

Examples of vision disorders that cannot be detected in a standard eye exam are amblyopia, convergence insufficiency and binocular vision disorder. Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, occurs when vision in one eye has been obstructed during development and produces blurred vision that the brain subsequently ignores. Convergence insufficiency interferes with a person’s ability to see at close distances. Binocular vision disorder occurs when the two eyes fail to work together as a team.

“These conditions cannot be treated adequately with eyeglasses,” Dr. Davis said. “Early detection and treatment with vision therapy are the most successful methods for rehabilitating vision in these circumstances. Unfortunately, the standard eye examination given by most optometrists does not test for many of these conditions. A more in-depth examination by a developmental optometrist is needed to find many vision disorders which go beyond nearsightedness and farsightedness.”

Once the disorder is diagnosed, Dr. Davis creates a specialized treatment plan which includes procedures designed to enhance the brain’s ability to control eye alignment, tracking and teaming, focusing, movements and visual processing. Therapy can last from six months to one year, with most patients experiencing significant improvement within the first three months.

About Dr. Tod Davis
Dr. Tod Davis Developmental Optometry and Vision Therapy Services offices are located in Gainesville, Fredericksburg and Winchester, Va. Dr. Davis is a developmental optometrist with over 30 years of experience treating people of all ages for a spectrum of different vision disorders, including convergence insufficiency, strabismus, amblyopia and vision-related reading difficulties. Visit DavisVisionTherapy.com for more information, patient forms and contact information.