FAQs about Vision Therapy

As specialists in vision therapy, the team at Hopping Eye Associates is equipped to answer your questions. Learn more below.

What is vision therapy?

Vision therapy is the process of training the eye muscles to move the eyes quickly (visual recognition), accurately, and efficiently (oculomotor skill), combined with training the brain to recognize and understand what it is seeing (visual perception).  Additionally, vision therapy addresses the body’s motor system to respond to what one sees or perceives which is defined as visual-motor integration.  These are the four main areas of development enriched by vision therapy.

Who performs the vision therapy?

Your child’s eye doctor prescribes vision therapy specific to your child’s needs. Performance and implementation of the therapy prescribed is the responsibility of our trained vision therapists under the direction of Dr. Desiree Hopping. While Dr. Hopping directly oversees the vision therapy program, it is actually your child who performs the therapy. Vision is not automatic, but rather a learned process through your child’s active participation in doing the exercises and activities him/herself.

Is vision therapy performed in groups or individually?

Most commonly our vision therapy is performed in a group setting. Our therapy room is equipped for a class size of six students. We have found this to be optimal for patient and therapist. Children in this group setting learn to suppress auditory input and unimportant visual stimuli such as a peripheral motion during times of visual concentration. The carryover of this benefit of vision therapy transfers to the more stimulating environment of a classroom. However, depending on several factors, for example age or diagnosis, our doctor may recommend a one on one setting for vision therapy to start, which could transition in to group therapy if appropriate.