According to March 10 article by Judith Warner of the New York Times, one of the newest choices promises results without medication or standard behavioral therapy:
[Stanley] Appelbaum is a behavioral optometrist, part of a growing subspecialty of optometry that takes the traditional practice beyond its usual focus on eye health and eyesight.While behavioral optometrists acknowledge that they cant "cure" conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia or other learning disabilities, they say they can effectively treat learning, reading, spelling and attention problems associated with vision problems.
Through a practice referred to as vision therapy -- a combination of in-office and at-home eye exercises -- many of these optometrists claim they can offer significant help for problems that go far beyond the headaches, neck aches, eye strain and poor posture typically associated with vision problems.
According to Visionandlearning.org, a behavioral-optometry Web site, vision therapy can be used to treat reading problems, learning problems, spelling problems, attention problems, hyperactivity, coordination problems; it can also treat a child who experiences "trouble in sports," who "frustrates easily," displays "poor motivation," and "does not work well on his own" -- virtually anything that presents as an "impaired potential for achievement," to borrow a phrase from the prominent late optometrist Martin H. Birnbaum.
Posted By: Aspen/CRC