| Vision therapy has been considered a controversial | | | | The Optometrist gave him a very thorough |
| treatment for individuals with ADHD but more and | | | | evaluation and determined that he had tracking |
| more research is showing that there is in fact a | | | | delays and convergence problems. He also reported |
| connection between vision problems and ADHD. In | | | | that my son was cross dominant. This happens, |
| early 2009 a group of Optometrists in England | | | | according to the optometrist, when you are right |
| evaluated several programs claiming to improve | | | | handed but your dominant eye is the left eye (or |
| visual, mental, neurological, academic, and behavioral | | | | vice versa). |
| problems. They concluded that patients with | | | | My did not have dyslexia, according to the |
| convergence insufficiency were improved by vision | | | | Optometrist, but it was his cross dominance and |
| therapy. | | | | convergence issues that caused him to write the |
| Children diagnosed with ADHD have a three fold | | | | number '9' when he meant to write a 'P' and to write |
| increase in the incidence of Convergence | | | | the number '3' when he meant to write an 'E'. The |
| Insufficiency as compared to controls and a two fold | | | | evaluation took 4 hours and resulted in our getting a |
| increase in the incidence of visual tracking problems. | | | | mountain of exercises that we had to do with him at |
| This may be related to a hyper responsive superior | | | | home. |
| colliculus. The superior colliculus (SC) is a brain | | | | The exercises involved tracking letters in a |
| structure which is involved in the control of | | | | newspaper, reading from materials that were near |
| distractibility and of eye and head movements. Some | | | | and far in a rapid manner, and what I call eye |
| researchers have proposed that in ADHD, the | | | | aerobics, where he had to look up, down, and all |
| colliculus is hyper-responsive, which causes inattention | | | | around, over and over again |
| and distractibility. Could the hyper-responsive SC also | | | | After about 3 months of doing this. His tracking was |
| be causing the problems with convergence and | | | | faster, his letter reversals were much better, and his |
| tracking?? | | | | handwriting was better. I believe that it is possible |
| When my son who has primarily inattentive ADHD | | | | that, just like with biofeedback, we can train our |
| was seven years old we took him to an Occupational | | | | eyes to perform better. If there is an eye/attention |
| Therapist (OT) His teachers were concerned because | | | | connection maybe training the eye could in some |
| his handwriting was horrible and his gross motor skills | | | | way help with attention. |
| were not great. They wanted me to make certain | | | | Some folks have proposed that the increased |
| that these problems were not related to an OT | | | | attention which results from taking a stimulant is |
| issue. The OT spent about 1 minute with him and | | | | cause by the depression of activity in the colliculus. |
| then came to tell me that he had something 'wrong' | | | | Could there possibly be some visual therapy that |
| going on with his eyes. She felt that his handwriting | | | | would, like stimulants, calm that hyper-responsive |
| problems and gross motor problems were related to | | | | colliculus and in the process increase out attention? |
| a convergence insufficiency and referred us to a | | | | Current ophthalmology research may provide |
| Developmental Optometrist. | | | | answers to some of these questions. |