{"id":10136,"date":"2021-03-03T07:04:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T07:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?page_id=10136"},"modified":"2021-08-10T09:36:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T09:36:56","slug":"vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>25% of all children have a vision problem significant enough to affect their performance in school.<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Parents will do almost anything to get their child the help they need to keep their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-for-school\/vision-therapy-for-school-success-stories\/\">grades up at school.<\/a> However, parents don\u2019t always know who they need help from and what kind of help is needed.<\/p>\n<p>Often school administrators recommend that children who are struggling in school seek help from an occupational therapist (OT) to help cope with learning or behavioral problems, not realizing that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-for-school\/\">problems achieving at school<\/a> may come from an undiagnosed problem with their visual skills.<\/p>\n<p><b>Visual skills are essential for school performance, these can be improved with a vision therapy (VT) program.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If your child has learning or behavioral problems visit an eye doctor for an eye exam.<\/p>\n<h2><b>The differences between VT and OT<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>While VT and OT have a notable amount of overlap, there are a few key differences.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Vision Therapy:<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy-for-children\/8-vision-therapy-myths-and-facts\/\">Vision therapy<\/a> helps adults and children with poor visual skills to strengthen the brain-eye connection and improve the functioning of their visual system.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/the-17-key-visual-skills\/\">17 key visual skills<\/a> that are vital for school success.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Doing so can alleviate many symptoms like eye strain, headaches, dizziness, and even anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of visual skills are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Eye teaming<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Depth perception<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Focusing<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Tracking<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Convergence<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Visual-motor skills<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Visual processing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Children with 20\/20 sight can still have poorly developed visual skills, this is known as the &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy-for-children\/the-myth-of-20-20\/\">Myth of 20\/20 Vision<\/a>&#8216;.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If a child has a visual deficit, even with 20\/20 eyesight, they may need to read a sentence several times in order to understand its meaning. They may also tilt their head to read the board, or may try to avoid doing any visually demanding activities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/\">Guide to Vision Therapy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">Contact an eye doctor<\/a>\u00a0near you that can conduct eye exams to detect any underlying visual problems<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find a Vision Therapy Eye Doctor Near You<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h3><b>Occupational Therapy:<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Occupational therapists help people of all ages to regain\/gain the ability to perform various tasks through the use of interventions and sensory-motor exercises. OT aims to improve:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Balance<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Bilateral awareness<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Gross and fine motor coordination<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Hand-eye coordination<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">Tactile awareness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Which therapy is right for your child?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>If your child is struggling in school or while playing sports they should first be evaluated by an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">eye doctor experienced in vision therapy<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If children have any trouble performing visually-demanding tasks like sports, spelling, reading, or are complaining of headaches \u2014 a vision therapy evaluation will assess the development of their visual skills.<\/p>\n<p>Specific eye doctors have spent years of post-graduate training in vision therapy and can provide successful programs to improve your child\u2019s visual skills and in turn enhance their reading, learning, attention and overall school performances.<\/p>\n<p>While OT\u2019s can perform more basic visual exercises with children, only an optometrist experienced in VT can prescribe therapeutic lenses, filters and prisms to significantly impact the functioning of their visual skills.<\/p>\n<h2><b>School vision screening<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Something to keep in mind is that even if a child passes the school\u2019s vision screening test, they may still have a problem with visual processing and other visual skills.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-for-school\/are-school-vision-screenings-effective\/\">School vision screenings are not reliable<\/a> as they only test eyesight and not the other essential visual skills that help with the success of a child.<\/p>\n<p>An interdisciplinary approach is often the most effective since the visual system is highly integrated with other systems. While some children may benefit from doing both OT and VT simultaneously, it is usually recommended that the visual skills are addressed first.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LEARN MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/\">Guide to Vision Therapy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If your child is not achieving to their potential at school, contact an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">eye doctor near you<\/a> to schedule an appointment, so that their vision can be evaluated<i>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>If your child is struggling with behavioral or learning problems, they may have an undiagnosed vision problem and your eye doctor will be able to discuss the many successful options.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>25% of all children have a vision problem significant enough to affect their performance in school. Parents will do almost anything to get their child<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10137,"parent":10193,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[476,140,109,95,102,490,153,83],"class_list":["post-10136","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-17-key-visual-skills","tag-20-20","tag-binocular","tag-childrens-vision","tag-learning","tag-reading-and-learning","tag-school","tag-vision-therapy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy? - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy? - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"25% of all children have a vision problem significant enough to affect their performance in school. Parents will do almost anything to get their child\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-10T09:36:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"188\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/\",\"name\":\"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy? - Optometrists.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-03T07:04:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-10T09:36:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":188},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vision Therapy\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Guide to Vision Therapy\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"What Are the Benefits of Vision Therapy?\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/\",\"name\":\"Optometrists.org\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy? - Optometrists.org","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy? - Optometrists.org","og_description":"25% of all children have a vision problem significant enough to affect their performance in school. Parents will do almost anything to get their child","og_url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/","og_site_name":"Optometrists.org","article_modified_time":"2021-08-10T09:36:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":188,"url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/","name":"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy? - Optometrists.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-03T07:04:05+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-10T09:36:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ot.jpg","width":300,"height":188},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/vision-therapy-or-occupational-therapy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vision Therapy","item":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Guide to Vision Therapy","item":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"What Are the Benefits of Vision Therapy?","item":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/guide-to-vision-therapy\/what-are-the-benefits-of-vision-therapy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Vision Therapy or Occupational Therapy?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/","name":"Optometrists.org","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10136"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16782,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10136\/revisions\/16782"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}