Talk:Vision therapy

message: Dear wiki moderators,
I'd like to apologize for not initially understanding the appropriate ways to edit articles and ensure that the wiki page is representative of the data and studies.  Sorry for any headaches I caused in that process.  
There are 2 key things moderators need to be aware of. 
1.  The war between professions
Here is the issue:  Optometry and Ophthalmology largely disagree about vision therapy, with the exception of the CITT study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2779032/).  Much of this comes from a large political battle between the two professions.  Much of this originated from the La Guardia meeting (https://aoafoundation.org/ohs/hindsight/the-meeting-that-changed-the-profession/) where optometry decided to pursue scope of practice that encroached into ophthalmology's scope of practice.  Since that happened, the two professions have been at war (https://floridapolitics.com/archives/225274-optometrists-going-back-eyeball-war-truce/), and ophthalmology is out to discredit anything that is optometry specific. 
2.  Many of the 'reviews' and opinion pieces that 'debunk' vision therapy are not well done, but are published because it fits the political narrative.  Most of the 'reviews' cite a very selected works and often mis represent the findings of other works in order to further support the agenda.  
Wiki does not need to have a Vision Therapy page that is in support of vision therapy, as this would be bias and incorrect.  It also stands to reason that having a page citing only literature and opinion pieces against vision therapy is also biased and incorrect. 
I turn to you to help create a more truthful page that acknowledges the shortcomings of some areas of research about VT, the battle between the two professions, and the areas where research is strong.  
At the end of this you will find only a very small sample of the literature and I could fill pages and pages more.
 
Evidence Review
Effect of treatment of symptomatic convergence insufficiency on reading in children: a pilot study.
Scheiman M1, Chase C2, Borsting E3, Lynn Mitchell G4, Kulp MT4, Cotter SA3; CITT-RS Study Group.
Clin Exp Optom. 2018 Mar 25
Conclusion:
‘After treatment for convergence insufficiency, statistically significant improvements were found for reading comprehension (mean = 4.2, p = 0.009) and the reading composite score (mean = 2.4, p = 0.016) as measured by the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test at the 24-week visit. These improvements were related to the clinical treatment outcome measures (p = 0.011) with the largest improvements occurring in those who were early responders to treatment. Reading speed (words per minute) increased significantly on the Gray Oral Reading Test (p < 0.0001).’
 
Improvement in academic behaviors after successful treatment of convergence insufficiency.
Borsting E1, Mitchell GL, Kulp MT, Scheiman M, Amster DM, Cotter S, Coulter RA, Fecho G, Gallaway MF, Granet D, Hertle R, Rodena J, Yamada T; CITT Study Group.
Optom Vis Sci. 2012 Jan;89(1):12-8. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e318238ffc3.
Conclusion: 
‘A successful or improved outcome after CI treatment was associated with a reduction in the frequency of adverse academic behaviors and parental concern associated with reading and school work as reported by parents.’
 
Improvement of Vergence Movements by Vision Therapy Decreases K-ARS Scores of Symptomatic ADHD Children.
Lee SH1, Moon BY2, Cho HG2.
J Phys Ther Sci. 2014 Feb;26(2):223-7. doi: 10.1589/jpts.26.223. Epub 2014 Feb 28.
Conclusion: Convergence insufficiency symptoms are closely related to symptoms screened for ADHD, and vision therapy to improve vergence movements is an effective method of decreasing the K-ARS scores.
 
Behavioral and Emotional Problems Associated With Convergence Insufficiency in Children: An Open Trial.
Borsting E1, Mitchell GL2, Arnold LE2, Scheiman M3, Chase C4, Kulp M2, Cotter S5; CITT-RS Group.
J Atten Disord. 2016 Oct;20(10):836-44. doi: 10.1177/1087054713511528. Epub 2013 Nov 22
Conclusion: ‘In an open trial, attention and internalizing problems improved significantly following treatment for CI (Convergence Insufficiency).’
 
Randomized clinical trial of treatments for symptomatic convergence insufficiency in children.
Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial Study Group1.
Arch Ophthalmol. 2008 Oct;126(10):1336-49. doi: 10.1001/archopht.126.10.1336.
Conclusion: ‘Twelve weeks of OBVAT (office based vergence accommodative therapy) results in a significantly greater improvement in symptoms and clinical measures of near point of convergence and positive fusional vergence and a greater percentage of patients reaching the predetermined criteria of success compared with HBPP(home based pencil pushups), HBCVAT+ (home based computer vergence and accommodative vergence therapy), and OBPT (office based placebo therapy). Application to Clinical Practice Office-based vergence accommodative therapy is an effective treatment for children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency.’
 
Efficacy of vision therapy in children with learning disability and associated binocular vision anomalies.
Hussaindeen JR1, Shah P2, Ramani KK3, Ramanujan L4.
J Optom. 2018 Jan - Mar;11(1):40-48. doi: 10.1016/j.optom.2017.02.002. Epub 2017 Jun 7.
Conclusion:
‘Children with specific learning disorders have a high frequency of binocular vision disorders and vision therapy plays a significant role in improving the BV parameters. Children with SLD should be screened for BV anomalies as it could potentially be an added hindrance to the reading difficulty in this special population.’
 
Differences in eye movements and reading problems in dyslexic and normal children.
Eden GF1, Stein JF, Wood HM, Wood FB.
Vision Res. 1994 May;34(10):1345-58.
Conclusion: ‘... A qualitative assessment of saccadic eye movements revealed that dyslexics exhibit fixation instability at the end of saccades... Sex, handedness, IQ or the presence of attention deficit disorder (ADD) did not appear to influence the children's performances on any of the eye movement tasks. The presence of oculomotor abnormalities in a non-reading task strongly suggests that the underlying deficit in the control of eye movements seen in dyslexics is not caused by language problems alone.’
 
Association between reading speed, cycloplegic refractive error, and oculomotor function in reading disabled children versus controls.
Quaid P1, Simpson T.
 2013 Jan;251(1):169-87. doi: 10.1007/s00417-012-2135-0. Epub 2012 Aug 29.
Conclusion: 
‘This research indicates there are significant associations between reading speed, refractive error, and in particular vergence facility. It appears sensible that students being considered for reading specific IEP status should have a full eye examination (including cycloplegia), in addition to a comprehensive binocular vision evaluation.’
 
Optometric Vision Therapy: Evidence Based Treatment for Head Injury
The new standards of care have recognized the importance of identifying and treating vision disorders after head injury.  
In his position statement on Vision Therapy and Traumatic Brain Injury, Dr. Eric Singman MD, PHD, Milton and Muriel Shurr Director of Johns Hopkins Hospital says:
‘Among the critical members of this (rehab) team, there should be vision specialists dedicated to working with patients who demonstrate deficiencies in eye teaming, loss of visual acuity and/or visual field as well as uncoupling of ‘visuospatial awareness’.  For the most part, optometric and neuropsychological communities have embraced visual rehabilitation efforts; notably, these providers have documented successes in helping brain injury patients improve their quality of life’.
 
Evidence Review
Vision Therapy for Binocular Dysfunction Post Brain Injury
Conrad, Joseph Samuel; Mitchell, G. Lynn; Kulp, Marjean Taylor.  Optometry and Vision Science: January 2017 - Volume 94 - Issue 1 - p 101–107
Conclusion:
 ‘In this case series, post-concussion vision problems were prevalent and CI and AI were the most common diagnoses. Vision therapy had a successful or improved outcome in the vast majority of cases that completed treatment. Evaluation of patients with a history of concussion should include testing of vergence, accommodative, and eye movement function.’
 
Vision Therapy for Post-Concussion Vision Disorders
Gallaway, Michael; Scheiman, Mitchell; Mitchell, G. Lynn. Optometry and Vision Science: January 2017 - Volume 94 - Issue 1 - p 68–73
Conclusion:
‘In this case series, post-concussion vision problems were prevalent and CI and AI were the most common diagnoses. Vision therapy had a successful or improved outcome in the vast majority of cases that completed treatment. Evaluation of patients with a history of concussion should include testing of vergence, accommodative, and eye movement function.’
 
Vision Diagnoses Are Common After Concussion in Adolescents
Christina L. Master, MD, CAQSM, Mitchell Scheiman, OD, Michael Gallaway, OD, Arlene Goodman, MD, CAQSM, Roni L. Robinson, RN, MSN, CRNP, Stephen R. Master, MD, PhD, Matthew F. Grady, MD, CAQSM
Clinical Pediatrics  Vol 55, Issue 3, pp. 260 – 267 First Published July 7, 2015
Conclusion:
‘Vision diagnoses are prevalent in adolescents with concussion and include convergence insufficiency, accommodative disorders and saccadic dysfunction. Symptoms of these problems may include double vision, blurry vision, headache, difficulty with reading or other visual work, such as the use of a tablet, smartphone, or computer monitor in the school setting. This likely represents a significant morbidity for adolescents whose primary work is school, which is heavily visually oriented. Recognition of these deficits is essential for clinicians who care for patients with concussion and the CISS may prove to be a useful screening tool for use in the future. Identification of these vision diagnoses will help physicians design necessary academic accommodations for patients who have visual deficits and are attempting to reintegrate into school and learning while recovering from concussion.’
 
Vision rehabilitation interventions following mild traumatic brain injury: a scoping review. 
Simpson-Jones ME1, Hunt AW1,2. Disabil Rehabil. 2018 Apr 10:1-17. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2018.1460407.
Conclusion:
‘There are promising interventions for vision deficits following mild traumatic brain injury. However, there are multiple gaps in the literature that should be addressed by future research. Implications for Rehabilitation Mild traumatic brain injury may result in visual deficits that can contribute to poor concentration, headaches, fatigue, problems reading, difficulties engaging in meaningful daily activities, and overall reduced quality of life. Promising interventions for vision rehabilitation following mild traumatic brain injury include the use of optical devices (e.g., prism glasses), vision or oculomotor therapy (e.g., targeted exercises to train eye movements), and a combination of optical devices and vision therapy. Rehabilitation Professionals (e.g., optometrists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists) have an important role in screening for vision impairments, recommending referrals appropriately to vision specialists, and/or assessing and treating functional vision deficits in individuals with mild traumatic brain injury.’
 
Visual dysfunction is underestimated in patients with acquired brain injury.
Berthold-Lindstedt M1, Ygge J, Borg K.J Rehabil Med. 2017 Apr 6;49(4):327-332. doi: 10.2340/16501977-2218.
Conclusion:
‘Visual impairments are common after acquired brain injury, but some patients do not define their problems as vision-related. A structured questionnaire, covering the most common visual symptoms, is helpful for the rehabilitation team to facilitate assessment of visual changes.’
 
Consequences of traumatic brain injury for human vergence dynamics.
Tyler CW1, Likova LT2, Mineff KN2, Elsaid AM2, Nicholas SC2.
Front Neurol. 2015 Feb 3;5:282. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2014.00282. eCollection 2014.
Conclusion:
‘The results support the hypothesis that occult injury to the oculomotor control system is a common residual outcome of mTBI.’
 
Effect of oculomotor rehabilitation on vergence responsivity in mild traumatic brain injury.
Thiagarajan P1, Ciuffreda KJ. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2013;50(9):1223-40. doi: 10.1682/JRRD.2012.12.0235.
Conclusion:
‘Vergence-based OR was effective in individuals with mTBI who reported nearwork-related symptoms. Overall improvement in nearly all of the critical, abnormal measures of vergence was observed both objectively and clinically. Improved vergence motor control was attributed to residual neural visual system plasticity and oculomotor learning effects in these individuals. Concurrently, nearwork-related symptoms reduced, and visual attention improved.’
 
Impaired eye movements in post-concussion syndrome indicate suboptimal brain function beyond the influence of depression, malingering or intellectual ability
Heitger MH1, Jones RD, Macleod AD, Snell DL, Frampton CM, Anderson TJ. Brain. 2009 Oct;132(Pt 10):2850-70. doi: 10.1093/brain/awp181. Epub 2009 Jul 16
Conclusion:
‘Our results indicate that eye movement function is impaired in PCS, the deficits being unrelated to the influence of depression or estimated intellectual ability, which affected some of the neuropsychological tests. The majority of eye movement deficits in the PCS group were found on measures relating to motor functions executed under both conscious and semi-conscious control (directional errors; poorer visuospatial accuracy; more saccades and marginally poorer timing and rhythm keeping in memory-guided sequences; smaller number of self-paced saccades; deficits in OSP). Importantly, the PCS group also had poorer performance on several eye movement functions that are beyond conscious control and indicative of subcortical brain function (slowed velocity of self-paced saccades and indications of longer saccade durations of self-paced saccades, anti-saccades and larger amplitude memory-guided saccades). Cognitive functions likely affected in the PCS group based on the eye movement deficits include decision making, response inhibition, short-term spatial memory, motor-sequence programming and execution, visuospatial information processing and integration and visual attention (Pierrot-Deseilligny et al., 2004; Leigh and Zee, 2006). These results indicate that brain function in the PCS group had not returned to normal and contrasted that seen in patients with good recovery.’
 
Vision therapy for oculomotor dysfunctions in acquired brain injury: a retrospective analysis
Ciuffreda KJ1, Rutner D, Kapoor N, Suchoff IB, Craig S, Han ME. Optometry. 2008 Jan;79(1):18-22.
Conclusion:
‘Nearly all patients in the current clinic sample exhibited either complete or marked reduction in their oculomotor-based symptoms and improvement in related clinical signs, with maintenance of the symptom reduction and sign improvements at the 2- to 3-month follow-up. These findings show the efficacy of optometric vision therapy for a range of oculomotor abnormalities in the primarily adult, mild brain-injured population. Furthermore, it shows considerable residual neural plasticity despite the presence of documented brain injury.’
Snapdginger (talk) 22:00, 4 September 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: My guess is that your edits are entirely fair and reasonable, but you're having to fight one to three people who've taken it upon themselves to Keep Wikipedia From Advocating Psuedoscience, without actually following Wikipedia's own rules. Basically, you need to call in a moderator. -Horatio Von Becker 180.148.123.68 (talk) 21:26, 23 January 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: WP:FRINGE is a guideline. It's not "three people", it's the law. --Hob Gadling (talk) 12:30, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article Bias, Fringe theories, insufficient citations of papers 

message: Speaking as an Autistic who has recently been referred to a Developmental Optometrist (who diagnosed retained primitive reflexes), it behooves us to focus on the neurological angle, both theory and practice. Does any professional organization track referrals? Have they risen over the decades? Abnormal primitive reflexes are an early indicator of autism. Etc. (I can't speak to the pedagogical aspect.) kencf0618 (talk) 03:15, 26 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you have any sources for this? And that indicate that it's relevant to this article. Brunton (talk) 18:23, 27 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Autism, Retained Primitive Reflexes, and Neurology