Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The problems it corrects are:

• refractive errors: (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia)
• binocular problems: strabismus, lazy eye.
• visual efficiency: focusing and ocular motility problems
• visual perception problems, that is, the processing of information at a neurological level.
• Learning problems, such as the reading and writing process, reading speed, eye-hand coordination and graphomotor skills, spatial vision and calculation
• Attention and fixation problems
• Laterality and Directionality problems
• Gross motor performance and coordination
• Primitive reflexes

Optometric treatment allows a person to learn, through exercises, to use their vision more effectively. It has a specific design for each case, can be done at any age, and improves visual abilities, thus increasing performance.

It improves visual efficiency and visual information processing, thereby allowing the person to respond better to daily activities (study, work, sports). This learning is internalized and maintained forever, that is, we create new neural connections, a new way of seeing.

That the symptoms and signs disappear. Visual efficiency increases and with it all their academic performance, their reading speed and comprehension, visual memory, sports performance, and computer efficiency increase.

The duration of the therapy program can vary greatly depending on the problem, the patient's involvement, and the goals to be achieved. Based on the study and diagnosis, an idea of the estimated duration will be given, and examinations will be carried out to assess progress.

Close-up work requires focusing and aligning both eyes inward to see letters clearly and simply. The coordinated movement of both eyes inward is called Convergence. Convergence is learned and develops during the early years of life. A problem in the coordination of the eyes inward to look at nearby objects such as books, computers, papers, etc. is called Convergence Insufficiency. The problems and symptoms it can cause are:

• Eye strain
• Headaches
• Difficulty reading and concentrating
• Avoiding close-up work
• Dizziness and discomfort

Usually a Visual Therapy program is needed to improve this eye coordination and thus reduce the symptoms of fatigue during close-up work.

Visual therapy is compatible with any other intervention. For example: performing visual therapy prior to strabismus eye surgery significantly improves post-surgical recovery, in the case of strabismus surgery: depending on the angle of deviation, good binocularity can be achieved with visual therapy, and it can correct the strabismus or at least decrease the angle.

Observing a child's signs and symptoms is often crucial for detecting potential vision problems.

Some possible symptoms may include:

• Occasionally turns one eye outward or inward.
• Reads very slowly and follows the line with a finger.
• Verbalizes when reading silently.
• Does not understand what they read.
• Headache or itchy eyes, especially when performing close-up tasks.
• Sees blurry or double when reading or writing.
• Closes or covers one eye sometimes.
• Gets excessively close to the paper.
• Tilts their head.
• Moves their head when reading.
• Poor handwriting.
• Gets lost when having to look at the board and copy it into their notebook.
• Has difficulties when playing sports, reading, or writing.
• Reverses letters (b-d, p-q).
• Gets very close to books.
• Skips words or entire lines when reading.
• Easily loses attention and distracts classmates.

Generally yes. A child who has vision difficulties tends to get tired, fatigued, and cannot pay attention in school, which directly influences their behavior.

In the same way, when they have a spatial problem, they tend to be restless, move all the time, cannot sit still, frequently bump into things, are scattered, bother others in class, do not pay attention to auditory tasks, which can frequently be confused with attention deficit or hyperactivity.

Improvements in visual information processing favor school performance and reading, but often other complementary treatments are needed to achieve the desired goals. The optometrist works in coordination with other professionals to help the child reach their full potential. There is no single discipline or professional who can improve all the areas involved in learning.

Of course, given that the child improves the visual skills that are related to their learning process.

The specialty of Vision Therapy can be considered quite new in our country, however in the USA it has been carried out for more than 50 years, working in a multi-disciplinary way with all the professionals involved in the field of vision. In Spain very few optometrists dedicate themselves to Vision Therapy, and for this reason it is so little known.

When we talk about auditory perception, we are not referring to the ability to hear, but to the ability to interpret auditory information.

The capacity for auditory decoding and comprehension related to alphanumeric reading requires the participation of the following essential functions for comprehension.

Neuro-auditory stimulation aims to mature the auditory pathway so that stimuli can be processed correctly.

The objectives are:

• Reduce hypersensitivity to the point where noises do not bother them
• Increase hearing in the case of hyposensitive individuals.
• Harmonize the different volume-frequency inversions (peaks)
• Help the brain create filters so that it can focus auditory attention.
• Lateralization of the auditory pathway

Yes, of course. It is very important to perform a visual evaluation on children under 5 years of age to prevent any future visual problems such as lazy eye or strabismus.

At Avance Visual, we perform visual examinations from the first year of life; it is recommended that the first check-up be done before the age of 2.