Paris’s mom, Ingrid Nelson, posted information on the Little Four Eyes blog pertinent to our recent discussions here. Paris is 3 years old and is significantly nearsighted in one eye, but normal with the other eye. Her nearsighted eye drifts outward intermittently and her ophthalmologist advised patching the better eye for a few hours per day. Ingrid asked asked about doing vision therapy with Paris, but her ophthalmologist said that patching is the best vision therapy she can do, and brushed off her thoughts on anything other than that. Ingrid is conflicted because a local behavioral optometrist seems to think Paris could benefit from VT.
I didn’t suggest that Ingrid bail from her pediatric ophthalmologist, but I did explain to her in detail why Paris had amblyopia, why she developed an intermittent exotropia, and that there was more that could be done than what she related her ophthalmologist had told her. Ingrid writes hat one ophthalmologist she has seen said: “patching IS vision therapy and if there was anything else that would help Paris do you not think I would be referring you?”
Reading my most recent blog piece, you already know the answer to that question.
– Leonard J. Press, O.D., FCOVD, FAAO
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