But, if you pose the veiled question: “Does VT treat dyslexia?”, we’d qualify the answer by saying “not directly”. What you cited from Dr. Appelbaum’s site states that people diagnosed with Dyslexia benefit from VT. That isn’t synonymous with claiming that VT treats Dyslexia.

On the contrary, to take the more generalized view, Dr. Appelbaum is part of a group, to which I belong, that maintains a website http://www.visionhelp.com. On that website we make this issue very clear. See: http://www.visionhelp.com/dyslexia.htm. We do not make the claim that VT treats dyslexia. Our collective statements are consistent with our AOA/AAO Joint Policy Statement, posted on the AOA Website and in the Appendix of the CPG above.

The problem with critics of optometric VT is that they claim we have no relevance in the multidisciplinary approach to learning disablities, of which dyslexia is a form. Framing a question such as “Does VT treat dyslexia” mirrors the approach by the JOPS of the AAP and its collaborators. It invites the conclusion that since optometric VT doesn’t directly treat dyslexia, it is tangential at best. More egregiously, it infers that if VT is useless for children with dyslexia, it is therefore a waste of time and money in general. Quite a leap, don’t you think?

I made the statement years ago that although critics of VT for learning problems in general cloak themselves in a mantle of scientific concern or patient advocacy, most of them — and I’m careful not to overgeneralize this — but most of them have a thinly veiled agenda. I am curious what prompts Chi to pose the question above.

Let’s accept the description by Shaywitz that Dyslexia represents the far end of a continuum of reading disabilities. Now look at Table 1 (p. 14) of the AOA CPG on Learning Related Vision Problems. Note the Signs and Symptoms of Ocular Motility Disorders which include these 7 factors:

* Moving head excessively when reading
* Skipping lines when reading
* Omitting words and transposing words when reading
* Losing place when reading
* Requiring finger or marker to keep place when reading
* Experiencing confusion during the return sweep phase of reading
* Experiencing illusory text movement

Even if we just limit VT to treating ocular motility disorders (and it does much more – read the CPG to see all the factors related to Reading Disability through deficits in Visual Information Processing), we can derive the answer to the question about VT treating persons with dyslexia:

Do the 7 factors above impair reading ability?
- Yes.

Does optometric VT treat ocular motility dysfunction?
- Yes.

Does optometric VT improve reading ability?
- To the extent that he 7 factors above influence reading — yes.

If optometric VT improves reading ability, does it help persons with Dyslexia?
- To the extent that Dyslexia involves reading ability and fluidity — yes.

This statement seems to directly contradict claims made on the following website belonging to a well-known vision therapist:
http://www.optometrists.org/Bethesda/index.html

First paragraph of the home page says, “…offers a full range of family vision care services, specializing in the treatment of children and adults with behavioral, sensorimotor or learning-related vision problems — such as those previously diagnosed with add-adhd, dyslexia, and/or avoidance of reading.”

Futher down on the home page under Optometry Services, Typical Difficulties, bullet 5 lists, “Learning-related visual problems, Dyslexia, Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder.”

When you click on the hyperlink for Dyslexia in bullet 5, you are taken to the Vision Therapy section which right at the top says, “Who Benefits? – Learning -Dyslexia -ADHD -Lazy Eye -Stress -Special Needs -Sports”.

Does vision therapy treat dyslexia or not?

The AOA’s headlong dash to mandating residencies and subspecialization should not proceed at the expense of other specialties beyond ocular disease.

We should take every opportunity to support every leg of the profession lest it fall over. It is very gratifying to see support for all constituencies within the profession. It is good for the students to see balance.

Daniel G. Fuller, O.D.