Orthoptic Vision Therapy

Vision Therapy is an individualised treatment program designed to improve how effectively the eyes move, focus and work together. It may be recommended when a visual problem is affecting comfortable reading, concentration, depth perception, eye coordination or everyday visual tasks.

A simple way to think about Vision Therapy is physiotherapy for the visual system – using carefully selected activities to develop and improve specific visual skills.

When Is Vision Therapy Recommended?

Vision Therapy may be recommended after an assessment identifies a specific visual skill that would benefit from targeted treatment.

Depending on the individual, therapy may be used to address difficulties with:

eye teaming and binocular coordination;
convergence and divergence;
focusing;
eye movements and tracking;
depth perception;
amblyopia or selected types of strabismus;
visual information processing skills;
visual function following stroke, concussion or brain injury.

Not every visual problem requires Vision Therapy. Your assessment results will help determine whether therapy is appropriate and which skills should be targeted.

Our Vision Therapy Program

Vision Therapy involves regular sessions with our Orthoptist together with individually prescribed activities to practise at home.

Therapy may be completed:

face-to-face in one of our clinics;
online, where appropriate;
or through a combination of clinic and home-based activities.

The frequency and length of therapy varies depending on the visual problem, the individual goals of treatment and how the patient responds to therapy. As a general guide:

10–20 sessions for binocular vision difficulties;
20–30 sessions for more complex strabismus or amblyopia programs;
20–30 sessions for selected visual information processing difficulties.

These timeframes are a guide only.

Before Vision Therapy is recommended, an Orthoptic Assessment is required to establish a baseline of your functional visual skills and identify the areas requiring treatment.

For patients with visual information processing concerns, a Visual Information Processing Assessment may also be recommended.

Following your assessment, we will explain the findings and discuss whether Vision Therapy is appropriate for you or your child.

Funding & Payment Options

We offer a range of payment options for eligible services:

Private Health Insurance – Eyetreat is a registered provider with major private health funds for Orthoptics / Eye Therapy and prescription glasses. Rebates vary depending on your level of cover.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – Eyetreat is a registered NDIS provider and can provide eligible services for self-managed, plan-managed and agency-managed participants.