Vision therapy seen as solution to some kids’ reading problems

John was a puzzle to grown-ups. Though bright and talkative, the 9-year-old from North Yarmouth, Maine, struggled to read, and teachers wondered whether he had a learning disability. He has perfect eyesight, but an optometrist discovered that his eyes did not work as a team. Over the next three months, John did a battery of eye exercises at the office and repeated many of them at home. It’s called vision therapy, and some optometrists say it is so effective that diagnoses of learning disabilities or attention disorders no longer apply to many of their patients. But not everybody is convinced that vision therapy is the answer. Many ophthalmologists question its effectiveness. Their national organization has taken a position discouraging the practice. Read more about vision therapy in this article from the Portland Press Herald.