VISUAL INTEGRATION THERAPY

Yes. Visual integration therapy is very safe. Different eye movements are controlled by different parts of the brain, and visual integration therapy is designed to challenge those areas directly. When these areas start to tire, we can often see changes in your eye movements before you start to notice symptoms. Your technician watches your eye movements closely for signs of fatigue during each exercise and stops or adjusts the exercise when needed. Some people may briefly notice eye strain, a mild headache or dizziness, which usually passes quickly. Please tell us right away if you start to feel unwell.

The visual integration exercises you do will be different from anyone else’s. They are chosen based on the results of your testing and tailored to your specific needs. They usually include some form of gaze stabilization exercise, in which you keep your eyes fixed on a target or series of targets while you move your head at a set speed. They may involve following targets that move on a screen while the background stays still or moves. They may involve saccades to targets in specific directions, or anti-saccades, where you look in the opposite direction of a target as it appears. They may include vergence exercises, where you shift your focus as you are moved toward or away from a target. They may also include optokinetic stimulation, a type of eye-following reflex exercise in which you watch stripes or other patterns moving in specific directions.

Because these are integration exercises, your tasks often combine more than one type of eye movement at the same time. Pairing an eye movement with another type of movement can often help your brain learn to perform it better. We look for the combinations most likely to help you in your testing results, and use them to guide your exercises.

As you improve at your exercises, we progress by combining them with other types of stimulation. As you move through your NeuroRescue Program, we often combine your eye exercises with vestibular challenges, light therapy, targeted electrical stimulation and specific physical exercises.

To use traumatic brain injury as an example, people recovering from a TBI often seek vision therapy for problems with visual focus, double vision, light sensitivity, and headaches or fatigue while reading. Vision therapy is often very helpful. After a brain injury, though, many visual symptoms aren’t caused by problems with the eyes themselves. Instead, they come from changes in the brain pathways that control the eyes, and addressing those pathways can be an important part of care.

Some of the most common problems after a brain injury involve moving the eyes quickly, smoothly, accurately and together. Even more basic is the ability to hold the eyes steady on a target, which is often affected too. These problems usually aren’t caused by damage to the eyes. They involve the brain systems and pathways that move the eyes.

When an eye muscle doesn’t activate properly during a movement, the cause could be the muscle itself, the nerve that drives it or, more often, one or more of the many reflexes that activate that nerve. These reflexes can involve different parts of the inner ear, several areas of the brainstem, the frontal and parietal lobes, and other parts of the brain. Problems in different areas can look similar but may respond best to different types of rehabilitation.

The neurological exam and computerized testing in the NeuroRescue Program are designed to help identify which parts of the system need attention, both before and during eye movement therapy. We use that information to choose and pace your therapies.

When vision therapy is needed, we refer to and work with experienced vision therapy providers in our community, so our care and theirs can work together. We also recommend a complete eye exam with an optometrist or ophthalmologist after a brain injury. If you have sudden vision loss, new double vision or other sudden vision changes, get emergency care or call 911.

No. Visual integration therapy is designed to be comfortable, and most people find it painless. Because some exercises gently challenge your eyes and brain, you may briefly notice eye strain, mild dizziness or tiredness at times, and these usually pass quickly. If anything feels uncomfortable, tell us right away and we will adjust your program.