VISION THERAPY in a SCHOOL SETTING

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of vision therapy in a school setting in which elementary school children, enrolled in a reading-mentoring program, C aring A dults Teaching Children How (CATCH), were trained as a group. The experimental goal was to improve visual-motor and visual perceptual skills, with the use of vision therapy in short sessions given weekly at school, to children with reading difficulties. Sixty students were selected after the use of the Developmental Eye Movement test’s (DEM) exclusion criteria and were randomly assigned into one of two groups: vision therapy and non-therapy. Both groups received CATCH tutorial visits once a week for 50 minutes. In addition, the therapy group received a weekly 30 minute activity session in which three activities were completed from the following: o culomotor , a ccommodation, binocularity, visual motor and visual memory. The results revealed that vertical and horizontal eye movements and accommodative facility were significantly improved after 22 sessions of group vision therapy. These improvements were related to attentional mechanisms leading to improved reading abilities. We believe this preliminary study gives evidence of the advantages of a program whereby vision therapy is provided in the elementary school setting to advance deficient visual skills that are related to learning and cognitive enhancement.