Vision is much more than seeing clearly. It also involves how efficiently your eyes work together, how accurately they track moving objects, and how your brain processes visual information. When these visual skills aren’t functioning properly, everyday activities like reading, learning, working, or driving can become frustrating and exhausting. Vision therapy is designed to improve these functional visual skills through a personalized rehabilitation program. At OPMT Vision Centers, Dr. Richard Durocher and his team provide individualized vision therapy for children and adults experiencing functional vision disorders.
What Is Vision Therapy?
Vision therapy is a customized rehabilitation program that helps improve how the eyes and brain work together.
Unlike glasses or contact lenses, which sharpen eyesight, vision therapy focuses on strengthening the visual skills your brain relies on every day.
These skills include:
- Eye teaming
- Eye tracking
- Focusing
- Depth perception
- Visual processing
- Eye movement control
Each treatment plan is personalized based on the patient’s diagnosis, symptoms, and goals.
Who Can Benefit From Vision Therapy?
Vision therapy can benefit both children and adults experiencing functional vision problems.
Children
Many children pass school vision screenings because they can see the eye chart clearly, yet still struggle with the visual skills needed for learning.
Children may experience:
- Difficulty learning to read
- Losing their place while reading
- Frequent headaches after homework
- Poor attention during close-up work
- Difficulty copying from the classroom board
- Avoiding reading assignments
- Poor hand-eye coordination
These symptoms are often related to how the eyes work together rather than how clearly the child sees.
Adults
Adults frequently seek vision therapy after noticing symptoms such as:
- Eye strain
- Headaches
- Difficulty reading
- Blurred vision
- Double vision
- Fatigue after computer use
- Difficulty concentrating
- Motion sensitivity
Some adults have experienced these symptoms since childhood, while others develop them following illness or neurological injury.
After a comprehensive evaluation, Dr. Richard Durocher determines whether vision therapy should become part of an individualized treatment plan.
What Is Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD)?
Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD) occurs when both eyes struggle to work together efficiently.
Even a very small eye misalignment can force the brain to work much harder to maintain a single, comfortable image.
Over time, that additional effort may contribute to symptoms such as:
- Headaches
- Eye strain
- Motion sickness
- Dizziness
- Difficulty reading
- Fatigue
- Double vision
- Neck discomfort
Dr. Richard Durocher frequently evaluates patients who have been told they have 20/20 vision yet continue experiencing these symptoms because traditional eye exams focus primarily on eyesight rather than functional vision.
What Is Convergence Insufficiency?
Convergence insufficiency is one of the most common functional vision disorders treated with vision therapy.
When reading or looking at nearby objects, both eyes must turn inward together and remain accurately aligned.
If they cannot maintain that alignment comfortably, patients may experience:
- Words moving across the page
- Blurred reading
- Double vision
- Losing their place
- Frequent rereading
- Needing frequent breaks
- Closing one eye while reading
These symptoms often become more noticeable during longer periods of reading, studying, or computer use.
Why Do Words Move or Blur While Reading?
Reading requires hundreds of precise eye movements every minute.
When the eyes struggle to remain coordinated, the brain must constantly work to maintain a single image.
Patients commonly report:
- Skipping lines
- Losing their place
- Poor reading endurance
- Difficulty concentrating
- Visual fatigue
- Rereading the same paragraph multiple times
These symptoms may affect classroom performance, workplace productivity, and everyday comfort.
Fortunately, many of these functional vision problems respond well to appropriately prescribed vision therapy.
What Are Eye Tracking Problems?
Eye tracking refers to your ability to smoothly follow moving objects and accurately shift your eyes while reading.
Tracking difficulties may cause patients to:
- Lose their place while reading
- Read more slowly
- Skip words or lines
- Struggle with moving objects
- Experience eye fatigue during prolonged visual tasks
During a functional vision evaluation, Dr. Richard Durocher assesses whether tracking difficulties contribute to your symptoms. Advanced diagnostic technology may also be used to better evaluate visual performance.
Can Vision Therapy Help After a Concussion?
Yes.
Although neuro-optometric rehabilitation specifically addresses vision problems following neurological injury, vision therapy techniques are often incorporated into a patient’s rehabilitation plan when appropriate.
Following a concussion, some patients develop difficulties with:
- Eye teaming
- Focusing
- Tracking
- Visual endurance
After completing a comprehensive neuro-optometric evaluation, Dr. Richard Durocher determines whether vision therapy should become part of your overall rehabilitation program.
Treatment is always based on the patient’s diagnosis and individual needs.
What Happens During Vision Therapy?
Every vision therapy program is customized for the individual patient.
Depending on your diagnosis, treatment may focus on improving:
- Eye coordination
- Tracking accuracy
- Focusing ability
- Visual processing
- Depth perception
- Visual endurance
As your visual skills improve, Dr. Richard Durocher and his team adjust your therapy program to continue challenging your visual system while supporting steady progress.
Can I Just Do Vision Therapy Exercises at Home?
Home activities often play an important role in treatment, but they work best when combined with supervised in-office therapy.
Dr. Richard Durocher explains that trained vision therapists provide immediate feedback, monitor your progress, and adjust activities based on how you perform during each visit.
Without that guidance, exercises may be completed incorrectly, reducing their effectiveness or making symptoms more frustrating.
For that reason, patients typically receive home activities that reinforce what they accomplish during in-office therapy rather than replacing professional care.
How Long Does Vision Therapy Take?
Every patient progresses at a different pace.
Several factors influence treatment, including:
- Your diagnosis
- Your age
- The severity of your symptoms
- Your treatment goals
- Your consistency with therapy
Some patients notice improvement relatively quickly, while others benefit from a longer rehabilitation program.
Throughout treatment, Dr. Richard Durocher monitors your progress and adjusts your therapy plan based on your individual response.
Will I Need Glasses Too?
Possibly.
Some patients benefit from updated prescription lenses or prism lenses in addition to vision therapy.
Others may only require vision therapy.
After completing your evaluation, Dr. Richard Durocher explains whether glasses, prism correction, vision therapy, or a combination of treatments offers the greatest benefit for your specific condition.
Why Choose Dr. Richard Durocher for Vision Therapy?
Successful vision therapy begins with an accurate diagnosis and an individualized treatment plan.
Dr. Richard Durocher has extensive experience evaluating children and adults with functional vision disorders, including binocular vision dysfunction, convergence insufficiency, eye tracking disorders, and vision problems related to neurological injuries. Together with his team at OPMT Vision Centers, he develops personalized vision therapy programs designed to improve the visual skills patients rely on every day.
By combining comprehensive functional vision evaluations, advanced diagnostic technology, and evidence-based treatment, Dr. Durocher helps patients improve visual comfort, reading efficiency, learning, workplace performance, and overall quality of life.
Schedule a Vision Therapy Evaluation With Dr. Richard Durocher
If you or your child struggles with reading, eye strain, headaches, double vision, binocular vision dysfunction, convergence insufficiency, or other functional vision problems, a comprehensive evaluation can help identify the underlying cause.
Dr. Richard Durocher and his team at OPMT Vision Centers provide personalized vision therapy programs for children and adults throughout Middle Tennessee. Contact OPMT Vision Centers today to schedule a functional vision evaluation and learn how individualized vision therapy can help improve comfort, confidence, and everyday visual performance.