Autism Spectrum Disorder

Vision therapy helps those with autism spectrum disorders more efficiently visually process and establish order from a world of disorder.

Vision Therapy can be pivotal in treating the visual dysfunctions that occur for many children and adults with Autism, Asperger’s, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and other spectrum disorders. Over 90% of the information we take in from our world comes through the eyes. Many of these individuals are overwhelmed by this input that their brains cannot interpret, and there is a mismatch between their eyes, mind, and body. So often vision does not develop appropriately as the dominant learning sense it is intended to be and many of these individuals avoid the scrambled information they receive through their senses. Vision problems are so common in Autism Spectrum Disorders and quite often overlooked. Vision Therapy often is the missing piece to help develop confidence in the world and tie together so many aspects of life.

We communicate with the world through sight, sound, and touch.

Those who avoid input from these senses avoid communication with the world. Some individuals may be overly sensitive to touch and require occupational therapy to reduce “tactile defensiveness.” Some may be overly sensitive to sound and require systematic auditory training or interactive metronome to reduce listening distortion or discomfort. Some may also experience “visual defensiveness” indicated by hand flapping, light sensitivity, caution on the playground, or fear of avoidance of anything requiring depth perception, such as ball sports, and thus vision therapy is indicated to help develop the visual skills and abilities that have not developed on their own.