Abstract

Vision therapy techniques can correct not only visual problems, but also cognitive, emotional and physical difficulties. Based on the pioneering work of Dr Melvin Kaplan, this research-based book explains the basis of vision therapy, who it can help, and the outcomes it can bring.

Visual perceptual problems can cause an array of difficulties, from reading and writing, to issues with balance, clumsiness, and tunnel vision. Severe symptoms can lead to a diagnosis of anxiety, depression, learning disability or even autism. In this groundbreaking book, Dr Kaplan shows how these symptoms point to interventions that change the way that the eyes process information, permanently counteracting visual deficits and impacting on behaviour. Case studies demonstrate how to plan and implement visual management programs according to a patient's symptoms, illustrating the wide range of life-changing results that vision therapy can achieve for people of all ages, regardless of severity of symptoms. Dr Kaplan also shares his expert knowledge of ambient yoked prisms - a tool that transforms light to alter visual stimulation, dramatically transforming perception and cognition.

This accessible book presents readers - including parents and families, clinicians, and other professionals working with individuals with visual perception problems - with a comprehensive introduction to the benefits and methods of vision therapy.

In these pages, Dr. Kaplan presents a novel interactive approach to addressing severe visual deficits. Through compelling patient stories, he shows that symptoms ranging from anxiety and learning disabilities to toe-walking and scoliosis are not 'problems' but rather the solutions patients create to compensate for visual dysfunction. Dr. Kaplan shows how these symptoms can guide clinicians to correct visual problems and, as a result, change lives for the better.
Dr. Ned Hallowell, founder of The Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health, New York & Boston
Dr. Kaplan's groundbreaking work explores the effects of visual-attentional problems on emotion, behaviour, and cognitive function. His brilliant use of prisms to retrain visual systems opens a new realm of non-drug treatments for anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism, and many other disorders. A must read for medical students, physicians and other healthcare providers.
Richard P. Brown, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University, leading expert in Integrative Psychiatry and author of Non-Drug Treatments for ADHD
Melvin Kaplan OD, FCOVD is Founder of the Center for Visual Management in New York. He is a board certified Doctor of Optometry, and has previously worked as a clinical instructor of behavioral sciences at New York Medical College. He has published a significant body of research on ambient lenses and their role in the rehabilitation of individuals who display dysfunction in learning or emotion, and those with autistic spectrum disorders.
Dr Melvin Kaplan's fascinating book provides vivid accounts of his important work with dozens of patients he has treated, using yoked prism glasses to increase their awareness of our wide spatial environment. Dr Kaplan's terrific writing should encourage research into the benefits of vision therapy that will convince the medical community of the effectiveness of his approach.
Albert Yonas, Professor of Child Psychology, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Kaplan uses a range of therapies including glasses with prisms to address issues such as anxiety, depression, learning difficulties and 'even autism'... He believes that many diagnoses may be incorrect in that, once the visual weaknesses are addressed, the presenting symptoms often disappear... This is a fascinating book, which would be of interest to a wide audience, but also to those who work as or refer to behavioural optometrists.
Mary Mountstephen, author, editor
SEN Magazine