Last night, February 24, 2011, we hosted a mini-symposium at the new and improved Vision & Conceptual Development Center. We had fifteen people in attendance representing a variety of professional backgrounds. Our first speaker was Joseph Manley, MD, discussing the American Academy of Pediatrics position statement on Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia and Vision. Dr. Manley’s premise is that the AAP is ignoring peer-reviewed research and evidence-based medicine in their assertion that vision therapy is not an appropriate treatment for children with learning disabilities and dyslexia. Dr. Manley presented numerous sources who found a higher incidence of vision problems in children with dyslexia and learning disabilities.
I was the second speaker, with a talk titled Vision, Behavior, and Academics, in which I explored the documented binocular vision problems in students with inappropriate classroom behavior, and how that impacts the learning of all students.
Finally, our keynote speaker was Jean Thomas, MD. Dr. Thomas is the President of Child & Family Integrated Therapies, LLC, which is a part of Integrated Therapeutic Services for Families and Children, Inc, in Kensington, MD. Formerly on staff at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, Dr. Thomas is recognized nationally and internationally for her contributions to an interdisciplinary effort to develop age-specific mental health diagnostic criteria for children aged birth through three years old. In her talk last night on Early Disruptive Disorders, Dr. Thomas emphasized the importance of the family interactions and dynamics to develop the best outcome for the troubled child.
