Two eyes must work together as a team to give us one image. Eye teaming refers to the ability to use both eyes together smoothly, equally, simultaneously and accurately in order to keep objects single. If our eyes are pointed in different places in space, we see double!! Double vision is VERY disruptive, and makes reading, learning and athletics nearly impossible.

Try reading the paragraph below and actually comprehending what you are reading, it is quite difficult, because the text is slightly doubled:

Eye Teaming

Distance Viewing

Near Viewing

The diagram above shows what our eyes do every day to keep the world single. When we look in the distance, they aim straight ahead, or parallel. When we look up close, they turn in (converge) enough so they are both pointing at the same place. The eyes often have to converge for long periods of time during the day, while we read or look at anything up close. It is very important that the convergence system is strong and robust to allow us to perform all of the near tasks that are required of us on a daily basis!

When the eyes are pointed at precisely the same place we have depth perception, or stereo vision. This allows us to judge distances and space without having to feel it and touch it first. Depth perception is very important for every day life, general coordination and movement, and is especially important for sports.

The eye teaming system can develop a number of problems:

• Inability of the eyes to converge or sustain convergence (convergence insufficiency)
• Tendency to converge too much (convergence excess)
• General poor coordination (general binocular dysfunction)

These conditions can decrease depth perception, lead to avoidance of near work and cause a number of symptoms:

• Reduced reading comprehension
• Short attention span for near work
• Words moving around on a page
• Motion Sickness
• Difficulty catching/hitting a ball
• Decreased depth perception
• Inefficient eye-hand or eye-body coordination
• Headaches
• Closing or covering of one eye
• Excessive blinking

All of these symptoms decrease learning and reading ability!!!

To learn about treatment options for eye teaming, click here.