At Any Age

Last year I wrote a blog about Susan Barry. If you remember she was born "cross-eyed", and she saw her life in only two dimension. Later in life she saw a Developmental Optometrist and began vision therapy. At age 48 (yes, 48!) she started to see life in 3D!

Last October she was interviewed by NPR for NOVA web series called, "The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers." I thought this was great video because Susan Barry never gave up despite what everyone was telling her. Also her story teaches us a great lesson: That with hard work and no matter what the age we are we can do anything! 

Playing to see

One thing that is important to understand about vision is that proper vision is a learned skill, just like balance in the rest of the body, or language. Visual development is linked closely to fine and gross motor development and cognitive development, so when you provide good opportunities for a child to work on visual development, you enhance their entire development.

How do you promote good visual development? Play! When children are out interacting with their environment, they are learning important visual lessons—how to judge the distance from other objects in space to themselves, for example. If you want some specific ideas on how to incorporate visual development into family activities, check out the Family Game Night blog. 

Keep in mind that motor development and visual development are interrelated, so delays in one tend to affect the other. Keeping children active and exploring new environments will foster good motor and visual development! Stay tuned for more, and as always, feel free to comment or contact us via email or phone if you have any questions!

Fashionable patching? It can be done!

We are pleased to announce that we will be offering spot patches in contact lens form and special sport tint lenses! What are these you ask?

Spot Patch Contact Lens

The spot patch is for patients that have to wear a patch for extended periods of time.These lenses have a black spot in the middle that mimics a pupil, but is a bit larger. That spot blocks light to the pupil, thus effectively "patching" the eye in which the contact is worn. If you or your child wear their patch for more than an hour, the spot patch contact lens would be a great option!

Many people (especially teenagers) object to the patch for cosmetic reasons. Especially for patients who need to patch for long periods of time, a pirate-style patch is obvious and embarrassing.



As with any contact lenses, it's important to consider whether a spot patch lens is the right choice for you or the vision therapy patient in your life. Contact lenses require consistent care in the form of cleaning, appropriate storage, and correct insertion/removal of lens. Another consideration: contacts are small and easy to lose! However, a patch contact lens can be an excellent choice for the responsible patient.

Sport Tint Lenses

As you might imagine, sport tint lenses come in a variety of tints that can help enhance game play. For example, a gray-green tint may help golfers better differentiate distance on a golf course, while an amber tint helps block high amounts of blue light to heighten contrast and visual acuity, which is especially helpful in improving contrast on grass and against blue skies.

Questions about how patch or sport tint contact lenses can work for you? Get in touch with us! We'll be happy to answer any questions you might have!

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL weekend!

VT from an Insider

Today, we have a special treat.... a guest blogger. I think you are really going to enjoy reading her perspective of Vision Therapy. Take a look:

Hello all! I’m a Vision Therapist in training here at Nashville Vision Therapy at Optometric Physicians of Middle Tennessee, and I’m excited to be entering such an interesting profession.

In addition to studying vision therapy (VT) and training to be a VT assistant, I have recently enrolled as a vision therapy patient! So for my first post to our VT blog, I’d like to briefly outline what the experience of vision therapy is like from a patient’s perspective, which may help facilitate conversation with a loved VT patient in your own life. 

Vision Therapy can be a sensitive subject

Remember that while it’s absolutely true that visual-system insufficiencies in no way reflect a person’s intelligence or intellect, a VT patient might have a difficult time keeping that in mind. Often there is a negative connotation with the word “therapy,” and patients feel that they are not measuring up to “normal standards,” which may cause embarrassment. As this blog has outlined, candidates for vision therapy often have visual difficulties that have impacted scholastic and/or physical achievements, and patients may feel sensitive about their inability to perform at the level that their peers can. It’s important to recognize that visual difficulties are a legitimate medical issue, and are in no way the fault of the patient. Keep a positive attitude about a patient’s progress, and openly address any negativity or embarrassment with compassion. Understanding and support, in addition to reinforcing the fact that visual difficulties are not a failing of the patient’s mental faculties, will help bolster confidence and make vision therapy even more effective.

Vision therapy can be HARD

Carving out half an hour a day to do anything in our busy lives is difficult. It can be especially hard to set aside time to do something uncomfortable or unpleasant. VT can be a bit like hitting the gym after a long break from your regular work-out routine, or beginning a new form of exercise, like dance, to which your body is not yet accustomed. Vision therapy asks the eyes to perform in ways that they are not used to doing, and there is physical effort exerted to complete the exercises. While the benefits of vision therapy certainly outweigh any discomfort, recognizing the effort that completing vision therapy requires can be very validating for the patient, and can be great encouragement to continue. Just a simple “I know that this can be hard or uncomfortable for you, and I’m so proud that you keep doing your best,” can influence a patient to, well, keep doing their best!

Vision therapy can be lonely

It might be difficult for a patient to describe how he/she sees the world, or it might be hard for a parent or a loved one to understand their description. In any case, knowing that they see differently from most people can make a patient feel a bit isolated. One way to combat that feeling is to be very active in your loved one’s daily therapy. Helping them with tracking, checking their accuracy on activities that ask them to read letters or numbers, or just being present and attentive while they do their therapy every day does WONDERS for the effectiveness of VT. Your involvement can help the patient stay focused, feel supported, and feel encouraged if they are having difficulties. Cheerful, positive involvement every day can turn vision therapy into an excellent time to bond and demonstrate love and support.

Vision therapy can be fun!

There have been (and will continue to be!) many blog posts already that illustrate wonderful ways to have fun with vision therapy. It may even be a great way to set aside time for the whole family to be involved in one activity together (e.g. playing a vision-friendly game). The more involvement and outside support a patient has, the more likely they are to complete daily exercises, and the more effective treatment will be!

So to wrap up, it’s important to keep in mind that any type of therapy can be physically and emotionally taxing, and the best things you can do to help out your loved one in vision therapy are:

• Keep open and honest communication, and offer support and encouragement when necessary
• Be involved!
• Remind yourself (and your loved one) that there is a BIG payoff for everyone’s hard work and dedication!

I’m looking forward to learning and sharing more over the next months, and feel free to get in touch with us with any questions or comments about the blogs we post!

Fun Facts

In the last two weeks there have been NO blogs. Unfortunately, my computer received a lethal virus, and I have been computer-less for almost two weeks. For the time being I will leave you with these facts from the COVD website:  

How Vision Problems Can Interfere with Learning

• “25% of students in grades K-6 have visual problems that are serious enough to impede learning.”  - American Public Health Association
• "When vision problems go undetected, children almost invariably have trouble reading and doing their schoolwork. They often display fatigue, fidgeting, and frustrations in the classroom—traits that can lead to a misdiagnosis of dyslexia or other learning disabilities.”  - American Optometric Association
• “It is estimated that 80% of children with a learning disability have an undiagnosed vision problem.”  - Vision Council of America
• “Early diagnosis and treatment of children’s vision problems is a necessary component to school readiness and academic learning; and that vision screening is not a substitute for a complete eye and vision evaluation by an eye doctor.  Comprehensive eye and vision examinations ... are important for all children first entering school and regularly throughout their school-aged years to ensure healthy eyes and adequate visual skills essential for successful academic achievement.”  - National PTA Policy Statement 2005, Elements of Comprehensive Health Programs
• "Early testing for vision problems is key to preventing learning disabilities or, in some cases, significant visual impairment in children."  -  Ned Calonge, MD, MPH, Task Force Chairman, Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
• “A three year study of 540 children found that those children who had visual perceptual and eye movement difficulties did poorly on standardized tests.”  - Dr. Lynn Hellerstein, FAAO, FCOVD, Developmental Optometrist and Past President of COVD.

These are great facts to send to friends or family! Pass them along!

It Takes Two

I have wrote several blog post about how to make Vision Therapy fun, and how to incorporate therapy into family time. I am trying to motivate my parents to do the therapy with their children 5-6 times a week. I want to see my students meet their goals! I will do what-ever I have to do to make the process of home therapy easier. I read this article on the COVD website and I thought I should share it with you. Check it out:

It Takes Two

by Dr. Rochelle Mozlin

Today I examined a 9 year old boy with autism.  He had been examined 2 years ago and glasses were prescribed for full-time wear.  But his parents never had the glasses made.  They sought a second opinion and were told he only needed the glasses for reading.  Mom would often read with him and never noticed any difficulties and so decided that he probably didn't need the glasses at all.  Now, two years later, his teacher called home because he was having difficulty seeing anything written on the board unless he walked to the front of the classroom.  So mom brought him back.

This child is VERY hyperopic and astigmatic.  Without lenses, his visual acuity at both distance and near is significantly reduced.  He also has an exotropia (his eye is turned outward) which is much worse when he does not have appropriate lenses.  When I put the lenses on, his vision improved. But he is amblyopic.  Because he has always had blurry vision, he has not developed the ability to see the smaller letters or use his vision effectively.  I expect his vision to improve as he wears the lenses.

I wanted to laugh and cry.  I was happy that I will have a positive impact on this young child's vision and his life!  He will be able to participate much more actively in all his activities.  His autism surely poses other difficulties in his daily life and I am thrilled to eliminate (or at least mitigate) any visual deficiencies.  I am giving him a chance to interact with his world in a much more meaningful way.  But 2 years lost......... what if he had received those glasses 2 years ago?  What opportunities to learn and grow have been lost because he could not see?

It takes two.  I can do my part but I need help!  I need parents too.  I need parents to bring their children in for comprehensive eye examinations.  I need parents to ask questions if they don't understand.  I need parents to comply with treatment plans (even if their children are not happy), I need them to return for follow-up care.

Parents, please help me help your child.  Schedule that exam.   Make sure your child wears the glasses in school.  Call me if you have questions or concerns.  Together we can accomplish so much, but I can't do it alone.

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This article is great! I can relate on so many levels! It really does take two. We are a team, and I want to help your children, but we are in this together. Help me help your child! Comply with our treatment plans: Do the home therapy, come to the weekly appointments. And you will be just like our success stories shared here.

Who is reading this blog?

The Nashville Vision Therapy blog has been a great tool for a lot of my patients. My ideas for each blog usually comes from a conversation with one of my students parents. Yes, I always am listening! My hope is that my readers enjoy what I write and your questions are answered. But then I ask, who is reading this blog?

I am able to look at various statistics about our blog's performance. I see the blog post views, and what days people viewed it. But the most fascinating thing to me is people who view our blog are from the not only here in America, but Hong Kong, Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore, Ukraine, South Africa, Belgium, Canada, and India. We are reaching people all across the world. That is just cool to me!

I would love more interaction on my blog which means more comments!

Might I ask: Who are you?  What has brought you to this blog?  What are you most interested in reading about? Do you have any questions? Tell me!

Please use the comments and tell us where you are from and what has brought you to this blog. Thank you Internet  for creating a Vision Therapy community that expands all over the world!