Posted in Vision Problems on February 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A Vision Therapy Story – From a Mother’s Point of View
This is an Guest Post by Stephanie Leary, who is training to be a Vision Therapist. Although her story is long, I encourage you to read it because it is not written by a doctor or by a newspaper reporter, but from a mother how has experienced how vision therapy can change lives. – Dr. Nate
Comments: This was written on a colleague’s site. Read it. You’ll be glad you did! DM
Posted in Uncategorized on February 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
From the Herald Citizen…. “Your peripheral vision is connected very intimately with your balancing system,” said Dr. Jason Clopton, developmental optometrist and director of the Center of Vision Development in Cookeville. “When you get a lot of information in your peripheral vision — like on a big screen — and a lot of movement, it may give you this sensation that you’re physically moving when you’re not. If the two systems are working together, you shouldn’t have any difficulties at all.” A movie in 3-D works by projecting two images on the screen, with each image seen by one eye. The images are then merged into one by your brain. If the images aren’t perceived correctly, it will be difficult to merge or fuse them into 3-D….
Posted in Spotlight On...., Vision Therapy on February 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
As optometric clinicians who provide vision therapy, we find ourselves discussing the concept that vision is learned to patients and parents on a daily basis. Yet, when discussing to a parent, one of the goals of vision therapy is to develop proper binocular neuromuscular control, the parent may sometimes have the misconception that vision therapy is an eye muscle exercise process. This eye exercise myth can also be one of the reasons why educators could be confused about the “vision connection” to reading.
Sometimes others can say it better. In this case Neuroscientist Beau Lotto uses a variety of interesting demonstrations to show that vision is learned.
Dan L. Fortenbacher, O.D., FCOVD
Posted in Uncategorized on February 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
…optometrist Ruth Perrott, who claims James Cameron’s sci-fi movie picks up eye problems such as strabismus, when the eyes do not align when focusing, or amblyopia, the loss of one eye’s ability to see details.
She said: “About five to ten per cent of people don’t have true depth perception, and far more may have trouble with their binocular vision, which is needed to see the 3D images in movies.”
Ruth, a practitioner specially trained to help patients improve their visual performance, said: she understood that to make movies such as Avatar, filmmakers used special 3D cameras that captured two images, simulating the different perspectives of the left and right eye. …
Posted in Spotlight On.... on February 18, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Contact These Fine Optometric Organizations for the Information You Need!
American Academy of Optometry…301-984-1441
American Optometric Association ..800-365-2219 Fax: 314-991-4101 http://www.aoa.org
Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry ..301-231-5944
College of Optometrists in Vision Development….. 330-995-0718
Heart of America Contact Lens Society ……918.341.8211 http://www.hoacls.org
Illinois College of Optometry ..312-949-7000
IL Dept of Financial & Professional Regulation……217-785-0800 312- 814- 4500
IOA 800-933-7289h217-525-8012hFax: 217-525-8018 http://www.ioaweb.org Email: ioa@ioaweb.org
ILAMO (International Library, Archives & Museum of Optometry) 800-365-2219
Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry 704-970-2710
Optometry Schools and Colleges
Alabama (UAB) …………..205-325-8620
California-Berkeley (UCB)……510-642-9537
Ferris (FSU) (MI)…………….231-591-3703
Houston (UH) ………………713-743-2040
Illinois (ICO) ………………..312-949-7000
Indiana (IU) ………………..812-855-4447
New England (NEWENCO) …617-266-2030
New York (SUNY) …………800-291-3937
Ohio (TOSU) ………………..614-292-2647
Oklahoma (NSU) …………918-456-5511
Pacific (PUCO) …………..503-352-2208
Pennsylvania (PCO) ……215-780-1300
Puerto Rico School of Optometry…787-765-1915
St Louis (UMSL) …………….314-516-5606
Southeastern (NOVA) ….800-541-6682
Southern California (SCCO) …..714-870-7226
Southern (SCO) …………..901-722-3366
Posted in Convergence Insufficiency on February 13, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Statistics from the Autism Society shows that autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the US. Current studies are suggesting that Autism is occurring in 1 in 110 children with nearly 1.5 million living with this condition. Autism is a spectrum disorder that typically includes pervasive developmental delays in sensory processing. One critical area to a child with Autism can be vision development.
One of the most famous adults with autism is Temple Grandin, PhD., who has been able to rise above the challenges associated with autism. Her story is now being told in the HBO full length feature film entitled Temple Grandin, staring critically acclaimed actor, Claire Danes. As a testament to her ability to apply herself, Dr. Grandin describes the impact of her vision in her book, Thinking in Pictures, and Other Reports of My Life with Autism.
Expanding this awareness is a new group, Moms Fighting Autism. Moms Fighting Autism is a monthly webinar service dedicated to helping moms who have children with autism. And this month the Moms Fighting Autism Webinar is featuring one of Optometry’s leading lecturers, writers and clinicians in the area of Developmental Vision…Dr. Carl Hillier.
Dr. Hillier’s webinar is occurring on February 16, 2010 at 6:PM PT. Dr. Hillier will be discussing “Vision and Living Within the Autistic Spectrum,” including Vision Therapy. To register for this FREE webinar click here.
Dr. Hillier was also recently featured on San Diego 6 News. Click here to see Dr. Hillier’s interview with reporter Greg Phillips. The topic was how hidden vision problems can be the cause of your child’s reading disabilities.
With greater public awareness of the vision problems associated with autism, more children (and adults) can find the developmental vision care that will help those with autism to lead a more happy and productive life. A good way to find a doctor who specializes in developmental vision care is to go to the College of Optometrists in Vision Development website and search for a Board Certified Fellow in your area.
Dan L. Fortenbacher, O.D.,FCOVD
Posted in 3-D on February 10, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Well, I’ve finally done it! I have named a new syndrome after a movie. This syndrome is now officially known (at least by me) as the AVATAR 3D SYNDROME !
The symptoms include possible:
Nausea
Headache
Blurred vision
Double vision
Eye strain
Dizziness
The etiology may include problems with an individual’s vestibular optical reflex (balance and vision system) and/or binocular vision dysfunction (BVD). BVDs include convergence insufficiency, convergence excess, divergence insufficiency, divergence excess and disorders associated with eye movement (pursuits/saccades) and focusing (accommodation. Uncorrected refractive error (nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism may play a role as well.
So the next time you go to a 3D movie and do not feel so good after seeing the movie….you may have AVATAR 3D SYNDROME…email me…perhaps I can help! (dmaino@ico.edu).
Comments on my comments: As you probably guessed I’m somewhat making this up…however, individuals do suffer the symptoms noted above…and the eyes may indeed play a role. If you refer to this as AVATAR 3D SYNDROME…you know I said it here first! DM
Posted in Convergence Insufficiency on February 1, 2010 | 4 Comments »
In my last article in EXCELerated Vision I described a condition known as “stereo blindness” which affects many children and adults. Thanks to Avatar, binocular vision problems that cause stereo blindness are now gaining more public awareness. Yes, the stereo blind individual not only “can’t see it” (3-D), but for 165 minutes of this movie they will have a “blurry” or “smeary” visual experience. Thus, for the stereo blind, Avatar is just not enjoyable because it just looks out of focus.
However, for those who have another common binocular vision problem, Convergence Insufficiency (CI), Avatar may make them sick! Yes, Avatar can actually be a ”health hazard” for those with weak binocular vision ability.
Unlike the stereo blind individual, those with Convergence Insufficiency (CI) actually can use their binocular vision, however they just use it very poorly. For example, in a normal daily reading task, the child or adult with CI will have trouble coordinating their eyes to look at near. They will experience eye strain, fatigue, words overlapping (double vision). Therefore the person (with CI) will simply get away from it and avoid the visual task. In other words, they respond to this ”reading a book discomfort” by putting the book down.
On the other hand when this same person enters the theater to watch 3-D Avatar they are faced with a giant screen and for 165 minutes, they experience highly stimulative 3-D images. For the person with normal binocular vision, this 3-D Avatar experience is nothing short of spectacular. But for the person with poor binocular vision (CI) the Avatar visual extravaganza results in an over stimulation of their visual system often resulting in headaches, nausea and dizziness. In essence, Avatar will make them sick!
While 3-D Avatar is no doubt one of the most entertaining films of all time, there is still a risk that this movie can cause illness in those who have certain visual problems. The good news is that 3-D Avatar can serve an important service to the public health by alerting those with binocular vision problems. Anyone who experiences illness from this film should see their primary care eye doctor, preferably a doctor who is experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with binocular vision problems.
If Avatar makes you sick, it is important to know that binocular vision problems like Convergence Insufficiency can be successfully treated though office-based optometric vision therapy. Just like in the movie…for the patient with CI, there can be a happy ending!
Dan L. Fortenbacher, O.D., FCOVD
Posted in 3-D on February 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Dominick Maino, OD, MEd, FAAO, FCOVD-A
Benjamin C. Winters, O.D.
Dr. Nathan Bonilla-Warford
Ruth Villeneuve
Dr. Rochelle Mozlin
D Fortenbacher, O.D.,FCOVD