BEHAVIOURAL VISION CARE
WHAT IS BEHAVIOURAL VISION CARE?
Optometrists who provide Behavioural Vision Care are licensed professionals, with post-graduate education and advanced knowledge focused upon health, prevention and treatment of vision problems, and how vision impacts human behaviour and performance.
Vision is much more than just eye sight. The vision process is pervasive in human behaviour and development. The primary purpose of the vision process is to guide our actions. We depend heavily on the vision process to derive meaning from and interact with the world around us whether it be for reading and learning, working to earn a living or for sports and recreation. The vision process is a complex process of aiming, focusing and moving your eyes to take in and interpret what we see. We use vision in every aspect of our lives to interact with our world and integrate vision with our other sensory and motor processes to direct action. Our vision as an ability develops into automatic patterns of behaviour, enabling us to predict, attend, perceive and respond with minimal attention as we derive meaning and direct action. Both nature and nurture influence the development of these automatic patterns of visual development; our environment shapes our development and can disrupt the normal sequence of development.
At Howes&Brown Optometrists our Behavioural Vision Care team provide assessment of adults’ and children’s vision, ensuring optimal visual function and performance. Where vision dysfunction is detected, treatment and management programs will be recommended by prescribing spectacles, contact lenses, prisms, filters and tints, vision therapy, and advice.
Our goal: A healthy vision process developed and operating a its full potential!
Behavioral optometrists use vision therapy and therapeutic lenses to improve visual development, performance and comfort for people with:
-
reading difficulties and learning difficulties
-
"lazy eye," amblyopia, eye turns (strabismus)
-
a history of eye muscle surgery (strabismus surgery) or those considering it
-
autism spectrum behaviours
-
overall developmental delays
-
neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy
-
acquired brain injuries
-
concussions
-
eye fatigue, headaches, dry eyes or any eye discomfort
-
computer vision syndrome
-
an interest in sports performance at any level
-
an interest in myopia management
Appropriate visual development and good visual abilities (eye movements, eye teaming, focusing and peripheral awareness) maximize our potential in activities like reading, writing, working at a computer, arts and crafts, driving and all types of recreational activity, even professional sports. Any disturbance in the visual process negatively affects our overall performance and eventually our comfort. Some people handle these difficulties better than others, but less-than-optimal performance is almost guaranteed when there are untreated visual deficits.
Disturbances in the visual process are unlikely to simply go away with the passage of time. More likely, they will embed to become a bad habit in visual-motor function requiring compensatory strategies. They can usually be eliminated with proper lenses and vision therapy. Vision therapy is safe and effective for treating all types of visual difficulties at any age.
Most eye exams cover little more than clarity of eyesight. Clear eyesight is actually the result of good eye movements, eye teaming and focusing, not the other way around. Behavioural optometrists can provide unique insight into the developmental status of the visual process by carefully assessing all aspects of the visual process.
The visual process is learned, and develops throughout our lives. This means that problems can occur at any time depending on our demands. This also means that improved performance and comfort can be achieved at any age especially with proper lenses and vision therapy.
You will probably be surprised to learn that lenses can be used to improve your visual performance in ways other than just making things look clear. Behavioural optometrists are experienced in using lenses to reduce stress, increase stamina during visual tasks, eliminate headaches and other visually related symptoms. Lenses can also be used to help stimulate visual development and therefore overall development.
