Career Spotlight: Vision Therapy & Rehabilitation!

Welcome to another installment of Career Spotlight, where we showcase and explore different specializations, career settings, technological advances, and more in the exciting world of optometry!

There are many ways to go within the world optometry and today we take a closer look at…

 Vision Therapy & Rehabilitation!

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What is Vision Rehab?

Vision therapy and rehabilitation refers to the therapeutic practices used by eye care professionals focusing on improving functional abilities and quality of life for people who have a loss in visual function.

You can think of vision rehab like physical therapy for an injury but for just eyes!

According to the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) the majority of the clinical and didactic curricula will be devoted to topics and practice relevant to dysfunctions of eye movement, accommodative, binocular and perceptual systems, reduced visual acuity, and compromised visual fields which are all pertinent in visual therapy.

 

Treatments & Approaches

There are a variety of different approaches used throughout the field depending on specific patient circumstance including physical therapy techniques, neuro-rehabilitation activities, mediciation, and educational advocacy methods.

There is a lot of exciting research being conducted to find new and innovating techniques in this exciting specialty including gene therapy!

 

Vision Therapy In Action

Check out this fascinating story of the power of vision therapy from Sue Barry, a college professor, on rewiring her brain to see in 3D…

 

So there you have it a small look at the specialization of vision therapy and rehab!

Stay tuned for more of OAT Cracker’s exploration into the nooks and crannies of the optometry world!

 

Career Spotlight: Pediatric Optometry!

Hello all pre-optomers. We are bringing in the New Year with a new segment here on the blog, called Career Spotlight, where we showcase and explore different specializations, career settings, technological advances, and more in the exciting world of optometry!

 

With your four years of optometry school you are crowned the title of an OD or Doctor of Optometry then beyond that you can do some residency time or even more school in order to specialize and hone your skills and knowledge in specifically the area of optometry you desire.

 

For our first trick let’s talk… Pediatric Optometry!

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I thought this would be a good place to start with specializations since it’s still a broad population of patients you will see: children. Even though pediatric optometry refers to the treatment of the “pediatric population”, this actually covers a broad age range with widely varying needs, including all those between birth and 18 years of age.

 

  • The early years of a child’s life is a critical time for vision development and monitoring. Despite the younger infant and toddler patients communication skills not fully developed testing and treatment are still possible through means like eye muscle movements, visual behavior, and dilation of the eyes.

 

  • Vision problems can have a profound effect on how children learn and often parents don’t notice vision problems in children until after a child exhibits problems reading the board at school. Annual vision testing starting at 6months old is widely recommended to best diagnose and treat vision problems and eye diseases.

 

  • If the pediatric optometry department sounds like a place for you check out the American Optometric Association’s Clinical Practice Guideline for Pediatric Eye and Vision Examination here to learn more about the scope and practices of working with this very special population.

 

So there you have it a small beginners look to the specialization of pediatrics!

Stay tuned for more of OAT Cracker’s exploration into the nooks and crannies of the optometry world!