Prevent vision problems and eye problems from developing.
Provide vision improvement, remediation or rehabilitation for vision or eye problems that have already developed (e.g. eye turn, shortsightedness, visual problems due to brain trauma etc).
If you have one or more of the following signs and symptoms, an assessment of the "whole" visual system is recommended.
| Problems with reading and learning | Comprehension and attention difficulties |
| Difficulty with physical activity and sport | Balance problems |
| Blurred vision | Abnormal posture |
| Intolerance to light | Persistent clumsiness |
| Double vision | Persistent motion sickness |
| Poor handwriting | Vertigo |
| Reading slowly | Anxiety problems |
| Eye turns | Fear of heights |
| Difficulty catching/hitting a ball | Fear of enclosed spaces |
| Avoiding close work | Fear of open spaces |
| Loss of place when reading or writing | Persistent dizziness and nausea |
| Inability to distinguish colours | Persistent muscle tension e.g. neckache |
| Persistent headaches | Eyes "hurt" or "tired" |
Provide an immediate support to the visual system as well as create an opportunity to passively train vision and sensory integration. While wearing training glasses, everyday activities such a work, school, reading and play provide the stimulus and training that the visual system requires and better visual skills usually result. Training glasses are no longer required once better visual skills are developed.
"Lenses are the fastest way to change a person" - Skeffington
Since the 1950s Behavioural/Developmental Optometrists developed ambient vision assessment protocols for patients with obvious ambient vision dysfunction, namely patients suffering from brain trauma, emotional conditions and patients with Autism and related disabilities, surprisingly even among "normal" people, vision deficits are common, with one study revealing a failure rate of 1 in 4 in a school age screening.
The developmental optometrist sees eye turns (strabismus) very differently from an ophthalmologist. Typically, strabismus is treated surgically by ophthalmologists, a "hardware" approach, whereas VSI views eye turns as a neural "software" disorder. Our treatment method is non-surgical and driven by the brain's plasticity to change.
An eye turn is not a problem with the eyeball itself, but rather a neural dysfunction for which an eye turn is a symptom. It is an adaptation precipitated by conflict in the central nervous system (CNS).
At VSI, we have found that directive ambient prisms can reduce abnormal saccadic eye movements, which in turn stabilizes the vestibular system and eliminate the symptoms associated with motion sickness and vertigo.
Although their visual system often cannot be measured or verbalized in the same manner as other sighted individuals there is a way to observe and change their performance. VSI utilizes ambient prism lenses to evaluate their ability to change posture, attention and disposition.
In the visual management of autism, performance enhancing lenses combined with a developmentally designed sequence of movement procedures allows the autistic child to experience a higher level of performance, improved behaviour, reduced symptoms and many gain language.
Tunnel vision or compressed vision is when the field of vision is constricted to a relatively small field. "Tunnel vision" is the brain's survival approach to reduce its space/world to what it can manage. People with compressed vision view the world in two-dimensions and present difficulty in judging distance and motion. Symptoms include: problems with organization, emotion, stress, headaches, fatigue, and stomach problems.
VSI integrates central and peripheral vision, which allows more information to process in far less time.
Children and adults with impaired spatial organisation skills live in a world where perception and reality constantly clash, and nothing is truly where it seems to be. Their inability to accurately interpret or predict events around them makes them tense, anxious and fearful.
Symptoms include:
| Clumsiness | Difficulty sitting in a classroom |
| Falling frequently | Difficulty swinging on the playground |
| Bumping into objects | Poor social skills |
| Difficulty hitting a ball | Gait problems |
| Trouble even buttoning a shirt | Hyperactivity |
| Stress while driving | Anxiety/Panic attacks |
| Difficulty navigating a crowded street/store | Significant impairments in coordination |
A difficulty in attention usually exists when a person falls behind at school, work, or social settings. The treatment model for visual attention deficit disorders is holistically based. That is, treat the person as a whole rather than the visual system in isolation.
The major question for a parent to ask a professional is "If my child sees so well, why do they perform so poorly?" The answer may not just be ‘what’ the child sees but rather their ability to know ‘where’ things are.
The dominant role of the visual system in learning and development makes any visual impairment particularly detrimental.
Over 80% of all learning experiences come through a child's vision
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