A Medical Doctor Share His Experience
Dr. C is a medical doctor who suffered from strabismus (eye turn) and nystagmus (an eye disorder where the eyes move back and forth rapidly out of control). When he was in medical school he had strabismus surgery. He had seen numerous eye doctors and optometrists looking for help with his visual difficulties before finding our office. Here is what he would like to share with you about his experience being evaluated by Neuro-Developmental Optometrist ,Vision Specialist:
I have been researching various modalities to deal with my Strabismus and Nystagmus. I came across Neuro-Developmental optometrist and scheduled a Neuro-Developmental evaluation.
Prior to my first appointment with Neuro-Developmental optometrist , I was sent a questionnaire to fill out. As a medical officer, I felt the history questions were much more detailed than the daily encounters I have with my patients. The good thing about this is that Neuro-developmental optometrist took the time to go through and study my case and history prior to my appointment.
I was curious to see how how the Neuro-developmental optometrist ‘s assessment would differ from the eye care practitioner, as he wasn’t a medical doctor. In addition, I wondered, how would his approach differ from other regular optometrists? After a brief talk with Neuro-developmental optometrist , I realized that his knowledge wasn’t confined to just optometry. Rather, he is educated in the field of neurology, too.
As I entered the room I noticed a lot of instruments which I had never seen in my previous eye assessments. Unlike appointments with other optometrists, the refraction test (seeing 20/20 eye chart) was just a part of the session. Neuro Developmental optometrist ‘s assessment was done in a very holistic manner. It was very interactive, as we gave feedback to each other throughout the session. It was not what I expected. I wasn’t sitting there, facing the Snellen chart, being told to read out the A’s, B’s and C’s. Instead, I was asked to catch the ball, hands on, standing on the balancing board, as the bell rang at my side, etc.
Instead of focusing just on visual acuity, he was the first optometrist I have encountered that was concerned about human vision as an entire system – dealing with body coordination, balancing, hearing, sports performance, etc. For the first time I realized the fact that clear vision does not ensure good visual function. Clarity is just a portion of what makes perfect vision. Instead, perfect vision means something more complex, involving our brain to integrate our binocular vision input, feedback to our motor system to coordinate well, etc. As a Medical doctor, I learned about visual pathways, but I never went this in-depth into the field of visual science.
During our session, the vision specialist showed a lot of concern about my activities of daily living, in terms of how my vision affects my work, my studying, etc. To my surprise, he had pointed out my weaknesses, without me even telling him. Yet I would have never realized certain symptoms and weaknesses if Neuro-Developmental optometrist had not pointed them out to me. After teaching me a few logical and scientific-based exercises to improve my visual skills, I felt so motivated. During the session, using some special instruments, I saw 3D for the first time ever. What I had presumed as 3D previously, wasn’t very 3D at all.
I would like to thank Neuro-developmental optometrist for being the first person to understand about all the problems with my vision. During previous visits to other eye care practitioner, I was told my vision had been corrected as best it possibly could. If I complained further, they would deem me a ‘too demanding’ patient. Some even attributed my problems to mental and psychological dysfunctions. Perhaps the regular eye care practiioner studied eye anatomy, physiology and pathology in detail, but have not bothered to study the complex neurology of the visual system in dealing with the functional aspect of our daily activities.
I have always believed in human brain potential and its plasticity. If you do not know about what you don’t know, it is likely you will be blind forever. Sessions with Neuro-developmental optometrist have benefitted me more than any other. He has helped me create my awareness about the weaknesses in my visual functions. At least now I have clues about how to proceed in improving my visual function.”
From Dr. C, Medical Doctor
