Every week brings in new children to my clinic; children who have hit a dead end with family doctors and paediatricians, as well as with the schools. I run a child vision development clinic, and we see children with apparent…
Astigmatism – A silent and invisible thief. No one should expect parents to understand how vision works, let alone how this might affect their children – even though they might observe very clearly the effects of significant visual impediments. Astigmatism,…
Less Than Meets the Eye: When ‘Expert’ Advice is False Economy Pediatricians receive only cursory training in assessing children’s visual function, and only minimal exposure to ophthalmic disease. This is reflected in the visual screening recommendations by The American Academy…
Vision has often been depicted as a ‘pyramid’, with core functions and systems arriving early in development (the ‘base’) and other more advanced behaviours and skills arriving afterwards, partly as a function of earlier development. The graphic representation is designed…
(See Part 2 here.) In the Preface to this series, I mentioned how I’ve been personally attacked for my advocacy for better (any) standards for children’s vision needs. No, I don’t have a saviour complex, and would much prefer to…
What We Don’t See Affects How Things Appear (See Part 1 here.) Sharry came in with her daughter Sam, a socially awkward but friendly and intelligent 9 year-old, who is struggling in Gr 4. “The pediatrician said her eyes were…
(See the Introduction here.) For many years, researchers have asked, ‘Why is it that nearsighted children seem to fare better in academics than farsighted children?’ Some have even gone so far as to suggest myopic IQ’s are higher than hyperopic…
(See the Preface here.) There are many uses of the word ‘blind’. The concept is so broadly understood, and feared, that many languages have adopted the term to other common uses. When someone does not appreciate the gravity of a…
In the recent post, I focused on hyperopia as a physical disability. This notion, that non-blinding vision dysfunction is a disability will be a new idea to many readers. There are many reasons for this and these are worthy of…
Every now and then, a blog post reveals truths about a writer or a body that was never intended as part of the original goal of writing. Doctors of optometric vision rehabilitation will recognize in the blog post linked below…