The distinction between a behavioural optometrist and a normal optometrist is just not well known among the general public. Some suppose that the term refers to a badly behaved eye professional, or one that can in some way assess and alter somebody's behaviour utilizing glasses, but neither of those are true!

The reality is that they assess not only an individual's eyes but additionally their visual efficiency, taking into account their total behaviour, hence the name. That is, we don't check eyes as such but how an individual uses and gains the most advantage from their complete visual system.

The Behavioural Optometrist and Children's Vision

This style of evaluation is very relevant to children and if a child is struggling in school it becomes even more important.

Most behavioural practitioners feature numerous children in their practice, and pursuing this mode of practice means an optometrist must have a love of children and a strong need to see them improve and develop in their reading, writing and spelling.

If a child's visual development is reduced their school performance will most often be likewise affected, so children with learning disabilities are some of the most frequent visitors to a behavioural optometrist.

As a behavioural optometrist I do the entire assessments other optometrists do, but I add in a whole host of assessments in an effort to grasp how a specific child is using their vision, and if there are any issues with it. I assess long sightedness, short sightedness and astigmatism like my colleagues, but I then run a series of specific tests to look at how the child focuses, coordinates their eyes and understands what is being seen. I additionally completely assess their skills development and assess if they're lagging behind in any areas.

Studying glasses and vision therapy are two of the tools I've at my disposal as a behavioural optometrist, and since I'm careful about how I prescribe these, I tend to get superb outcomes for helping children with learning disabilities.

Most folks suppose that a behavioural optometrist only applies his philosophy with children, but this is not true. The identical concepts and logic are equally relevant for teenagers, adults and even the elderly. Rather than running some checks and churning out numbers, a behavioural optometrist applies these numbers to each affected person's particular needs, ensuring that whatever they use their eyes and vision for, they are able to perform at their best.

Beyond Children's Assessment for the Behavioural Optometrist

I can apply the identical ideas to adults and teenagers. An example of that is teenagers going increasingly short sighted, which is becoming more and more common in western society. Instead of making the presciption and lenses stronger and thicker over time, we can now slow, stop and even reverse short sightedness using special lenses or even contact lenses.

Another grownup who can benefit from our type of practice is a professional athlete. In this case we can set up their vision to maximise their performance in their chosen sport.

Computer workers or gamers will also have the ability to perform to their maximum capacity using the principles applied by a behavioural optometrist. Designing specialised lenses to help them is part of the story. Training things like eye movements, focus and eye coordination could be a second part which yields great results.

A behavioural practice like ours can provide help and professional advice for many folks in all types of professions and situations. Our calling is to help our patients get the very best performance from their visual system using lenses, contact lenses, vision therapy and the right advice.

That's why I like being a behavioural optometrist!