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Amblyopia is a common childhood vision condition that you have likely heard of but just didn't know it. Amblyopia is a bit of a tongue twister (and we are not even selling seashells on the seashore) which is why many people know it as 'lazy eye'. Well before you start judging the work ethic of your eyes, let us talk about amblyopia – a common childhood vision condition that prevents kids from seeing 20/20 if left untreated.

Do you get headaches when you read or use the computer? Does your child cover or close an eye while they read? Do your eyes hurt at the end of the work day? Is homework time with your child a constant battle against avoidance behaviors? Do words move on the page when you are trying to read? These are all symptoms of convergence insufficiency – a very common, and very treatable, vision condition that affects people of all ages.

Competitive athletes need more than basic eye exams. Think about it, what is the goal of an eye exam? To see 20/20 and make sure your eyes are healthy. Well for athletes, 20/20 is blurry. They need to see better than 20/20 when they compete. They also need excellent visual skills to catch the ball, track the puck and make split second decisions. These visual skills are not assessed during an eye exam. This is why athletes need to work with a sports vision eye doctor who performs Athlete Vision Assessments.

Convergence insufficiency is an eye teaming deficit that affects approximately 8% of people (that is 4 times more prevalent than glaucoma or an eye turn). You do not outgrow convergence insufficiency, which is why it can have lifelong impacts on your vision. Convergence insufficiency can also be caused by a traumatic brain injury (even a concussion). Here is what you need to know about this vision condition that causes headaches, double vision and reading difficulties.

The eyes have been called the 'window to the soul'. They are also a window into the brain and are being used to help diagnose concussions. Doctors and trainers are currently using eye tracking skills to help assess for the presence of a concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Research is also under way to determine how eye tests can help athletes, military personnel, and anyone else who takes an unfortunate fall or is involved in a motor vehicle accident.

Is your child inattentive? Impulsive? Hyperactive? If you answered 'yes' to any of those, we have established that you have a child. Every kid will be a kid, and every kid has their moments (whether sugar-induced or otherwise). Well when these behaviors are present at clinically-significant levels, it may lead to the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) – sometimes called ADD or ADHD. Unfortunately, diagnosis of AD/HD often relies heavily on subjective surveys rather than objective measures. Fortunately, researchers are using eye movements to help objectively identify AD/HD.

According to the Prevent Blindness America organization, vision problems affect 25% of school-aged children. And these vision problems can prevent a child from achieving their academic potential. Many teachers may find it hard to believe that 25% of their students have a visual barrier to success because they don't see a quarter of their students wearing glasses. The reason for this difference is that many of the vision conditions affecting students are not treated with glasses.  

Winter is winding down but there is still time to enjoy your favorite winter sports. The great thing about hard-packed snow and ice - it lets you go fast. The bad part – it is hard, very hard. As we know, what goes up must come down. Unfortunately, for some people this means coming down head first; resulting in traumatic brain injury (TBI). A literature review performed in 2000 (Levy, AS, et al.) estimated 50-88% of fatalities at ski resorts were from a TBI. The majority of TBI accidents on the slopes is from hitting their head on an object or hitting their head on the snow. 

The eyes are a complex organ that can take an impulse of light and turn it into vision; a truly remarkable feat. Even more remarkable and complex is vision itself. 66% of the connections within the brain are involved in the process of vision; sight, binocular vision (eye teaming), visual perception (making sense of visual information), and visual integration. As you can imagine, when an aspect of the visual system is not working properly it takes specialized care to correct the visual deficit. In the area of binocular vision and visual perception there are several terms, which are misleading and confusing for patients when used interchangeably. In this four part blog we will discuss each of these terms; vision therapy, vision rehabilitation, eye exercises and brain training as they relate to the visual system. In today's blog we will discuss vision therapy.

With the rise of ADHD being diagnosed in the United States, researchers are working to determine a measure to objectively diagnose the condition. Currently, for a child to be diagnosed with ADHD he or she must exhibit a certain number of symptoms in two different settings. This current survey-based approach is subjective and one person's responses to the survey can change the outcome of the diagnosis. What if there was an object way to determine if someone has ADHD?