Behavioural Optometry is an approach to vision care that aims to maximize visual function in all situations in life.  From this, it is not just important that a person sees well, but are able to process what they see in a comfortable and stable manner, which will affect how a person views and responds to the world around them.  Behavioural Optometry is many things to many people even within the profession.

The common link is the understanding of vision and how to encourage its development. It tends to be more holistic in its approach as it tries to incorporate the physical, neurological and developmental aspects of vision. When you look at an object and “see it” you need to understand what the object is, you should know where it is, and you should know how to react to it.  To do this you must observe the colour, shape, size and the relation to other objects.  This information must then be compared to previous experiences you have had and a decision is then made on what to do.  This analysis must be completed accurately and quickly within a fraction of a second.

 

We use this to help us balance, walk, drive, play sport, talk to people, work and read.  Some of these activities like balancing and walking can be done without sight, but the skills develop more slowly and less extensively than when we can efficiently visually understand the world we see.  Talking to people does not require the ability to see but the visual aspects of communication like body language make understanding and developing of rapport with people quicker and easier. 

We also turn our words into images to ‘see’ what they are saying.  Vision plays an important part in the development of many human behaviours.  Equally, the way that humans develop their sensory motor skills, fine motor skills, eye hand co-ordination and the development of speech and language, affects the development of the visual skills that are used to understand the world around us.

 

The Three Key Areas of Vision

Behavioural Optometry is an expansion of general optometry in which the three above key areas of vision are integrated into the overall care of our patient adults or children. General optometry emphasises healthy eyes, clear vision and the importance of comfortable and efficient vision. In addition to this, Behavioural Optometry also investigates and manages the effects of Visual Information Processing on attention and learning.

1)       Visual Integrity – eye health and visual acuity (clearness of vision)

Assessment of your child’s eye health is a vital part of the eye examination. Although it is uncommon in children, eye diseases can occur at any age in life. Visual acuity can be affected by refractive errors such as Myopia, Hypermetropia and Astigmatism, and when required these conditions can be treated with spectacles and/or contact lenses.

2)       Visual Efficiency - clear and comfortable vision

Blurred vision and poor focussing skills are common problems in children, these difficulties can be a barrier to learning. More commonly children can develop focussing problems after they have learnt to read which has a major impact on comprehension, concentration and reading stamina.

Glasses and eye exercises help children maintain clear and comfortable vision for learning and enjoyable reading. Treatment of minor focussing problems may also help reduce the risk of myopia and the development of other visual disorders.

3)       Visual Information Processing - understanding and analysing what we see

Problems with visual processing are common in children with learning difficulties. These problems include visual thinking, visual sequencing, visual spatial organisation, reading eye movements and visual motor integration. Vision therapy can help develop and integrate these skills, so that your children become more visually ready to learn.

Visual information processing problems often coincide with language, auditory and sensory/motor integration difficulties. If you notice such concerns, we would recommend a comprehensive eye exam at Eyes@Narangba. Children may be referred to the appropriate allied health professionals as we work in close partnership with: Occupational Therapists; Speech Therapists; Chiropractors and kinesiologists.