
1, optometry has become more involved in the management of vision problems associated with traumatic brain injury, even within the past decade, and management of binocular vision dysfunctions remains a significant component of this.
Binocular vision dysfunction manual#
“There is no better profession capable of diagnosing and treating these patients.”Īs noted in the AOA’s Brain Injury Electronic Resource Manual (BIERM), Vol. “Binocular vision impairments are best treated by optometrists because these are often non-surgical problems that drastically impede visual performance,” she adds. “Optometry has the ability to diagnose many neurologic impairments in the early onset stage, but to do so we need to have baselines to measure for change and to repeat testing periodically. “I think of checking the binocular vision system like checking -it needs to be done on everyone as it is a biomarker of neurologic function,” Dr. Theis notes the course is intended for all doctors of optometry not everyone needs to be a specialist or treating provider, but everyone needs to be able to assess and diagnose binocular vision to refer when appropriate.

Theis and Watt, and supported by RightEye, the webinar offers expert advice and best practices regarding binocular vision dysfunctions.ĭr.
Binocular vision dysfunction professional#
Toward that end, an #AskAOA webinar hosted on the AOA EyeLearn Professional Development Hub will help doctors and their care teams meet the needs of these challenging patients. “By evaluating how the eyes work together and ensuring system stability, you empower your patient to live the life they desire and visually participate without hesitation, reservation or symptom provocation.”Īdds Joshua Watt, O.D., AOA Sports & Performance Vision Committee chair: “If doctors and paraoptometrics can understand the true effect of binocular vision issues in the lives of their patients, they will understand that asking a few more questions or spending a minute more can make all the difference.” “Binocular vision impairments impact quality of life and can make patient participation in tasks of daily living impossible,” Dr. Moreover, such impairments may affect patients of all ages and demographics and can occur due to developmental insufficiency or neurologic impairment and trauma, says Jacqueline Theis, O.D., AOA Vision Rehabilitation Committee member.


Binocular vision dysfunctions can significantly affect patients’ quality of life, often negatively affecting work and scholastic performance, but clinical management of such diverse anomalies can be attainable-should doctors be up to the challenge.Ī diverse group of visual anomalies, binocular vision dysfunction and impairment often doesn’t neatly fit into a specific diagnostic category as patients may present with defects in more than one area of binocular vision.
