VT Works

Per this morning’s press conference from the White House, HIPPA guidelines regarding tele-health have been temporarily waived: Under this Notice, covered health care providers may use popular applications that allow for video chats, including Apple FaceTime, Facebook Messenger video chat, Google Hangouts video, or Skype, to provide telehealth without risk that OCR might seek to… Read more

I get it. This is serious. For the last few weeks, talk of COVID-19 has dominated the airwaves, lunchrooms, and travel plans. We’ve seen Italy close it’s borders, cruise ships hold hostage its patrons for weeks of quarantine, and we’ve even seen Costco completely run out water and toilet paper – the latter of which… Read more

Since I’ve been away from blogging, I have a few mailbags worth of questions in the queue. Let’s begin with these. Cheers! My son is 9 years old, has been in vision therapy about 3 months, and our therapist has him working mostly on primitive reflexes. A book I’m reading explains how reflex integration can… Read more

If the decision was ever made to award indoctrination into the world of psychological treatment by proxy, my guess is most of us in the Vision Therapy room would at least qualify for consideration. Although few us could speak intelligently about the tactics of manipulation or influence a true psychologist may use, many in the… Read more

During a recent conversation, a trusted and learned optometry friend opined Pencil Pushups are a worthless activity and should be banished from the mind of everyone associated with Developmental Optometry. What’s more, continuing to administer Pencil Pushups in their traditional form would garner laughter from colleagues and outside professionals OK, maybe my rendition of the… Read more

The timeless American rock band, Journey, was formed in San Francisco in 1973 and many of its members, both past and present, still live in the city. One of Journey’s more popular songs, Lights, is seemingly an ode to the city by the bay, it’s spirit, it’s comfort and it’s energy. Although I have always… Read more

Just so you know, I set my alarm an hour earlier than normal to be sure I’d have enough time to finish this post this morning. It’s that important to me. As it just so happens, this is my 500th post on this blog; a milestone I share with pride, to be sure. I have… Read more

We’ve all been there. You head out on a Saturday afternoon to run a few errands, make a stop to get your hair cut, and BAM.  Get home to look in the mirror and realize the person who cut your hair had a rather aggressive interpretation for “just a little off the top” and now… Read more

As a passionate Vision Therapist I really have only one serious goal…I want to be just like Linda Sanet. I first encountered Linda at an OEPF sponsored event in San Jose, CA in 2000, where she was teaching a weekend course. At the time, I had been working with patients less than a year and… Read more

In recent years, there’s been a definitive push towards “patient first” language, acknowledging the person before referring to their affliction. For instance, the strabismus patient has become the patient with strabismus, or the TBI patient has become my patient with a brain injury, or even better, my 4 o’clock Vision Therapy patient has become “Johnny”.  The push… Read more

My best friend in high school, who we will call Mark, was an African American boy whose father was a Rabbi. His father’s immediate family had converted to Judaism a generation or two prior and Mark’s father felt his calling from within his faith.  His dad, who we lovingly referred to as “the preacher”, was… Read more

Shared by James Smith, COVT. Please consider helping this family during this horrible time. It was a great shock to all of us at Washington Vision Therapy Center to hear that our Office Manager in our Tri-Cities offices was tragically killed this weekend.   See the story here. Stephanie was the heartbeat of our clinic. … Read more

Last July/August I had cataract surgery. I am pleased with improved vision and clarity. However, I ended up with double (distant) vision. My P.T. recommended I see Tom Headline. I’d like to know if you would recommend I see my eye surgeon first and if he does not have a solution, ask him for a… Read more

My mom is a lefty. My sister is a lefty. My daughter is a lefty. My former boss is a lefty. Together, I’m sure they’re conspiring to celebrate National Left Handers today – and every August 13. Lucky them. These people in my life are also quick to point out three of our previous four presidents have been… Read more

My mom used to carry a wooden cooking spoon in her purse, which she affectionately named “Jimmy” after Jimmy Hoffa. Later in life, I’ve learned the idea of the spoon was never to become physical; rather, just to maintain the illusion over our young adolescent minds that Jimmy would and could enforce her parenting wishes… Read more

I’m the first to admit my propensity to become fascinated with the peculiar, bizarre, and eccentric. I’ve never really figured out why, although I suspect my growing up in San Francisco is widely responsible. I’m drawn to people who are different, unusual, quirky, and perhaps even surprising. Throw in a little kindness and integrity and you’ve got… Read more

Anyone who has been around Vision Therapy for a decent period of time may be familiar with the idea of offering rehabilitative care to patients with Traumatic Brain Injuries.  Helping patients to re-organize their visual inputs and balance their visual stimuli a lot of times can improve their quality of life post-injury. Just as every… Read more

There are some people who will never ask for help; it’s just not in their genetic makeup. My Vision Therapist friend Robin Vreeland has always been one of those people. She is strong, proud, determined, and through her entire ordeal with colon cancer, has complained very little. She rolls with every punch, jumps every hurdle,… Read more

There are moments when I’m really into Vision Therapy, be it helping an adult recover from a Traumatic Brain Injury, or helping a third grader find her way through some accommodative exercise, or even finding some group to speak to in hopes of enticing them with the wonders our profession has to offer. Working with… Read more

There are moments in life when we are given pause. Maybe talking to a child about a difficult topic or helping a friend through a tough situation, maybe even working through challenging moment on our own could all be reasons why. It’s one of those moments in life which has always fascinated me. Something external… Read more

The world can be unkind. Get used to it. In the not so distant past, an article came up on my screen detailing the inequities of online reviews with respect to the medical profession. The idea was, and surely still is, practitioners, be they involved directly or indirectly with a patient, should be immune to… Read more

Someone asked me recently if my blog is still active, to which I promised them it is, explaining my heart and mind are just channeled elsewhere for a bit. My passion and pride still remain on these pages though, and although I’m not currently as prolific as in the past, there are days where something… Read more

Sometime last year, I watched an interview with Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who was, of course, the captain of of the US Airways Flight 1549 which landed in the Hudson River in January 2009. Captain Sullenberger noted during the interview how he felt as if each of his previous flights, totaling some 42,000 hours, allowed him to… Read more

Just so we’re absolutely clear, I don’t think deciding against Vision Therapy for financial reasons makes you a bad person. Quite the contrary, in fact. If you travel far enough in the process to be told Vision Therapy is needed, you honestly have my complete admiration – even if you decide to take a pass.  If… Read more

For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through many sorrows. ~ Timothy 6:10 There are many reasons patients and their families choose against enrolling in Vision Therapy, and although a few are tough to swallow from my… Read more

Of all the things to forget to do… My doctor and I are hosting a seminar late next month. I meant to post it on here a few weeks ago and it just slipped my mind.  Here’s the information for anyone interested! Read more

Sometimes it’s funny how life comes full circle, isn’t it? I received an email this morning from a therapist I met in Jacksonville during last month’s Annual Meeting. It’s an email I, myself, have written hundreds of times to people I admire and trust; an email asking for help, guidance, and maybe even a little… Read more

When names like Dr. Len Press, Dr. Byne, and Dr. Noah Tannen begin talking about Developmental Optometry, it’s a good idea to sit up and pay attention. That’s what I do. But when they sit in the same room, and on the same stage no less, one should consider themselves privileged to be in the… Read more

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Hello All – just a quick update on my book project and campaign. My Kickstarter campaign is in full swing and continues to do well. I’ve got about $9500 to go with just under three weeks remaining. Thank you to everyone who has jumped on board either by wishing me well, sharing my campaign, and of… Read more

For anyone unfamiliar with the phrase “getting off the schneid” (pronounced shnod), it’s a phrase common in sports to mark the end of a losing streak, or to signify a player or team’s first points. In certain golf formats, the term is common when a player scores their first points under head-to-head competition. In other sports,… Read more

For a little more than four years now, I have been writing in this blog. My goal, initially, was fairly moderate; I needed an outlet for my ideas and had hoped a few people would read them.  In fact, a month after starting, less than 10 people were actually following, and that was fine with me.… Read more

A close friend, and Vision Therapy graduate, asked me recently what I like most about my job.  My answer was simple: The people. When that same friend asked me to identify one of the greatest difficulties and/or frustrations in my job, my answer was again: The people. If you work with people long enough, there will… Read more

It can be tough to find good in the world, especially of late.  If we allow it, we can be bombarded by negative on top of negative on top of negative, all before our first sip of morning coffee.  The lucky ones among us are able to filter out some or most of it an go about… Read more

There comes a time in everyone’s life when the bells of reinvention tend to ring. Call it midlife crisis, call it boredom, call it burn out; however you describe it, my thought is we all experience it at some point. Lately, this moment has been knocking on my door, and suddenly almost without warning, it… Read more

It’s one thing to not have a good rapport with a patient, and it’s another thing entirely to have a patient openly admit they do not enjoy your company.  Sadly, there are times when both occur simultaneously. It happens sometimes, and when it does, I usually laugh it off.  In fact, some therapists may shy away… Read more

For those Vision Therapists attending COVD’s Annual Meeting in St. Louis, here’s a fun idea! Read more

When I was young, my favorite uncle had a tattoo on his arm of a girl, who in her era, was probably considered scantily clad. By today’s standards, that very same girl in that very same outfit could probably join a convent. Times have changed. Being an “old navy guy”, the tattoo on his arm was all… Read more

It was fairly obvious that I’d made a mistake. My question had struck a nerve and there was no undoing it. In the fall of 2012, I moved from Houston to Austin to be closer to my children. Eighteen months post divorce, it finally donned on me that all of my residual anger needed to… Read more

If anyone ever tells you there’s nothing to be gained by heeding the advice of those who have come before us, please remember this heartfelt suggestion: Turn around and walk away. At some point during my time working with Dr. Sanet, he had shared that we should always be careful who we speak to and… Read more