VT Works

Recently, I discovered the origin of the phrase “you are what you eat”, and who is given credit for creating it. His name is Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a Paris attorney turned politician in the early 1800’s. He wrote: “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es.” [Tell me what you eat and I will… Read more

Nothing pleases me more than observing other therapists at work, and learning from their approaches. I so enjoy the sharing and debating of ideas for treatment that I have not tried before, and understanding someone else’s thoughts.  It creates an opportunity for all of us to learn, and for me personally, identifies an opportunity to expand on… Read more

Recently finished reading Born on A Blue Day by Daniel Tammet, an amazing memoir of life with Asperger’s and Savant Syndromes.  I was struck at the amount of visualization and visual cues Daniel describes and uses just to get through his day, perhaps without knowing he is doing it.  He describes days, numbers, and languages in… Read more

I grew up in San Francisco among the hippies and the homeless, where the fog kept us cool in the summer and gave us something to complain about in the winter, where the Giants and 49ers became somewhat of an obsession, and where the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz were just touristy places to avoid… Read more

Monday 5:00pm – Sit in the chair, slide to the floor, roll over and scratch your head, take off one shoe and sock,  throw shoe across the room, stick sock in your pocket, climb back on the chair, pull Vectogram slides apart and drop one on the floor, hand second slide to mom, pick your… Read more

Balancing the human ego can be a tricky task sometimes. Too much ego from one person can be troubling, while too little ego can be – well, troubling. Nothing is more annoying than watching the interview of a sporting superstar whose underlying message is “let me tell you how wonderful I am”.  I always want… Read more

My Dear Friends – I know it is probably against blogger etiquette (if there is such a thing) to blog about my blog, but I want to thank everyone for the incredible response to my last post –  “una bella vita” – which is Italian for “a beautiful life”.   I never imagined it would touch… Read more

Every office has stories of Vision Therapy success, and surely, we’ve all felt the pleasure of changing a person’s life almost literally before their eyes. I am sure for most people that will read this blog, helping others is not just what you do, it’s woven into the very fabric of who you are. For me… Read more

In the Vision Therapy Room, we often call a patient’s attention to change, and awareness of change in hopes that they pay attention to available information that may have been previously ignored.  For instance, changes in body posture, changes in feeling, changes in space, and so on.  Some patients quickly gain an awareness of the… Read more

Well it’s that time of year again – time to turn in those Open Book Questions.  I know many aspiring COVT’s out there are working hard to meet the deadlines while their mentors are working hard to help guide them.  Personally, I’ve been up late the last few nights trying to keep up with my… Read more

The credit card slip Tang’s mom signed this morning was a mere formality.  Truth be told,  I would see him for free. Tang is every bit the nine year old boy you might expect.  He laughs, loves playing jokes, is interested in everything he sees, tries to fool me at every turn, and wants to… Read more

So let’s just face the facts for a moment – attitude really is everything. Recently, I conducted an experiment on myself that involved attitude. I identified two patients currently in therapy, Patient A and Patient B. Both patients are female. Patient A is very easy to work with, not necessarily in visual diagnosis, but sweet, compliant, eager to please,… Read more

This post is dedicated to memory of Dr. Donald Getz, who while lecturing in San Diego in 2006  stated “I never understood the term Attention Deficit Disorder anyway.  How in the hell can you have a disorder of your deficit?” By now most of us have heard, the visual symptoms of a struggling child can… Read more

So I learned a valuable lesson this weekend – nobody is perfect. I took my son to an Arena Cross event on Saturday night here in Austin, TX.  For those of you who don’t know, Arena Cross is an indoor motorcycle race in the mud.  My son is 7 years old, so dirt bikes and… Read more

So as you no doubt gathered from the subject line, I have one of my favorite kids in therapy.  On his first session, he came in, sat in a chair, folded his arms and met my every request with a most belligerent “I don’t want to and you can’t make me…”.  And yes I was serious, he… Read more

Today  started like most other days – waking up early, a hot cup of coffee, getting my kids up and dressed, packing lunches, double checking backpacks,  hurrying to school while listening to a 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy debate whose jacket is better looking, a quick kiss goodbye in the… Read more

So I did it.  I have given up soda for good. That 4 to 5 soda a day habit…..done. Those of you who know me personally probably just fell off your chairs. Sorry about that! Before you run out to sell your stock in Coca Cola though, try to remain upright long enough to continue… Read more

In my younger days, I despised the word “normal” when used to describe a person.  Over and over I would hear parents, educators, and other professionals alike refer to a person as normal – or even worse, abnormal – and hate the description.  Normal grades, normal learning style, normal development, normal behavior, normal test results… Read more

Have you ever reported to your doctor of a patient’s struggle with a particular activity, only to find out the next week that the patient did very well while trying that activity with a different therapist?  Its happened to me so so many times.  While we are always happy for the patient’s success, it’s hard… Read more

Recently, during a training session in our office, I had a revelation – how far a little love can go. A little back story: I’ve always been guarded against referring to a patient by their diagnosis (ie. that “8 year old CE” – or “that TBI”). My mantra continually is “patients are people first – who happen to… Read more

My goals when I started working as a Vision Therapist did not include becoming the best. Honestly, I’m not even sure that back then I knew what being “the best” really meant. Truth be told, my early days as a therapist were more about the paycheck than any speck of vocational quality. So much so… Read more