What is Behavioural Optometry?

Traditional optometry views the eye as a camera and optometrists are taught how to prescribe lenses or contact lenses to improve the focus of that camera. Optometrists are also taught to detect and refer any eye disease as appropriate.

Behavioural or neuro-developmental optometry instead views the visual system as being dynamic, appropriate use of our vision allowing us to interact more comfortably and efficiently with our environment in terms of focussing, coordinating and moving our eyes.

These can be termed as ‘visual skills’ that allow us to use our vision efficiently.

Focussing can be defined as identifying an object of interest and any detail surrounding it.

Coordinating the eyes can be defined as knowing where something is by aiming the eyes to find it.

Moving the eyes involves being able to move the eyes smoothly and efficiently across the page. This allows you to see groups of words at a time rather than one or two words at a time. This in turn leads to smoother reading and better anticipation of words further along in the text.

When the visual system does not function comfortably and efficiently it can lead to symptoms such as the eyes easily getting tired when reading, difficulties with reading and reading comprehension, difficulty catching balls and difficulties performing dance steps or playing sport.

It is important to remember that often it is the parents who notice these issues first. However, teachers may also notice issues with a child’s performance. There can often be subtle visual issues present that have not been detected by a simple eye examination.

Sometimes after your initial assessment with us a pair of glasses and some general advice may be all that is required. In other cases a vision training programme may be more appropriate. Glasses may be prescribed to help the eyes function better during the vision training programme. It is altogether a more holistic approach.