My good friend and colleague, Dr. Len Press sent this to me:
From today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (7-2-09), an unqualified and ringing endorsement of Sue Barry's book, and of specially trained and imaginative optometrists which reads, in part:
"Capitalizing probably more on latent neuronal connections than on the creation of new ones, Barry benefited from orthoptics — a hidden corner of restorative medicine. With contrived ocular exercises, specially trained and imaginative optometrists treat patients whose eyes are cosmetically aligned but imperfectly foveated. The simplicity of the exercises and of the apparatus (such as beads on a string, papers taped to walls, and strips of film) is bracing for a profession enamored with technology.
The book’s main contribution, however, is exposing the wrong-headed dogma that acuity and binocular vision can be restored only during a critical developmental period. Surgical correction of strabismus is dominated by this notion, first posited by Claud Worth in his landmark 1903 book, Squint: Its Causes, Pathology, and Treatment, and set at a hard stop at 2 years of age by his student Francis Chavasse. The experiments of Hubel and Wiesel are often cited as confirming the lost malleability of the adult brain, but Barry points out that they did no such thing because there was no attempt at restoration of fusion. Her experiences and those she recounts from others belie the “nothing else can be done” message that ophthalmologists gave to her and to her mother throughout her childhood.
Several visual scientists have now demonstrated the reversibility of infantile loss of vision and stereopsis, but blindness to these findings and underappreciation of the solutions offered by orthoptics still persist."Comments
: I have to laugh....at least a little.
Optometric vision therapy has never been hidden from our
Ophthalmology colleagues....but they (
OMDs) have
deliberately and continually closed their eyes (and minds) to the possibility that what we have been doing for decades is
therapeutically sound and can change how we see.
I also have to laugh at "
With contrived ocular exercises, specially trained and imaginative optometrists treat patients whose eyes are cosmetically aligned but imperfectly foveated. The simplicity of the exercises and of the apparatus (such as beads on a string, papers taped to walls, and strips of film) is bracing for a profession enamored with technology. " Our
therapeutic programs (
definitely not ocular exercises) are not contrived but well thought out. We also straighten out turned eyes.....and it is the simplicity of some of our therapeutic
procedures that make them so effective. Although we often use computers as a part of our therapy program....we also use what has been shown to work from our past.
Also research in neuroplasticity has shown that new neuro-pathways are often created...not just the re-activation of old ones...( see Maino D.
Neuroplasticity: Teaching an Old Brain New Tricks. Rev Optom 2009. 46(1):62-64,66-70. (Tested Continuing Education Course))
It is about time for our Ophthalmological colleagues to stop their dedicated ill will towards the profession of Optometry. We are not going anywhere. We examine and take very good care of our patients. We are the primary eye care providers to the United States and its people. Get over it. Move on. Let's work together for the benefit of our patients. You do the surgery. We do everything else...including optometric vision therapy. DM
