Behavioural optometry assessment or binocular vision assessment is not the standard ‘sight test plus ocular health’ assessment. It is more complicated than that. It looks at our visual system in action. In simple terms, it looks at the way our brain processes information coming from all senses of our body including the eyes.
It is a specialised field of optometry, sometimes called neurodevelopment or functional optometry – it incorporates the physical, neurological, and developmental aspects of vision.
How well the two eyes are able to align with each other and work together as a pair will determine how comfortable your vision is.
A standard optometrist concentrates on just eyesight and ocular health, a behavioural optometrist goes further and delves more into the brain-eye connection.
If the visual channels are not working in sync with each other, irrespective of how good your eyesight is, you may experience eye strain , tired eyes, headache, transient blurring of vision and even double vision.
To understand why a person has learned to use their visual process in the way they have (asymmetric from our view), our optometrist may perform the following types of assessments:
- Eye Movement Reading Speed and Comprehension
- Visual Memory / Visual Sequential Memory
- Visual Motor Integration and Organization
- Directionality / Laterality
- Visual Discrimination
- Auditory – Visual Integration
- Primitive Reflexes
- Visual Spatial Awareness
- Visual Attention /Comfort and Efficiency with near activities
- Perceptual Anxieties / Behavioural Issues
- Cognitive and Thinking Skills
- Pencil grip assessment / Writing Speed and Quality
- Magnitude and Flexibility of focusing system
- Convergence / Divergence of eyes at Distance and Near
- Function in near tasks of various performance lenses and prisms
- Integration of vision with other sensory and motor skills
ACHIEVE YOUR MAXIUM POTENTIAL
Improving your vision has tremendous benefits. Many people that have been diagnosed with ADD have found that improving their vision has helped with their focusing ability.
Our optometrist is able to assess and provide solutions to your binocular vision problems.