NeuroVision Clinic

Meet Greg, one of our amazing vision therapists!

Greg is an accredited Practical Vision Therapist through Vision Therapy Canada. His personal experience in recovering from an mTBI provides Greg with firsthand knowledge on how it feels and what it takes to overcome Post Trauma Vision Syndrome, an invaluable asset to his patients. Greg enjoys music, learning guitar, and teaching and playing sports with his daughter.

When there is a learning disability there is often a concurrent deficit in visual skill that acts as a further impediment to learning. Also, a child does not need to have a learning disability to have learning related vision problems. If a child is having trouble reading or avoids reading regardless of whether or not they are performing at grade level, there is a possibility they are struggling with dysfunction in their visual skill. Our visual examination for learning related vision problems is designed to assess the functional aspects of the visual process as it relates to academics such as: learning, reading, math, writing, and classroom performance.

As your visual skill improves, so does your eye movement coordination while reading. This is seen as increased reading speed and fluency.

For more information or any questions, please visit us at neurovision.clinic or contact us at [email protected]!

Introducing Dr. Lisa Chow to our NeuroVision Community!

Dr. Chow is our newest associate to join our practice.

Dr. Chow earned her Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Science and a minor in psychology from University of Waterloo. She completed advanced studies in Binocular Vision and Vision Therapy and Doctor of Optometry Degree at Salus University Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 2011. She is pursuing her Fellowship in Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation with NORA and has pursued specialized training in vision development with the Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEPF).

Dr. Chow can't wait to meet you in the clinic for your assessment!

Our online self-guided Sports Performance Training programs are launching soon!

Sports Vision Training, a form of vision therapy, and is aimed at developing specific visual skills and processing in athletes of all ages. Prescribed activities retrain the brain to effectively interact with the eyes and improve visual function which improves sports performance. This has been referred to as “the new frontier” for performance enhancement with professional athletes. Many pro-players are including Sports Vision Training as part of their regimen to give them a unique and improved edge over the competition.

Get to know the faces behind NeuroVision Clinic! Dr. Coralee Mueller is our founding Optometrist and practice owner.

Dr. Mueller began practicing Optometry in 2001 after graduating with honours from the University of Waterloo. In 2011, she added Vision Therapy to her primary care practice. Dr. Mueller’s fascination with vision therapy was born out of her own learning related vision difficulties that affected her reading and learning as early as grade 3. Undiagnosed, she realized in university that she had a vision problem when she became symptomatic for double vision. In 2015, she graduated as a Fellow with the College of Optometrist in Vision Development. Her passion for vision therapy was further increased by her own head injury and recovery from post trauma vision syndrome, as well as being driven to find solutions for her daughter who was diagnosed with a lazy eye. By 2016, Dr. Mueller dedicated her optometric career to vision therapy, and founded NeuroVision Therapy. We opened the doors to our NeuroVision Therapy clinic, and added NeuroDevelopmental Movement™ to enhance our Vision Therapy capabilities, with dedication to providing Vision Therapy services and a sincere ability to help those with brain injury or learning issues to uncover higher potential.

Share your experience at our clinic! Help us reach more people who can benefit from vision therapy and neuro-rehabilitation. Please leave a Google review by clicking the link below.

NeuroVision Clinic would love your feedback Post a review to our profile on Google

PoNS™ Therapy is now at NeuroVision!

We're hosting a webinar this Wednesday, November 2nd at 2pm and 7pm to talk all about this new, exciting rehabilitation modality at the clinic.

Used in conjunction with targeted therapeutic activities such as balance, gait and movement training, the PoNS™ device has the potential to restore balance in individuals with chronic balance deficit due to a mild or moderate traumatic brain injury or concussion and gait in individuals with gait deficit due to mild to moderate symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Join us in learning more about PoNS™ Therapy and how it can contribute to the recovery process.

Register for 2 pm: http://shorturl.at/rsUY7

Register for 7 pm: http://shorturl.at/hpsvy

Reopening reminder

Happy New Year

Interested in learning how Vision Therapy can help you or have any inquiries? Book a free consultation by clicking the link in our bio! https://www.neurovision.clinic/bookings-checkout/book-your-free-consultation/book

With increased screen time due to working from home and attending numerous virtual meetings and appointments, there is undoubtably increased digital eye strain. An easy way to minimize digital eyestrain is with the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take a 20 second break by looking at something 20 feet away! In social distancing terms, about three people away. In hockey terms, about 3 hockey sticks away.

Happy Holidays

This exercise is to simply notice, accept and bring awareness to your breath – not to change it (though this may occur). This exercise is simply to breathe mindfully. Sit quietly in a chair with both feet on the ground and hands in your lap. Slowly, allow yourself to feel centered in the chair. Bring your attention to the act of breathing. Start to notice the breath that enters your body through your nose and travels to your lungs. Bring awareness and notice whether the temperature of your breath in and out – is it warm or is it cool? Notice where the breath travels as it enters or departs your body.

Don’t try to change your breathing – just notice it, pay attention to it and be aware of it. Allow your body to do what it does naturally.

Notice how your diaphragm or stomach will expand every time you breathe in and how your diaphragm will relax every time you breathe out. If you find yourself thinking about your to-do list or other intrusive thoughts – simply and gently bring your attention back to your breath.

Start this exercise for 2-3 minutes initially, slowly building up the time. You can also do this activity in bed if you find you have difficulties sleeping. This exercise simply brings mindfulness and awareness to your breath and to your body.

With increasing changes and the holiday rush, we are bringing a couple simple techniques that our team uses to bring some peace and mindfulness back into our lives.

The exercise today is to help you feel more grounded and present using your 5 senses. Take a minute to sit up and sit comfortably. Place your feet flat on the ground and your hands flat on your lap. Once you’re ready, start to be aware of your surroundings and notice and name the following:
- 5 things you can SEE
- 4 things you can FEEL
- 3 things you can HEAR
- 2 things you can SMELL
- 1 thing you can TASTE

Accommodative Dysfunction is a common condition of Post Trauma Vision Syndrome.

What happens?

The brain doesn’t coordinate the eyes together properly when moving between far and close range. This can cause near or far vision to blur in and out and can take a prolonged time for vision to focus

The assessment is designed so that you are not looking at the screen during the appointment; during conversation with the doctor you are instructed to either: keep your eyes closed, look across the room away from the screen, or turn all video features off and use only the audio.

Each individual test is less than a minute (the same as in person) and almost none of them involve looking at the computer screen. During each test you are looking at different targets, while the optometrist is measuring and observing how your eyes are moving and focusing, the same as in person.

Each test can induce symptoms the same way whether the doctor is conducting the exam in person or virtually. For that reason, we allow lots of time for the appointment so that in between each test you are closing your eyes and resting and giving time for your symptoms to lessen.

A common condition of PTVS Oculomotor Dysfunction

Saccades are a quick, simultaneous movement/jump of both eyes from point A to point B (point of fixation). Pursuits are where the eyes move smoothly when following an object.

What happens when you have oculomotor dysfunction?

The brain doesn’t move the eyes smoothly or accurately when looking around or when reading. This can be a saccadic dysfunction which is a breakdown in the brain’s ability to control the eyes to make a saccadic eye movement from on place to another. This can also be a pursuit dysfunction where the brain loses the ability to make a smooth eye movement to follow an object as it moves.

Visual Perception Dysfunction is a common condition of PTVS

What happens?

The brain is not interpreting visual information accurately. The happens when the brain is not making sense of the signals from the visual system. This can result in confusion and not understanding the world properly.

A common condition of PTVS includes Visual Midline Shift

What happens?

The perceived vertical midline position is misaligned with the physical midline position of the body, resulting in Vertical Midline Shift Syndrome (VMSS).

This indicates a mismatch and lack of communication between central and peripheral processing systems. Visual midline can be shifted left or right, up or down. When shifted, it can cause a person to posture their body weight to either side, front or back. The common symptoms of VMSS frequently include diplopia (double vision), perceived movement of from or stationary objects, headaches, and photo phobia (light sensitivity). It can also affect balance and walking.

Ambient visual disturbance and central/peripheral processing dysfunction

What happens? The brain is not using information from centre and side vision together. The central visual system, also known as the focal system, is processed in the ventral processing stream of the brain. The peripheral system, also known as the ambient system, is processed in the dorsal processing stream of the brain. Many of the binocular problems following a concussion are caused by a dysfunction in the ambient visual process - which is part of the neural sensorimotor feedback loop - rather than an oculomotor disturbance. Cortical binocular integration is influenced by dysfunction in ambient visual process.

What happens? The brain points the eyes out instead of inward when looking close up.

Reduced convergence at near point is a common finding after concussion. It is found to be associated with neurocognitive impairment. It is found to cause visual discomfort which is reflected in a higher convergence insufficiency symptom score. It also causes vision mediated functional difficulties like slowed reading and compromised attention, which can impair work performance.

Following your evaluation, you will also receive
• a full medicolegal report is provided for any school, work, or insurance purposes
• we provide a detailed return to work or return to learn plan
• we advise your school or employer as to necessary accommodations for your recovery
• if you are a student in school we can arrange a meeting at your school with your educators and our therapist to review your case and accommodations

To be eligible for a virtual evaluation, you must have access to a portable device with a camera, such as a laptop or tablet, a reliable internet connection, and you must have had a general ocular health eye exam with a primary care Optometrist within the last year.
Please contact us for more information or to book your evaluation.

Vergence dysfunction is common condition of PTVS

What happens? The brain doesn’t coordinate the eyes together properly when moving between far and close range. This happens when the brain doesn’t move the eye muscles freely inward and outward to reposition the eyes to look at different distances. Vision can appear blurred and double at varied times, making it difficult to read or focus.

Did you know --- 20% of people with concussions will not have recovered after 3 weeks without intervention. We recommend starting rehabilitation between 10 days and 3 weeks!

The visual process is neurological. Vision and coordination of binocularity happens in the brain. When there is a closed head trauma, the disruptions that affect the neurons and the axons in the brain can affect the visual process as seen in Post Trauma Vision Syndrome. The neurological conditions manifest in the ocular and visual symptoms.