Beginning in the womb, infants are equipped with automatic movements essential for a baby’s development.  These movements are known as primitive reflexes; they help in the birthing process and aid in survival during the first year of life.  Between six and twelve months of age these reflexes integrate into more advanced movements.  Inhibition of the primitive reflexes correlates to the transition from involuntary movements to controlled movement skills essential to developmental milestones.   

If one or more of the primitive reflexes do not integrate, they are considered retained, and the child exhibits developmental delays.  Retained primitive reflexes can cause a wide variety of challenges, including,  but not limited to; hypersensitivity to visual or auditory stimuli; underdeveloped speech; poor ocular motor skills; visual perceptual challenges; poor balance, posture, and overall coordination; fidgeting; inability to sit still; and poor concentration.

With treatment, retained primitive reflexes can be integrated through specific therapeutic movement activities.

Join us January 21st to discuss primitive reflexes and their integration, including demonstrations of activities used during treatment.

Dr. Ronald Berger

We are excited to announce the addition of Dr. Ronald Berger to The Center for Vision Development. Dr. Berger joins Drs. Kungle and O'Meara after owning his own practice in Howard County for over 30 years.  He specializes in developmental optometry, vision therapy, sports vision, and primary care optometry. Dr. Ronald Berger obtained his professional degree from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 1975.  He has been a Sports Vision Consultant for several NFL teams along with the Washington Capitals.  Dr. Berger is the principal investigator of a research project enhancing cognitive ability of traumatic brain injury patients.

He will be available for appointments in our Annapolis office starting the last week in August. Please call 410-268-4393 for appointment times.

A letter we received from the mother of a vision therapy graduate!

"Rachel started vision therapy when she was four years old and it was an amazing experience...

Before attending vision therapy, Rachel had been in OT for over a year without much improvement.  She wouldn't cross her midline and had difficulty writing or even copying letters and simple shapes. She knew all the objects but was not able to translate this  to her hand.  Rachel also seemed very clumsy; falling, stumbling, and bumping into things that have been there her whole life.  Her OT evaluation supposed she needed to strengthen her core.

While doing an exercise in OT Rachel got dizzy and nauseated, after which her OT therapist recommended a vision evaluation.  The evaluation with Dr. Kungle revealed that Rachel had no depth perception (not using her eyes together) and was not using her peripheral vision.  She also moved only her head, not her eyes.  We started therapy twice a week.  We weren't optimistic because of the little improvement we saw during OT.  But, we were amazed that within 4 weeks Rachel was writing her name, letters, and drawing pictures.  Something she wouldn't do without being asked and prodded.  Rachel's coordination improved.  She wasn't falling or running into things.  She became more confident and started riding her bike and scooter.  She didn't have a "weak" core and graduated from OT soon after starting vision therapy.

We are so thankful to Dr. Kungle, Wendy, and all the staff for their patience and expertise.  We are so thankful for this type of therapy.  Rachel is bright.  Without vision therapy Rachel might have been labeled as "slow" because she wouldnt be able to take in information with her eyes and then translate it as easily as the majority of us.  I know that school would be much more of a struggle for Rachel and her confidence would have deteriorated.  Rachel has become quite the artist.  By doing some of the exercises in vision therapy, Rachel has learned vital skills that help her in many aspects in school and in life.  Thanks to The Center for Vision Development for saving Rachel from a lifetime of possible struggles throughout school and life."

Check out this USA TODAY article feat. LARRY FITZGERALD!

If anyone knows the importance of having healthy vision, it's NFL superstar,

Larry Fitzgerald.  Click the link below to read how he has utilized his vision training to excel on the grid iron as well in his everyday life.

Healthy Vision & Hearing Article from USA Today

Hear from our recent graduate, Allison Keller

Allison’s Success Story in her own words:

"Whenever I would look up at the board it was blurry or doubled.  And I play soccer so whenever the ball came at me I would get confused.  I also do band, so when I had a solo in the beginning of the year there was no way I could play it, so I memorized it, now I play not needing to memorize notes.  At school they make us read out loud, I would get nervous, stutter, repeat words, and it held up the class because it was so slow.  Now I read faster and more clear than half of the kids in my class.  Sometimes at school I would open the wrong locker or grab the wrong copybook.  I can read the menu at restaurants, and I’m not afraid to read.  People would ask me why I’m so slow at reading and I would say I don’t know but now I do and I’m extremely glad it’s all better!"

Congratulations Allison!  We are all very proud of your hard work!

InfantSEE Seminar

FREE SEMINAR 02/20/2013

FREE SEMINAR! 11/28/12

Are you practicing good visual hygiene?

When working at your computer, reading, or other near work, do you experience headaches or burning/tired eyes?  

Here are some rules to follow for good visual hygiene....

1.  All near activity (reading, computer, games, etc.) at the Harmon distance or a little further.  
          
Harmon distance- distance from the center of your middle knuckle to the center of you elbow.  This is on the average 16-18 inches.

2.  Do not lie down for any seeing, this includes watching tv, playing games, reading, looking at pictures. etc. This is the most common mistake children make that will cause visual problems.  If you choose to read in bed, use pillows to prob yourself up. 

*You should not be leaning forward or backward more than 15 degrees for any extended seeing*

3.  When reading make sure the room is lit to some extent, not totally dark; the reading material should be lit 3 times brighter than the light in the room.

4.  Use good posture.  Sit upright and practice arching your back when reading, writing, using the computer, etc.  

5.  Tilt your work 10-20 degrees upward.  If your material is on a desk horizontal you feel the need to bend over to see it, tilting your work stops that need.

6.  Take Breaks!  Every time you turn a page while reading, give yourself a visual break by focusing on something in the distance.  Every 3 or 4 pages, get up and walk around.  Ideally you should take a 5 minute break for every half hour of near work.  When working on the computer it is very important to look away and focus on a far object at least once every 10 minutes.

7.  Researchers have found that you should be 16-19 feet from your TV screen.  The minimum distance from any TV should be no less than 10 feet.

8.  Relax!  Eliminate any muscular tension and try to relax and breath deeply when reading.

Vision Therapists at TCFVD

(from left to right)

 Wendy, Kerry, Melinda, Tami, Debbie, and Jenna

Our vision therapists are continuously training to better our ability to help our patients.

Pictured above are therapists Tami and Kerry performing vision therapy exercises while wearing prism glasses.  We often use prisms to change the apparent position of objects we are looking at.  

Check out The Optometric Extension Program's article on prisms in the therapy room.

http://www.oepf.org/sites/default/files/22-5-FOX.pdf

Joel's Success Story

We are so excited to congratulate our newest graduate, Joel.  Joel worked extremely hard through his vision therapy and was determined to correct his visual challenges.  Below is Joel's success story from his point of view...  

I have struggled for many years with double vision.  This led me, a few years ago, to have eye-muscle surgery to attempt to "correct" the problem.  Things got better for a bit - although they never fully resolved - and eventually started sliding back to where they were before the surgery.  It was at this point that I found my way to vision therapy.  Although the work sometimes seemed frustrating and challenging, with a lot of hard work (and patience by the vision therapists) I found myself able to make consistent, steady progress.  I've now gotten to the point where I rarely experience double vision in my everyday life (even during my long days in front of a computer at work, a scenario which used to always pose problems for me).  And on the rare occasions that I do have a double-vision issue, I now have the tools and techniques to quickly address those issues and bring my vision back into line. 

 

I am very grateful to Dr. Kungle and the wonderful therapists at the Center for Vision Development for helping to guide me through my vision problems, and for giving me the tools to handle these issues going forward.  Thank you!

 

-Joel Wood

Congratulations to Rachel for Graduating!

Congratulations Rachel!

     Rachel is our newest vision therapy graduate!  Before Rachel started vision therapy she had trouble controlling her eye movements which resulted in a dislike of drawing/writing.  She had trouble copying information and struggled with letter/number reversals.  Rachel had challenges crossing the midline of her body and often got carsick.  Through vision therapy Rachel improved her visual challenges by working on her oculomotor, visual perceptual, and visual motor skills.  Rachel's oculomotor skills are now above her grade level!  Congratulations Rachel; keep up the great work!

Monae's Success Story

Congratulations on Graduating

     Monae came to our office with complaints of blurry vision and watery eyes, along with occasional double vision.  Her mom had also noticed Monae’s eye would spontaneously drift outward. 

     During her evaluation Dr. Kungle found that Monae had several visual challenges including Exotropia (a form of strabismus where the eye(s) deviate outward) and Convergence Insufficiency (inability of the eyes inward to have single/clear vision at near). 

     Through completing her vision therapy program Monae improved her binocular system and has trained her eyes to work together without any wondering of the eye.  Through vision therapy Monae’s occulomotor skills improved tremendously; she now reads well above grade level!

Pre-School Screening

     This past Monday we hosted our first pre-school seminar.  This seminar was geared toward children who are entering into school. Our office offered free visual screenings for the children that came.  We were excited at the turn out since most of these children will be attending school in the next few weeks.  The importance of visual exams for younger children is sometimes overlooked until they enter into school.  Even then the children are mostly checked for correct 20/20 vision. It is recommended that young children receive a full visual exam at the age of three and then again before going into kindergarten.

     During our free screening we checked the following areas: visual acuity at near, eye movements, depth perception, and general movement.  All of these areas are greatly needed for physical activities such as sports, being able to learn in a classroom setting, and is directly related to a child’s ability to read and write. 80% of what a child learns comes from their visual system.

Preschool Seminar and Free Screening

Is your child visually ready for preschool? 

Preschoolers need to develop visually guided eye-hand-body coordination, fine motor skills, and the visual motor ability neccessary to learn to read and perform tasks that he or she will soon need in school.

Join us Monday, 8/13, 11:30am-1pm 

for our free seminar and free screening!

  Parents will recieve a $50 off voucher for

a future comprehensive vision evaluation by our doctors for each of their children. 

RSVP- 410-268-4393

August is National Children's Vision & Learning Month

Did you know that this month is National Children's Vision and Learning Month?  Vision and learning are connected in so many ways.  According to the American Public Health Association, 1 in 4 students in grades K-6 have a visual problem serious enough to impede learning.  Vision involves much more than how well your child sees the eye chart.  Most school and pediatrician screenings only check for distance acuity, so you may think that your child has no visual issues if they can see the 20/20 line.  The reality is that the vision skills required for reading and learning are much more complex than simply reading the eye chart.

A developmental eye exam from an optometrist who specializes in vision related learning problems, like Dr. Kungle or Dr. O'Meara is an in-depth look at how your child's vision is helping or hurting their learning potential.  The examination will include measures of your child's sight, eye control, eye teaming, eye tracking, focusing skills, spatial perception, eye-hand-body coordination, visual memory, visualization skills, and other facets of how your child uses his or her eyes to learn.

Announcing... our next event!

Please join The Center for Vision Development for a free seminar on Wednesday, August 22nd at 6pm.

Is Your Child Visually Ready for (Pre)School?

Learn the key visual skills necessary for reading and writing.

We will show you how to test for basic problems and how to help fix them!

Reserve your spot!  RSVP 410-268-4393

2 CE credits awarded

July Open House

On Wednesday, July 18th, The Center For Vision Development hosted an Open House to welcome Dr. Emily O'Meara to the practice.

We chatted, enjoyed refreshments, and demonstrated some of our vision therapy activities for our attendees- current and future patients, their families, and local professionals.  Our doctors and staff members were on hand to give tours of our office, answer questions about our practice, and demonstrate vision therapy activities.  We highlighted our Readalyzer, a computerized eye movement recording system that analyzes eye movements necessary for reading.  All attendees had the opportunity to try out the Readalyzer, and Drs. Kungle and O'Meara were there to help interpret the results.

We hope you will join us for our next event, a free seminar entitled "Is Your Child Visually Ready for (Pre)School?" on August 22nd.

August is...

     Parents and students are sharing their success stories to celebrate August as National Children’s Vision and Learning Month and help educate others about the critical link between vision and learning. 

    

      After years of struggling, families across the U.S. are now seeing their children succeed after an underlying vision problem was diagnosed and treated with optometric vision therapy.

The five most common signs that a vision problem may be interfering with your student's ability to read and learn are:

• Skips lines, rereads lines
• Poor reading comprehension
• Takes much longer doing homework than it should take
• Reverses letters like “b” into “d” when reading
• Has a short attention span with reading and schoolwork

Everyday here at The Center for Vision Development, we witness children with these challenges succeed and dramatically improve their quality of education and life.

Do you have a Vision Therapy success story to share?  We would love to hear from you.  Please leave us a comment below!