Can developmental optometrists predict the future? No, but they can predict the future behavior patterns of their patients. That’s because vision leads behavior, a fact which helps us understand the reason behind academic and social struggles in children.

Are there two professions more easily confused than optometry and ophthalmology? There are actually a number of differences between the two, but one in particular could have a significant impact on whether or not you can overcome a functional vision problem.

When it comes to any health problem, it's the symptoms that facilitate resolution. Symptoms are like a road map, steering us toward effective solutions. Sometimes these symptoms are quite clear – they tell us with no uncertainty what is ailing. Other times our symptoms can be far more ambiguous. With functional vision problems, this kind of ambiguity is common -- its symptoms are routinely misinterpreted, leading to misdiagnosis.

This summer, 6,500 athletes from 165 countries came together in Los Angeles for the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games. As part of a team of five invited international volunteers, Dr. Kellye Knueppel worked aside hundreds of local optometrists and optometry students, performing over 2,000 vision assessments over the course of seven days.

While your eyes may be individual organs, they are designed to work as a team. For people with strabismus, this model is compromised. While there are multiple variations of strabismus, correcting the problem always requires retraining the brain to use the two eyes together. 

Measuring how well your brain functions after a concussion is critical for planning an effective rehabilitation program. But the only way to measure the after-effects is to know how well the brain functioned before an accident. That’s what makes baseline concussion testing so important for anyone involved with sports.

Given the rising concern with concussions among young athletes, doctors are developing new ways to test for them. At the forefront of one of the newest and most efficient concussion tests? Testing a person’s entire visual system.

Anna Nelson was in 7th grade when she realized her vision wasn’t as clear as it used to be. Her optometrist said everything was fine, but for Anna, the everyday struggles were very real.

To the list of parenting worries, add the prospect of your child suffering a concussion in sports. In addition to a slew of short-term effects, learning after a concussion can be a major challenge -- primarily because of how your child’s vision can be affected.

As summer approaches, so does a student athlete’s off-season conditioning. While coaches tend to emphasize weightlifting and sprints, addressing hidden vision problems could be another way to up your game.