Most people think vision is only the clarity with which they see (think 20/20 on the chart!). They think of the trip to an eye doctor as a time to check the health of their eyes and get an updated glasses or contact lenses prescription. While this is part of all eye exams, our practice has expanded further to address all aspects of functional vision care.
Functional vision addresses all visual skills. Some of these skills include:
  • The ability to accurately point both eyes to the same place in space without excess effort and with a stable alignment.
  • The ability to sustain near-centered visual attention.
  • The ability to easily shift focus from one place to another.
  • The ability to move one’s eyes independently from the rest of the body.
When the eyes are unable to maintain stable alignment, reading may seem impossible due to the words moving on the page or the letters becoming jumbled. However even with visual clarity, comprehension may be difficult being able to sustain attention to the book at hand. Attention may also be difficult if a person is fixated on a particular object, such that they only notice the tree in the forest. Lastly, eye and body co-ordination are part of everyday life to allow a person to interact with their environment.
While it is true that we experience life with all of our senses, our visual process is primarily in charge of leading and guiding most our interactions. For example, while looking at the chair in front of us, in a spit second, our vision establishes spatial maps to that tell us where we are in space, where our body and its parts are relative to that chair, and where that chair may be relative to the table. This occurs moments before we even initiate movement towards to chair to sit down on it. Imagine how clumsy we would appear if we proceeded to sit down on the chair only to fall a few feet short of the seat!
The problem in the above example may not have been that our motor system failed. It was a result of the failure for our vision to meaningfully and accurately direct our actions. In a quick glance, our visual system constructs a reality to allow us to make estimations that direct movement and action. However, inaccurate information for example, such as judgement of where the chair was relative to our body in space, can lead to errors.
The good news is that functional vision can be shaped by experience. After all, this process happens naturally in all people as they develop from babies to toddlers and beyond. Athletes for example can recognize use their vision to recognize subtle spatial cues so that can adjust their bodies to receive a curve ball versus a short ball. Imagine how their performance may appear if they were unable to accurately make these judgements. However, remember that all professional athletes were amateurs at some point in their lives. (Yes there’s hope for those of us who dance with two left feet). Visual perception becomes one’s reality.