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Professionals who have completed training as an optometrist use the initials O.D. after their name. The San Antonio optometrist undergo post-graduate education to specialize in some aspect of vision care, such as geriatric care, prescribing contact lenses, or providing assistive devices and aids for people with very limited vision who cannot perform daily living skills independently. A small number of optometrists choose to specialize in children’s vision, and complete extensive post-graduate training to practice as specialists in this area. There are two organizations that offer examinations for optometrists to assess their level of expertise in this area. Optometrists who pass the examination given by the American Academy of Optometry arc called Diplomates in Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatric Optometry. Optometrists who pass the examination offered by the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) are called Fellows of the COVD, and use the initials FCOVD after their name. While other optometrists may offer vision therapy as part of their practice, optometrists who either of these has advanced credentials are most likely to have a high level of expertise in providing vision therapy for children. Some people also use the terms developmental or behavioral optometrist to describe this type of professional. Besides offering typical assessment of refractive errors, developmental/behavioral optometrists provide specialized vision therapy that may include special lenses, exercises, and other training methods to strengthen visual skills and to reduce visual stress. This type of vision therapy may be thought of as a type of physical therapy for the eyes, and may help to correct such problems as wandering eyes, lazy eyes, poor eye teaming and tracking, visual-motor integration problems, and visual perceptual disorders. The interventions that are recommended by a developmental/ behavioral optometrist will be highly individualized to the needs of the child, and may include any of the following: prescription glasses; prisms; a patch to temporarily occlude one eye; office-based vision therapy; home or school programs to support vision development; recommendations for environmental modifications to support visual efficiency and low vision aids, such as magnifiers. Understanding the differences between these types of eye doctors, it is recommended that serious problems with eye health should be referred to an ophthalmologist, and suspected refractive errors be referred to either an ophthalmologist or a san antonio optometrist. However, if significant problems with functional vision are suspected, referral to a developmental/behavioral optometrist may be the most prudent choice. Few pediatricians will make a referral to a developmental/behavioral optometrist unless they are presented with a compelling argument for the need. This is due to several reasons. Typically, health insurance covers eye examinations for eye health problems, and may, depending upon the particular insurance, cover examination for refractive errors. The coverage for functional vision examination is much more variable. Reading the reviews provided by the author is one of the best ways to gain necessary information on optician san antonio.
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