Hi, Cardiff university, school of optometry have a database of research participants and you can apply to be on it. They cover all aspects of optometry including neuro-optometry. They also have a clinic for NHS and private patients, whether they cover the neuro aspect in that clinic I'm not sure.
You may have been told or heard that optometry methods are some kind of bogus or pseudo science in the treatment of visual problems relating to brain injury, from personal experience I can assure you it is not. The school of optometry is part of the school of medical sciences at Cardiff and it is based on real science. This type of treatment is relatively new in the UK, however it has been used in the US for at least 2 decades with astonishing results.
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A quick update, I have contacted the clinic and I can confirm that they do colourimetry testing. This is the technique that was used to correct some of my visual processing issues, which was pattern glare. It did not treat sensitivity to frequency lighting such as LED and Fluorescent.
As they treat NHS patients there is no harm in contacting them and trying, you may need a referral otherwise privately the cost is £110 for testing and the cost of the lenses and glasses.
Thanks for this. Am in 2 minds whether to look into it, as was all geared up to going to John Glover, especially with kirk5w7 saying he was so good just now.
Go and see John, as I said the clinic offers colourimetry testing, it's good for pattern glare and some other conditions but I think with John you will get the full spectrum. They do not carry out research all the time at the university but they do keep a database of people with conditions and pull them up when they do research.
My vision therapy didnt include tinted glasses or prism lenses, but i had a number of monthly appointments where i was taught ways to realign the way my brain dealt with the messages from my eyes. It helped my ability to move my head freely and look around me. Amazing and i will be forever indebted to John Glover Optometrist, his wife is an angel.
Good luck to anyone who pursues this for rehabilitation purposes, I'm sure they wont look back, (excuse the pun)
That's fantastic and so true also. Maybe you should write a post about your experiences and help convince people that it is a great help and a way to move forward.
John Glover is presenting here and although it mentions children predominantly it is true that Neuroplasticity is what enables our brains to heal after brain injury. Please support if you can
Hi sorry I'm new to Vision therapy... Its my son who has TBI its mainly his speach and cognition that's affected... But no one has mentioned having his eyes tested and the connection with the brain. His ability to express himself fully is really affected so I'm not sure whether he would understand fully an examination (his auditory cognition is the most affected) may I ask how long is it since you were first injured...? My son is only 6months post TBI I'm wondering if I should wait longer until his cognition improves.... And whether it would be worth seeing how he copes with a regular eye test and see what that brings up? Thanks so much for sharing this though its marvellous to hear things that help.
Hi Leila, it's a bit more complicated than an eye test which is considered a sight test. Optometry also tests the signal via the optic nerves and also the processing of that information at the visual cortex. Many people with visual issues have nothing wrong with their eyes, sight, at all. The problems seem to arise further back in the brain either in the optic nerves or the processing region. Damage to the eye socket regions, or front or front side of the skull could cause damage to the muscles connected to the eye causing movement issues. damage to the ears can also give the impression that vision has been affected where in fact it is balance and spacial issues via the vestibular system that is causing the issue.
A good optometrist would identify these issues if working in conjunction with a vision therapist.
Your situation is vastly different and I would not like to comment as to whether there is a visual issue or not. What I can say is that up to the 6 month period after my accident two and a half years ago I was in a state where I was coming out of a period of basically just sleeping and eating. I was only just beginning to wash and clean my teeth on a regular basis, I was beginning to venture out of the house but under a haze of fatigue. My cognition was appauling and my memory was pretty bad, having to carry notes with me to remind myself that I was going to the shop etc. Crossing the road was bad, I would wait for someone else to cross nearby then cross at the same time. When crossing the road the dificulty was that I would look one way then the other way but forget what I had seen during the first look. I could not pass people on the pavement because I could not be sure I would not bump into them so I would stop and hold onto the wall. So this is an idea of the cognitive and balance and memory issues that were affecting me at 6 months. The fatigue did reduce a bit and I could stay awake a bit longer by the summer but the sun totally destroyed me. But this seemed different to what was happening before. Then it clicked, every time I went into the light my brain just felt as if it was in a blender and would render me incapacitated for 3-5 days. Sorry for going on but there are pointers to vision issues and light causing a problem is one of them. Anyway by autumn I had found out about optometry, it was not a mainstream thing but I thought there was nothing to lose other that some money so I got tested and prescribed blue lenses, when I got them and put them on it was astonishing. I could go out in the light with greatly reduced problems, the effect was immediate but over a short period of time 2 hours or so my cognition and memory were much better, I could cross the road as if there were no issues at all, just scan the road while walking and nip across. Really it was that good. Then over a few days everything seemed to improve, concentration, memory, greatly reduced fatigue etc etc. Now I realise, after a lot of researching that the visual element of a BI has the largest impact on causing fatigue, the second impact being loss of automatic function, where concentration is required to complete simple tasks like making a cup of tea, multi tasting is impossible.
Oh dear sorry Looks like a I got a bit carried away again. So to answer vision has a big impact on cognition and fatigue. I think it may be worth observing your son to see if he gets worse in lighted and visually stimulating situations, then see if there is any difference when he has spent much time in the dark. Is he better in the morning if it is still dark and you have low lighting on and then if the light increases he gets worse quickly and becomes more fatigued. Are computers and screen light a problem, or reading a sentence in a paragraph.
If I knew what I know now I would have got tested asap, it make such a difference. Remember I am just saying what I think from my own experience, if it resonates with you then you may want to consider it. Have you asked your GP for a vestibular referral. Feebie8 has had both visual and vestibular experience. I have also just got a referral for this on the strength of her experience. Kirk5w7 has also had brilliant results. It totally changed my life after BI and recovery really started after that.
Thanks so much for explaining... I find it all really fascinating and I will certainly try to see if there's a link to Jack's difficulties with light. He does spend a lot of time both on Xbox and laptop (at 26 it's hard to deter him from this!)
He says his vision is fine but his OT mentioned he has semantic and visual memory impairments not sure whether a neurooptometrist could help with this but I think I will contact her and see what she says.
I have to say it sounds like you have come an incredibly long way to. Overcome your challenges. Your posts are really inspiring and give me hope that my son will continue to improve and regain some of his cognitive dysfunction. Thank you for taking the time to reply so fully I really appreciate it.
I would'nt be able to play games on xbox even now. If you could get him off it for a few days see if he improves, all those visuals and concentration may be draining him.
Just a quick add on, when I got my neuro-psychology test my visual memory was 100%, it really confused her with all the visual issues I was having. So I think they are not connected. However the visual memory tests were large and easily defined, there were no patterns that affected me.
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