Do you work with children you suspect of having vision deficits that affect their function? Are you wondering what symptoms to watch out for, how to screen for deficits, and what you can do to help them?

This course will help you be a more effective therapist by knowing what to do when you think that vision is responsible for impeding your pediatric client’s progress toward their goal!

Daniella will start by discussing the impacts of vision on development, learning, and specific diagnoses. To make the understanding of the visual system and its functions more concrete, she will discuss its 3 important components using the analogy of a “Camera” – the Lens, the Focus, and the Film.

In the morning, Daniella will focus on the important functions of the “Camera” Lens (visual acuity) and Focus (eye teaming, visual field, eye focusing, and eye tracking – pursuits and saccades). In the afternoon, you will dive into the “Camera” Film to discuss visual perception and visual motor integration. She will share with you the symptoms or red flags to look out for, screening tools that will prompt you with the need to refer and/or provide interventions, adaptations to support your client’s function right away, and fun activities that families can easily integrate into their day to promote their child’s vision development.

Leave this course with multiple tools and ideas that you can apply right away!

Daniella Rutner, OD, MS, MBA, FAAO is the Chief of Vision Rehabilitation at the University Eye Center and an Associate Clinical Professor at the SUNY College of Optometry. She earned both her Doctor of Optometry and Masters of Vision Science degrees from SUNY College of Optometry. Daniella loves improving the visual function of her clients to impact their lives in a meaningful way, such as via helping children to read and learn, and supporting the ADLs of clients with stroke or brain injuries.

Disclosures: Daniella receives speaking fees from Apply EBP, LLC. She has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

“This was also very helpful. Visual difficulties are something that I encounter often in my school, and it is nice to now have stronger ideas/skills to be able to screen for these.” – OT with 4 years experience, on the Live 1.5-Hour version of Screening and Strategies for Vision Deficits in Children, Part 1

“Daniella did a great job painting a picture of how children with visual deficits may present in the school setting. She did a great job soliciting input from the other therapists attending the conference.” – OT with 22 years experience, on the Live 1.5-Hour version of Screening and Strategies for Vision Deficits in Children, Part 1

To help you apply what you learned the very next day you return to work, you will leave the course with your Practical Toolkit:

• • • Chart: Vision Deficits, Screening and Strategies