Within the pediatric community, there exists a tapestry of unique and varied visual and sensory skills. In many instances, assessing these skills requires looking well beyond the eyes or visual system altogether.

The navigation and experience of our world emerges from the integration of many layers of sensory awareness. Gross-motor skill and fine-motor finesse layer together with visual, auditory and proprioceptive inputs to create a map of all that is around us. If you truly intend to guide a child effectively, taking time to peel back all of these layers to curate something truly unique and individualized yields the best long term results.

In order to best do this, we’ve looked beyond the world of optometry and vision to bring on an experienced Occupational Therapist to head up all elements of the neurodiversity experience. Coming to us with over 10 years experience working within the pediatric community, Catherine Brandon, OT brings a wealth of knowledge, compassion and experience to this role. Logistically, those presenting with varying forms of neurodiversity will be offered expanded Occupational Therapy evaluation prior to enrollment in a Vision Therapy program. The additional insights gained from these evaluations allow us to curate a program that best suits the needs, temperament and goals of every family and child.

Catherine has completed a year of in-office training at our Kelowna headquarters (as well as enrollment in VT Canada’s PVTAP program), so she is well-versed in vision therapy in addition to her occupational therapy expertise. In our humble opinion, this diverse skill set makes her the best possible person to head up our newest offering.

Serving the pediatric population as well-roundedly as possible is one of our core tenets at Okanagan Vision Therapy, and as such, we are extremely proud and excited to offer this heightened level of personalization and care.

Until next month,

Paul Rollett, OD, FCOVD