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Support the Canadian Optometrists in Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation (COVT&R)

2/10/2015

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I am so pleased to introduce COVT&R to the OVP readers! We are a newly formed organization, called the Canadian Optometrists in Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation (COVT&R) that supports all things related to vision therapy and vision rehabilitation.  We are 120+ members strong across Canada, including many students from our Optometry schools at the University of Waterloo and the University of Montreal. 

We started as a small group of optometrists who met outside Toronto during OEP’s Regional Clinical Seminars (RCS). As word got out, more and more optometrists providing vision therapy services wanted to attend. In January 2014, we invited Dr. Rob Lewis and Dr. Gregory Kitchener as key lecturers to our inaugural study group. This dynamic duo selflessly shared with the attendees clinical pearls, insights and personal experiences with VT. Not only did they inspire and spark our thinking during the two days they were there, they also gave us invaluable guidance and advice about how to set up future study groups on our own. Needless to say, we were filled with excitement and enthusiasm. We wanted to share our experiences and education with other interested colleagues with similar interests and passion. We wanted to cast a wider net so we can help more patients. In May 2014 at our second study group, COVT&R was born with a discussion to expand our mandate beyond education to include public awareness of vision therapy.

We have been busy the last eight months getting the word out and promoting VT. We launched our website, www.visiontherapycanada.com, in December. We’ve been active with Autism Canada’s annual meeting, had speakers at the Down Syndrome Society meeting, Brain Injury Association of Canada, and National Institute for Learning Development, as well as a booth at the Academy of Ophthalmic Education meeting. We have lectured at the University of Montreal Optometry School to over 60 interested students and have many more exciting events planned for 2015.

Our mission statement is:

As Canadian Optometrists, we are dedicated to enhancing optometric education and public awareness of Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation to improves the lives of our patients.

VT is such an important area in optometry and it requires a strong national representation. Our goal is to have each and every VT optometrist across Canada listed on our website so that VT is more visible to the public and to other health care professionals.

“Optometry is the fresh, exciting development of science. It now has the courage to strike out. 
Let none of us fear to venture into this admirable profession. The excitement of it is contagious; 
the opportunities of it are challenging; and the rewards of it are unlimiting.” ~ AM Skeffington ~


Come join with us as we stand up for and change the landscape of vision therapy and vision rehabilitation in Canada! 
If you know of any Canadian colleagues that may be interested, please pass on the word!

Executive Board:
President and Liaison for the upcoming COVD Canada Chapter: Angela Peddle, OD, FCOVD
Vice-President: Virginia Donati, OD
Education and OEP representative: Patricia Fink, OD, FCOVD
Marketing: Fabian Tai, OD
Membership: Jonathan Wareham, OD
Treasurer: Shirley Ha, OD, FCOVD
Secretary: Michelle McKenzie, OD  

Sincerely,
The Canadian Optometrists in Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation


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Effects of the FITKids Randomized Controlled Trial on Executive Control and Brain Function

2/2/2015

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Hillman C, Pontifex M, Castelli, D, Khan N, Raine L, Scudder M, Drollette E, Moore R, Wu C, and Kamijo KPediatrics. 2014 September 29.  134(4).

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/09/24/peds.2013-3219

Reviewed by Alicia Groce, OD: Pediatrics and Binocular Vision Resident Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry

 In childhood, the brain is developing and undergoing changes that lay the foundation for cognition. Inactivity has been shown to be adversely linked to cognition. With children leading more sedentary lifestyles than in the past, inactivity is becoming a public health issue. Children sit at a desk all day at school and then go home and sit in front of the TV or computer and have mountains of homework instead of playing outside. Could sitting around all day be detrimental to your child’s brain and cognition? In this randomized controlled trial, the effect of physical activity on behavioral performance, attention and cognitive processing speed was explored.

 Two hundred and twenty one children, aged seven to nine years old, participated in this study and were randomly assigned to either a physical activity program or a control group. All of the children were initially assessed for aerobic fitness, body mass index (BMI), IQ and pubertal timing with no significant differences found between the two groups. The children underwent pre-testing before the study to determine baseline aerobic fitness levels, response accuracy and reaction time to attentional inhibition tasks and cognitive flexibility tasks, attention allocation ( EEG P3 amplitude), and cognitive processing speed (EEG P3 latency). Attentional inhibition and cognitive flexibility are measures of executive function used in psychology. Attentional inhibition was measured by administering a modified flanker task in which the patient had to respond to congruent and incongruent arrays to test inhibition. Cognitive flexibility was measured by a switch task which tests the ability to shift attention and adapt to different situations. The participants assigned to the physical activity program received 30-40 minutes of physical activity and 45-55 minutes of games every day after school for nine months with an average attendance rate of 80.6%. The participants assigned to the control group underwent normal afterschool activities for nine months. Both groups underwent post-testing after nine months. Results are presented below as 95% confidence intervals.

Participants in the treatment group showed improved aerobic fitness compared to the control group (d=0.36). Attentional inhibition improved more in the treatment group as shown by response accuracy (d=0.27), attention allocation (P3 latency) (d=0.34), and cognitive processing speed (P3 amplitude) (d=0.31). Cognitive flexibility also showed greater improvement in the treatment group as shown by response accuracy (d=0.35) and attention allocation (d=0.27), but there was no change in cognitive flexibility between the two groups. The treatment group showed more improvement on all outcome measures compared to the control group.

 

This study shows that there is a link between increased physical activity and improved behavioral performance, attention, executive function, and cognitive processing speed. Thus, increased physical activity could translate into better attention and performance in scholastic activities. Inactivity first became a public health issue when it was linked to obesity, and now this study shows it is also linked to impaired attention, cognitive processing, and executive function. The increase of inactivity in children and its link to slower processing and executive function could be related to the increase in information processing disorders, learning disabilities, and ADHD in children. The results from this study serve as a good argument for increased physical activity in school and afterschool to promote brain development and flexibility.

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