Orthoptist
What is an orthoptist and why your child may see one
What is an orthoptist?
An orthoptist is a certified eye care provider focused on the evaluation and non-surgical treatment of vision disorders, eye movements, and eye alignment in children and adults. An orthoptist specializes in visual function assessment and neuromuscular anomalies of the eyes, with the supervision of ophthalmologists or optometrists.
What does an orthoptist do?
The orthoptist perform tests to measure visual acuity, focusing ability, binocular functions and eye movements. The orthoptist helps the ophthalmologist design a treatment plan, which may include amblyopia treatment, orthoptic exercises, glasses, prisms or eye muscle surgery.
Who needs to see an orthoptist?
Orthoptists evaluate and work with patients of all ages, but because of the nature of many binocular disorders, many patients are children. Adults with neuro-ophthalmology and eye muscle disorders may also see an orthoptist.
A patient who has one or more of the following:
- Strabismus (misaligned eyes)
- Amblyopia (poor vision)
- Poor stereopsis (depth perception)
- Nystagmus (wiggly eyes)
- Diplopia (double vision)