An eye doctor, sometimes called an oculist or ophthalmologist, is a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of defects and diseases of the eye by prescribing lenses and. in some cases, drugs, performing eye surgery, and carrying out other types of medical treatment. Ocular disorders are of special significance because they often provide clues to the presence of systemic diseases and to other congenital malformations present in many handicapped children. An important responsibility of the San Antonio eye doctor related to serving visually impaired children and youths (which can also be performed by the optometrist) is a complete eye examination. This should include the following: developmental history, distance visual acuity, inspection of the eyes for evident physical problems, evaluation of ocular motility, determination of basic refractive status of the eyes, evaluation of accommodation of the eyes for near vision; visual field studies; testing of intraocular pressure; testing of color vision: and examination of the interior of the eye including the retina and vitreous.
One of the sub-specialists within the field of ophthalmology is a pediatric ophthalmologist or pediatric eye doctor, who focuses on the recognition, understanding, early treatment, and ultimately, prevention of ocular disease in childhood. This specialist is particularly skilled in areas such as visual development in the preverbal child, ocular genetics, amblyopia, and congenital cataracts. He or she may be of particular value on multidisciplinary teams with special educators and parents to provide resources to meet the visually impaired child's developmental and educational needs. Earlier, the ophthalmologist is an integral part of the transdisciplinary team that will determine the best rehabilitation plan for each visually impaired child.
It is crucial that the San Antonio eye doctor provide the best possible explanation of the child's visual condition and prognosis. In addition, the evaluation and examination may need to be structured differently than it is for children without permanent visual disability. In addition to the information available from the standard pediatric ophthalmology examination note, several special requests will be made of the ophthalmologist. The educational/rehabilitation team will specifically want to know how secondary visual conditions will affect the primary visual condition. An example would be a child with visual loss from ROP who also has strabismus or aphakia. The ophthalmologist will need to make a statement about whether there are any activity restrictions resulting from the visual condition. Any advice with regard to lighting, positioning, and magnification will be very helpful. The ophthalmologist may refer the child to a low vision center for further assessment or may feel comfortable providing the initial low vision services himself/herself. Medical information from the ophthalmologist should be in a form that is legible, and in lay terms that parents, educational, and rehabilitation other doctors can understand and utilize.
