Albany location:
609 Hickory Street NW
Suite 150
Albany, OR 97321
Eugene location:
1445 willamette street suite 8
eugene, or 97401
If you are a new patient, please call river view family eyecare
541-967-3097
Established Vision therapy patients call:
Albany: 541-704-0458
eugene: 541-255-3495
Serving patients in linn, benton, Lane, marion and lincoln counties
SPORTS VISION IMPROVEMENT
VISION THERAPY and REHABILITATION
LEARNING RELATED VISION DISORDERS
ABOUT US
The Oregon Vision Development Center exists to help people of all ages meet their potential and grow confident in their abilities.
Each patient we work with has a different goal:
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Better school performance
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Reduce headaches and visual fatigue
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Feel safer when driving
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Improved self esteem
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Eliminate double vision
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Better balance and coordination
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Catch a football
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Read a chapter book
We utilize hundreds of different tools, equipment and procedures to create an individualized therapy treatment plan to help our patients meet their goals.
We know that visual changes and improvement can happen at any age.
"What we learn...is that our brains are wonderfully plastic throughout adulthood. Brain structure is not predetermined and fixed. We can alter the ongoing development of our brains and thus our capabilities."
--A User's Guide to the Brain
We know that Learning Related Vision Disorders can sometimes be misdiagnosed as ADHD, dyslexia or other learning disabilities and that most children are not receiving a vision evaluation prior to these diagnoses being made.
Is your child smart in everything but school? They may be struggling with a hidden vision problem that impacts learning known as convergence insuffiency. Watch the video to learn more.
VISION THERAPY
at the Oregon Vision Development Center
The Functional Vision Evaluation
The process begins with a Functional Vision Evaluation, performed by Dr. Emmert or Dr. Salzano. This evaluation takes 45-60 minutes and allows them to assess how your eyes are working, independently and together and how vision therapy may help you. If you haven't had an eye health examination, that will be necessary before the Functional Vision Evaluation. Our team will help you understand which exams you need.
After all necessary evaluations are performed, sometimes a consultation is scheduled with Dr. Emmert or Dr. Salzano to review testing results and reports. When children are evaluated, the consultation is done with parents or guardians.
The Oregon Vision Development Center utilizes some of the most cutting edge technology to train and improve visual function.
The Sanet Vision Integrator is a 50 inch touch screen TV used to train the following visual abilities:
Pursuits, saccades, fixation stability, eye-hand coordination, visual reaction time, speed and span of recognition, automaticity, and contrast sensitivity, plus visual and auditory sequencing and memory. In addition it is extremely effective when working with visual acuity improvement in patients with amblyopia, ABI patients with visual field loss, visual-spatial neglect, and visual-vestibular integration problems, and with patients with rhythm, reading, and math problems.
The Visual Information Processing Evaluation
This evaluation is usually necessary for all children and some adults. It is performed by a vision therapist and takes 90-120 minutes. We use industry gold-standard testing to evaluate the many ways that your brain processes visual information.
Depending on patient needs, optometric vision therapy utilizes a variety of different specialized tools and medical equipment including:
therapeutic lenses
prisms
filters
occluders or patches
electronic targets with timing mechanisms
balance boards
cutting edge technology
syntonic light therapy
The VTS4 is a 50 inch 3D television utilized in therapy for the following procedures:
Smooth vergence, rotations, jump ductions, multiple choice vergence, accommodative rock, pursuits, saccades, visual memory, cheiroscope, amblyopia.
We know that using these cutting edge technologies for vision training allows us to achieve better, faster results.
"We always have the ability to remodel our brains. To change the wiring in one skill, you must engage in some activity that is unfamiliar, novel to you but related to that skill, because simply repeating the same activity only maintains already established connections." --A User's Guide to the Brain
OUR TEAM
Dr. Stephanie Emmert OD
Optometrist
Clinical Director
Undergraduate: BS, Oregon State University
Doctorate: OD, Southern College of Optometry
In 2013, Dr. Emmert received over 100 hours of additional training in vision therapy and vision rehabilitation from one of the world’s experts in vision therapy.
Dr. Emmert founded the Oregon Vision Development Center in 2015 and has had the privilege of working with hundreds of patients to resolve complex visual issues. She is a member of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA) and the College of Syntonic Optometry. She is especially passionate about working to improve the quality of life of patients who experience post-concussion vision symptoms and finding solutions for patients who experience double vision.
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Dr. Aaron Salzano OD, FAAO, COVD
Optometrist
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Undergraduate: Prerequisites, George Fox University BS in Vision Science, Pacific University
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Doctorate: OD, Pacific University College of Optometry
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Residency: Pediatric Optometry and Vision Therapy, SCCO at
MBKU
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Certification: Fellow, American Academy of Optometry
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Fellow, College of Optometrists in Vision Development
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Dr. Salzano completed an additional year of residency in pediatrics and vision therapy with the renowned faculty at SCCO. He is passionate about improving the visual efficiency and development of all patients, from infants, to athletes, to special needs, to patients with brain injuries and beyond. He is a member of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) and also serves as a member of the American Optometric Association’s Sports and Performance Vision Committee.
Much of his time is spent as an Assistant Professor within the Vision Therapy and Pediatrics department at Pacific University's College of Optometry.
Taelor Lite
Vision Therapist
Zachary Moebius
Vision Therapist
Jonathan Mattson
Vision Therapist
Juliet Machado
Certified Optometric Vision Therapist
Clinic Coordinator
Betty Aflleje
Certified Optometric Vision Therapist
CONTACT US
Our Address
Albany: 609 Hickory Street NW, Suite 150
Albany, OR 97321
Eugene: 1445 Willamette Street, Suite 8
Eugene, OR 97401
Hours
Monday 8:00AM-6:00PM
Tuesday 8:00AM-6:00PM
Wednesday 8:00AM-6:00PM
Thursday By Appointment
Friday CLOSED
Contact
New Patients: 541-967-3097
Established VT Patients Albany: 541-704-0458
Established VT Patients Eugene: 541-255-3495
Email: info@oregonvisiondevelopment.com
Fax: 541-791-7298
Or, use the contact form below!
SUCCESS STORIES
"We (parents) are so grateful to everyone there who helped get her vision on track. I was just marveling at the fact that she has completed 2 books so far on her winter break from school. That in itself is amazing, even more amazing is that she just called to remind me that I promised to bring her the next book in her series to read. Wow, what a change from where she was at this time last year. Thank you all so much!!"
"This is the result I never expected to have from vision therapy: I get to re-imagine who I am. I'm not clumsy; I'm not ditzy, I'm not strange. And I can't wait to see what will happen next."
"He gets in a lot less trouble for distracting his classmates at school. He does more and better at schoolwork. His reading level is above what would be expected of him at the end of this year. He now enjoys reading, coloring, and doing puzzles, whereas before he had no interest in those things."
"Since completing vision therapy we (parents) have noticed so much improvement in all areas--reading, coordination and behavior."
"WOW! If I was any kind of writer, you could read for days! Where do I start?! Well, I’m probably going to have to get a second job because all Keeley wants to do is buy books and read! She’s starting to get caught up in school; it will take a while, but she’ll get there! Confidence- holy cow! I’m in awe of how much confidence she has now, sometimes too much if that’s possible! She loves school now as much as any other third grader would. Since therapy, her headaches have gone away. The vision therapy team changed her life, and with hard work, so did Keeley!"
"Since vision therapy the most beautiful change that we (parents) have seen is in her confidence. She no longer thinks that she's 'stupid' and she is more willing and excited about studying and learning."
"My daughter has blossomed and bloomed in every area of her life. She can read now and is improving rapidly! Her math understanding and performance has been launched forward. She no longer writes mirror image. She has become much more verbal and expresses her feelings, thoughts, dreams, fears, and general chatting. She enjoys playing piano and does well reading music."
"Her writing is vastly improved. She also seems to have considerably more confidence in her scholastic abilities, which we are extremely happy about. We attribute a lot of this improvement in performance and confidence to getting her vision problems diagnosed and treated at River view."