Visual Training Preliminary Considerations Part 1

Visual Training Preliminary Considerations Part1 was written by Dr. Frederick Brock, with the firstinstallment published in Optometric Weekly in 1947.His writing continued over the next 10 years andwas completed in 1957. Dr Sue Barry had twopieces of his work, but was missing the third part,which is where Dr Marc Taub was able to help!Dr Taub obtained a copy of all three pieces fromthe library at Southern College of Optometry andthen got permission from Dr Brock’s daughter torepublish the work for us all to enjoy.With the help of Dr. Taub and Dr. Mark Dean,who edited the text and corrected any errors in theproduction process, they were able to republishthe phenomenal work of Dr Brock seventy yearsafter it was originally published.While I was at the annual OVDRA meetingthis year, Dr W.C. Maples made a remark that hasstuck with me. He said that in our field “We standon the shoulders of giants.” I thought I had anunderstanding of what he meant at the time, but itwas not until I finished Dr Brock’s book that I reallygot it. Of course, I knew about Dr Brock beforereading this, and use his famous Brock String prettymuch every day in my practice, however, I had noidea how many of the other tools I use regularly arebased on his work from the 1940’s.The concepts that he discusses in this book arecomplex. Many times, I found myself re- readingpassages, and I even printed out the ebook so thatI could write in my notes and study the pictures ofhis experiments better. Reading through this bookwas truly a remarkable experience that I recommendeveryone do, whether you order the ebook or thesoftcover.In the book Dr Brock begins with an introductionwhere he states “The reason why visual training stillremains a comparatively foreign subject to manypracticing optometrists may be that its foundationdoes not lie in physiology, anatomy, or optics.These three subjects were, and to a great extent stillare, considered the Fundamentals of OptometricProcedure. They are the fundamentals of eyeballoptometry (Renshaw). Unfortunately, this kind ofoptometry has proven inadequate in many ways:It does not take into consideration the personalfactors in the dealing with human beings who are,first and foremost, persons.” (p.2) This is the firstparagraph in Dr. Brock’s writing, and I found itto be profound. I see this every day in practice,that no two diagnoses are the same, and that wemust take into consideration the person that has thediagnosis and the “Why” behind what is bringingthem into the office.Vision Development & Rehabilitation Volume 10, Issue 2 • June 2024121Dr. Brock then goes on to discuss his ownexperiments involving patients with amblyopia,unilateral and alternating strabismus, and anomalouscorrespondence. In the book he has figures thatoutline these experiments, and it is incredible tosee how he curated these setups. I could notstop seeing how these experiments and trainingstrategies he created served as the basis for othertypes of equipment that I use in the therapy room.Not only did this book help me understandhow many of the tools I use today came to be, butit gave me new tips on how to coach my strabismicpatients. The patients that Dr Brock addresseswere not straight forward at all. They were largeangle strabismics and many had anomalous corres-pondence. In the book he details the set up heused with these patients and the strategies thathelped them, such as making the targets larger andmore peripheral, changing the patient’s distancefrom the target, and making the setup more natural.He also encouraged patients to recognize spatialrelationships and attend to the volume of space andsize. He truly used a developmental approach andtailored it to exactly what each patient needed atthe time.In my office, a common question I hear fromnew patients is “I have never heard of this before.Is vision therapy new?” After reading Dr. Brock’sbook I now have a much better understandingof developmental optometry and vision therapy’shistory. I am now aware of the knowledge I lackedand can more confidently answer my patients’questions about how long vision therapy has beenaround.This book is one that I think all developmentaloptometrists must read. We need to understandwhere the knowledge we use everyday came fromand which giants shoulders we stand on. Also, asDr. W.C. Maples said, “If you don’t know your pastit’s hard to plan for the future.”I look forward to volumes 2 and 3 of Dr Brock’sbooks so that I can continue learning!