News: Correcting vision may ease school woes

by Tamara Stokes

Special to Dallas Jewish Week Online Edition

Dr. Elliot Stendig believes a proper perspective is the key to a good quality of life. As an optometrist, Stendig measures vision in an unconventional way.

Stendig knows firsthand what it's like to be smart but struggling in school. When Stendig was in third grade, a school official had a conference with his father. He and his father were told that Elliot would not be able to graduate from high school and, at best, could aspire to work at the local dump. Stendig says that a local optometrist, who had a reputation for helping children with learning disabilities, examined him and helped him "see what he wasn't seeing."

Stendig says that, through the years, he's seen many children with learning problems who have high intelligence quotients and perfect vision but who perform poorly in school. Parents, often frustrated because homework and endless study periods seem fruitless, seek medical help to diagnose a condition. These children experience damaged self-esteem and may be labeled unfairly as lazy.

Stendig says the day he visited the fatherly eye doctor, his quality of life improved drastically. It has been his desire to help others understand what his own parents didn't understand about his learning differences.

The root of these problems lie in vision perception and translation to the brain. Stendig says, "20/20 vision isn't always perfect," contrary to what society as a whole thinks about this type of vision measurement.

Often both eyes may not work together, which causes a "vision-brain conflict." Stendig explains this occurs when one eye sees an object as a different size or in a different location than the other eye. "It's my job to help people see what they're supposed to see," says Dr. Stendig.

As a therapeutic optometrist pioneer and vision rehab diplomate, Stendig is an expert in the field of vision rehabilitation for stroke and accident victims, those diagnosed with dyslexia, attention-deficit disorder, amblyopia, color blindness, focusing problems, computer stress, brain injuries, double vision, crossed eyes and even headaches and backaches. Stendig measures vision repeatedly. He also uses a one-of-a-kind-in-Texas Humphrey Vision Analyzer computer. This holographic, high-tech device uses a virtual reality setting to learn what a patient "doesn't see."

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