Northbrook, IL
Glenview, IL, resident Betty Collins’ tale of her two daughters may have ended much differently had it not been for an overheard conversation between her beautician and another customer. The beautician was talking about Chicago-area optometrist Deborah Zelinsky O.D., founder and research director of the Mind-Eye Institute, based in Northbrook, IL. She was discussing the work Dr. Zelinsky is doing on behalf of children with learning problems.
Dr. Zelinsky is recognized globally for revolutionizing scientific understanding of how light affects brain function. At the time, Betty’s oldest daughter – then in second grade – was struggling in school. Not only was she diagnosed as having dyslexia, a learning disorder, but teachers said she seemed unable to listen and watch at the same time, even though both her eyes and ears tested as normal. She also “missed” information printed or written at the bottom of pages.
School experts and doctors told Betty “not to worry,” as her daughter would eventually “compensate” for her deficiencies. “But I don’t like the word ‘compensate,’” Betty stated. “I wanted to give my daughter every possible opportunity, and, if there were any possibility to help her, I wanted to find it.”
That’s when she overheard her beautician discussing Dr. Zelinsky, and asked the beautician for Dr. Zelinsky’s contact information. Dr. Zelinsky did a complete evaluation of Betty’s daughter and then prescribed a set of “brain” eyeglasses that synchronized the young girl’s hearing and eyesight. “The way light disperses across the retina impacts brain function,” added Dr. Zelinsky.
Using remedial eyeglasses, with combinations of lenses and/or other optometric interventions such as prisms and filters to selectively stimulate light on the retinal activity, Dr. Zelinsky helps patients redevelop visual skills during recovery from debilitating, life-altering symptoms of brain injuries. She also works to develop skills in patients with learning and behavioral problems.
“The glasses from Dr. Zelinsky balanced my child’s dissonance between the left and right circuitries of her brain,” Betty noted. “She was then able to listen, watch and take notes – all at the same time. Her dyslexia began to resolve, and she could look at – and ‘see’ -- an entire page. It was simply amazing.”
Later, when teachers began telling Betty about some “odd” behavioral quirks in her second daughter – also about the time of second grade – including her daughter’s tendency to turn completely to one side just to write on a piece of paper, Betty knew where to take her – the Mind-Eye Institute. “Dr. Zelinsky determined that my second daughter was using her right side almost exclusively,” said Betty. “On a swivel board, she could easily spin to the right but could not even budge the board to the left.”
Thanks to directional learning activities prescribed by Dr. Zelinsky, as well as some recommended physical and occupational therapy, the Collins’ second daughter’s problem was gradually alleviated. “Had it not been for the Mind-Eye Institute and Dr. Zelinsky, I am not sure my daughters would have achieved what they already have in both their education and careers,” stressed Betty, whose oldest daughter graduated from Harvard Business School and now has a successful career in business.
“My second daughter went on to become an ICU nurse, devoted to helping very sick patients,” concluded Betty.
For more on this story, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfz3zjdyfYQ&feature=youtu.be.
About Mind-Eye Institute
The Mind-Eye Institute, an internationally known optometry practice with an emphasis on neuro-optometric rehabilitation, is revolutionizing scientific understanding of how the retina serves as a two-way portal into the mind and body. The way light disperses across the retina can impact brain function. That’s because changes in ambient lighting affect how the brain reacts, interprets and responds to information about the environment, thereby impacting a person’s spatial awareness, movement, and selective attention to sound. Using prescriptive eyeglasses, lenses or other optometric interventions to selectively stimulate light dispersed on the retina, the Mind-Eye Institute is helping patients redevelop visual skills during recovery from debilitating, life-altering symptoms of brain injuries and neurological disorders due to trauma, stroke and PTSD. The Institute also works to develop skills in patients with learning problems, including autism and ADHD. For more information, please call 847-501-2020 or visit https://mindeye.com.
For media inquiries, please contact Mike Maggio, public relations specialist for the Mind-Eye Institute, at 312-968-9199 or mediarel96@outlook.com.
