Eye Clinic & Assessments
We offer a variety of vision services in a caring, child and family-centered environment.
Our Eye Clinic and assessment services support each child’s development to reach their highest visual potential. Information from our exams and assessments provides essential assistance to family members and our teaching and therapeutic team.
Working together, our professional staff and vision partners provide eye exams, low vision clinics, Functional Vision Assessments and Transdisciplinary Arena Style Assessments. We’re pleased to include Visual Evoked Potential testing to help enhance and manage vision care.
Eye Clinic
Our Eye Clinic provides on-site professional care.
In partnership with pediatric ophthalmologists Robert King MD, Anna Steele MD and the technicians of Children’s Eye Physicians, Anchor Center’s Eye Clinic provides on-site professional care in our own fully-equipped exam room.
What are the benefits of on-site care?
• Family members, Anchor Center teachers and therapists may attend, hear results directly, and ask questions related to each child’s learning style and educational plan.
• Doctors, technicians and staff work together and develop best practices for children who are blind or visually impaired.
Who qualifies:
• Current and former Anchor Center children, including those who receive home visits
• Young children with vision issues who are referred by outside sources
Request an Eye Appointment
Families in need of an Anchor Center Eye Exam appointment may register by calling (303) 377-9732.
Is there a charge?
• Yes. We are a satellite location for Children’s Eye Physicians, which handles billing and insurance. Children’s Eye Physicians accepts most insurance plans, including Medicaid.
• No child is ever denied services because of an inability to pay. Please speak with the Eye Clinic Coordinator for more details.
Families are not limited to receiving eye exams at Anchor Center. We encourage ongoing care with a child’s regular eye doctor. Our eye exams are not a substitute for specialized, regular visits. Anchor Center’s team can refer patients as needed. Our Eye Clinic is held several times a month. To schedule an appointment, please call Anchor Center at (303) 377-9732 or click on the link below to email our Eye Clinic Coordinator.
Visual Evoked Potential
When light from an image enters the eye, it is interpreted as electrical energy. Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) testing is a passive approximation of visual acuity. VEP is also called Visual Evoked Response (VER).
How do we test?
• Sensory pads placed on the child’s head measure brain waves in response to a series of visual patterns. Because the test does not require a verbal response, it can be used successfully with young children.
Who performs the test?
• Testing is done under the auspices of Children’s Eye Physicians, but can be requested independent of an eye exam with one of our doctors.
To schedule an appointment, please call Anchor Center at (303) 377-9732 or click on the link below to email our Eye Clinic Coordinator.
Functional Vision Assessments
As part of the intake and enrollment process at Anchor Center, our Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments offer Functional Vision Assessments for children of all ages. These assessments allow teachers, therapists and family members to learn how the child uses vision.
Some of the visual skills our professional staff might observe include but aren’t limited to:
• Fixating – maintaining gaze directly on an object or person
• Scanning – systematically examining an area when completing a task
• Tracking – following the movement of an object or person
• Visual Fields – seeing objects to the sides, above or below eye level
• Eye Preference – using one eye more frequently than the other
Based on the Functional Vision Assessment, our staff will explore how a child’s environment might impact their vision and how any accommodations might assist in their functioning. This might include considerations such as: moving an object closer or further away, allowing more time to complete a task, or color of an object.
Transdisciplinary Arena Style Assessments
Scheduled by appointment only in coordination with our professional team, these child-directed assessments are key to Anchor Center’s eligibility process. Transdisciplinary Arena Style Assessments (TASAs) last approximately two hours and are available for children 2 years 6 months and up for children currently enrolled in Anchor Center programming.
Our transdisciplinary assessment team includes a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Speech Language Pathlologist, and Developmental/Behavioral Specialist to work with the child. TASAs help families have a deeper understanding of their child’s current development and how vision impairment relates to all areas. Following the assessment, families meet with the team to discuss strengths, needs and strategies. Childcare is available during these assessments.
Low Vision Clinic
Optometrist Dr. Kara Hanson sees children periodically at Anchor Center to determine which low vision aids will benefit them. Under her leadership, the Low Vision Clinic at Anchor Center specializes in helping patients improve functional vision and gain independence.
Methods of treatment may include:
Low vision devices, including telescopes, bioptics, Telemicroscopes, magnifiers, microscopes (strong reading glasses), sectoral prisms, or eccentric viewing training (for central vision loss).
Learn About Jack!
Case Study
Meet Jack! Jack has been diagnosed with Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and several other conditions. Read about his initial Anchor encounter and the progress he’s made since being an Anchor Center student.