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Olympic Ace William Fox-Pitt Tells How Vision Therapy Helped Him Keep his Eyes on the Prize

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Vision is a human’s best sense for anticipation (the same is true for a horse). For this Olympian, he and his horse need to know when to jump and how high to jump. A feat not likely to be as successful with their eyes closed.

It was extremely important for William Fox-Pitt to retrain his visual system to process information appropriately in order to regain his Olympic type performance. Since the visual areas of his brain were disrupted from a traumatic injury he lost the full use of his visual skills, and thus anticipation skills. This resulted in the following quote from Mr. Fox-Pitt “I could ride on the flat, but jumping was tricky when one fence became four and you didn’t really know which one you were jumping until the last minute.”

Luckily for Mr. Fox-Pitt the brain retains neuroplasticity into adulthood and can be retrained. He successfully rehabilitated his visual brain and helped him get back to operating at his full potential. Read about his recovery process and success here.

Written by Dr. Holly Ternus

Dr. Holly Ternus is originally from Torrington, Wyoming, and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in biological sciences. She graduated with Honors from The New England College of Optometry and completed internships with Honors at South Boston Community Health Center with an emphasis in glaucoma and narrow-angle glaucoma, Togus Veterans Affairs Medical Center with an emphasis in ocular disease, Lifetime Eyecare in Houston fitting specialty contact lenses, and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Dr. Ternus practiced with ophthalmology in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, specializing in ocular disease, dry eye disease, and emergency care. She then transitioned into primary care, fitting specialty contacts for keratoconus, post-RK, corneal ectasia, and irregular corneas.

Dr. Ternus is an active member of the Nebraska Optometric Association, American Optometry Association, and American Academy of Optometry. She received her fellowship with the American Academy of Optometry in 2018 and is a graduate of the Nebraska Optometric Association’s Leadership Institute. She also received her fellowship in the Scleral Lens Education Society and is the first in Nebraska to have completed this honor.

Outside of work, Dr. Ternus enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 children, snowboarding, skiing, water sports, watching Husker football, and everything that involves being outdoors.

More Articles By Dr. Holly Ternus

Vision Therapy

Vision therapy is an effective, non-surgical, doctor-supervised treatment that retrains the brain and eyes to work together more efficiently. Rather than compensate for vision problems, vision therapy aims to treat and correct the visual system itself.

Discover how we can help you or your child overcome vision problems such as strabismus and amblyopia, and build a greater sense of confidence. Take our vision therapy quiz today!

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