Katy the Orthoptist

15/10/2025

Feel free to get in touch for any information about my service.
I assess and treat babies, children and adults with squints, double vision ans childhood vision development issues.

05/06/2023

Please watch this short video to understand what an Orthoptist does

21/04/2023

DOUBLE VISION
Can be nothing to worry about or can be something more serious.
Definitely better to get it checked out by an Orthoptist.

Can occasionally be due to trauma, high blood pressure, un-managed Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Myasthenia, tumours and much more.

An Orthoptist can also help with double vision and make you more comfortable.

Be in touch for more information.

27/02/2023

Children are usually unaware if their vision is weaker than normal in one or both eyes. There are often no visible signs so problems can easily go unnoticed, especially when it only affects one eye.

The most common causes of amblyopia are refractive error (the need for glasses) and strabismus (a squint, turn of the eye). If amblyopia is left undetected it can result in permanent reduced vision.

This is why it is vital that your child has an eye check, ideally by an Orthoptist if they are under 5yrs old, especially if there is any family history of squints, lazy eyes or glasses in primary school or earlier.

14/02/2023

WHY IS EYE TRAKING IMPORTANT FOR READING?
• Tracking eye movements or saccades are the very small eye movements required for reading
• Tracking is the ability to make the eyes follow incoming information so that it can be processed in the brain to extract the correct meaning.
• Inability to focus and track letters and numbers correctly and follow them on the page can therefore impair the ability to learn.
• Eye tracking problems have little to do with eyesight.

Children or adults with saccadic problems will often lose their place and skip or transpose words.
Copying instructions from the board or books can be difficult for students with a saccadic difficulty.

I CAN ASSESS TRACKING AS WELL AS TEST USING COLOURED OVERLAYS, AND CAN ALSO HELP TREAT ANY PROBLEMS WE FIND.

Please get in touch for more information.

02/02/2023

DYSLEXIA OR DYSLEXIC TENDENCIES

Some people experience visual discomfort or disturbance when they read, which may significantly impair reading ability, or make reading very tiring. These include:

· Headaches and eyestrain

· Text appearing blurred or going in and out of focus.

· Text appearing double

· Difficulty keeping place in text or tracking across lines of text

· Discomfort with brightness of the page or contrast between text and background

· Text that appears to shimmer or flicker

AN ORTHOPTIST CAN HELP.

We can make sure the eyes are working correctly together, as well as assessing tracking and testing with coloured overlays.

Please get in touch for more information.

https://www.katytheorthoptist.co.uk/

A qualified Orthoptist with 20+ yrs NHS experience.
I run a private Orthoptic clinic in Elstree.

23/01/2023

https://www.katytheorthoptist.co.uk/

Orthoptists care for babies.
Babies, especially those of low birth-weight and premature, are more likely to have vision and eye coordination problems.
Orthoptists evaluate your baby’s vision and assess eye control as well as whether your baby is using his/her eyes as a pair (binocular vision).
Orthoptists care for children.
Orthoptists diagnose and treat visual disorders related to eye development such as lazy eye (amblyopia), wobbly eyes (nystagmus), and eye misalignment (strabismus/squints)
Orthoptists care for adults.
Orthoptists diagnose and treat eye symptoms related to eye misalignment and near focusing problems, such as squints and problems with using the eyes together.

19/01/2023

Orthoptists use all sorts of equipment, especially when testing babies and children!

15/01/2023

What is an Orthoptist?

Orthoptists are the experts in diagnosing and treating defects in eye movement and problems with how the eyes work together, called binocular vision. These can be caused by issues with the muscles around the eyes or defects in the nerves enabling the brain to communicate with the eyes.

Orthoptists are the experts in diagnosing and treating defects in eye movement and problems with how the eyes work together, called binocular vision.

15/01/2023

I work as a private Orthoptist as well as for the NHS. I have over 20 years of experience, having worked at Moorfields Eye Hospital, Central Middlesex Hospital, St. Thomas’ Hospital and Watford General Hospital. I offer a comprehensive range of Orthoptic services.

I assess and treat children and adults with squints (strabismus), lazy eyes, (amblyopia), convergence problems, double vision (diplopia) and muscle palsies. I also assess children with possible tracking issues due to Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and visual processing problems.

Outside of Orthoptics, I am a qualified breastfeeding supporter and run a large local Girl Guide group. I have three teenage children who keep me busy too!

My clinic is based in Elstree/Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.