Alice Forsyth Optometrist at Harmony Vision

Introducing Alice Forsyth

At Harmony Vision Care we are fortunate to have a team of leading optometrists who are passionate about helping our clients realise their best performance through better vision. One such member is Alice Forsyth, a behavioural optometrist who studied Optometry at UNSW and joined the Harmony Vision Care team in 2014.

In April, Alice traveled to Sydney to attend the 8th International Congress in Behavioural Optometry, along with the rest of the Harmony Vision team. Staying up to date with research and clinical practice is important to Alice, so when not cooking, spending time with her family or enjoying music, Alice enjoys reading and pursuing knowledge. To this end, she is currently studying for her Fellowship, which is a long road, and lots of hours of study!

We recently sat down with Alice for a quick question and answer session to find out why she’s so passionate about behavioural optometry and to help you get to know her a little better.

What inspired you to become a behavioural optometrist?

I was initially drawn into behavioural optometry to find more ways to help my son with his reading. Though I quickly came to appreciate the bigger picture that is vision. Over two million neurons connect the eyes to many areas of the brain (up to 60%), including input to regions that control touch, movement, attention and spatial judgment.

As optometrists, we like to pull things apart to discover how they work, but once we have that understanding we need to link the parts back together again, and there’s always a bigger picture.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The most rewarding part of my job would have to be the immediate response and the opportunity to improve the quality of peoples lives. There are few things more exciting than providing the opportunity for individuals to achieve their goals by increasing their visual stamina and awareness, relieving symptoms and expanding their opportunities for development and growth.

What advice do you have for parents and teachers?

Getting the whole picture of vision is essential. Good vision is much more than just being able to read the bottom of a letter chart; it also includes knowing where to look (eye movements) and knowing how to look (focusing and eye teaming), especially up close, where children and most adults spend the majority of their day.

Why do you love working at Harmony Vision Care?

I love being able to deliver quality vision care, alongside a team who are similarly passionate about good vision.

Harmony Vision Care offers patients so many options beyond simple sight correcting glasses. With a dedicated vision training room that is manned by accredited vision therapists that share over 65 years experience, our patients can develop, retrain and rehabilitate their visual skills in an environment that is exceptionally well equipped.

In addition to being a behavioural optometrist, Alice is also skilled at testing and prescribing coloured lenses using the Intuitive Colorimeter and fitting Ortho-K lenses to help slow down short-sight (myopia) progression in children and teenagers. All in all, Alice is an excellent source of knowledge for any vision questions or concerns you may have.

 

Paul Graham

Paul believes that what he truly practices is “Optometry for the Individual”. Whether it be vision training, glasses, custom or disposable contact lenses, orthok or precision tinted lenses, Paul will consult with you, completely assess your vision and custom design a treatment approach that is right for you. If you want a fresh approach, then Paul is the Optometrist for you!