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About Kansas City Vision Performance Center : Therapists and Staff |
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| Terri Haynes, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist In her early career as an occupational therapist, Terri gained wonderful experiences working with patients on mental health and rehabilitation units. She has also headed a pain management team. "I have always enjoyed working with people and find it very rewarding to help people maximize their independence and safety. I took a few years off to raise two terrific sons. When I returned to work, I decided to explore a long time interest and passion – low vision rehabilitation. There is a growing number of individuals with visual impairments, and I felt very confident that I could have a strong impact on their lives. I am fortunate to have met Dr. Metzger and his family. We not only share the same passion and commitment for helping individuals that are visually impaired, but we also make a great team." Kristen Mehrer, Vision Therapist Kristen has been working in metro area school districts for the past 11 years as an occupational therapy assistant. Her love of working with children lead her to training to become a vision therapist. Kristen brings a high level of energy and depth of professional resources to our office. "I feel that each child I work with teaches me more than I teach them. For example, when I was helping a child struggling with fine motor and handwriting skills, I began to research other options and discovered information on visual learning difficulties. I was very interested in the field, especially when I learned that 30 to 40% of children with learning difficulties have visual skills or processing challenges. As soon as I found Dr. Metzger I knew right away I wanted to become a member of his team." Jean Metzger, Chief Vision Therapist Jean started her career with children as a second grade teacher. She then raised two children and now grandmothers three (wonderful!) little ones. In 2000,she and Dr. Metzger attended a seminar series presented by the Baltimore Academy of Behavioral Optometry (now called the Optometric Extension Program) which rekindled her love of teaching and led to her position as chief vision therapist of the practice. Since then she has extended her education through the seminars of Dr. Robert Sanet, the former COVD president. “We dearly want each child or adult to succeed in whatever they need to do,” says Jean. “We know that vision is much bigger than seeing and glasses. Vision is also processing what we see and directing our responses. The brain is so wonderfully teachable that we find many ‘problems' of learning and life improve or disappear because vision therapy writes new brain ‘software' so to speak. We sort of took the word ‘retirement' out of our dictionary after we started concentrating on vision therapy. This is too rewarding to retire.” Pat Recker, Vision Therapist As a young high school math and science teacher, Pat had a great deal of empathy for students who struggled in class. After teaching for three years, she had the good fortune to meet a developmental optometrist, Dr. B.W. Scott in Independence, IA, who introduced her to a comprehensive view of vision and trained her as a vision therapist. In working with the patients (mostly students) and in personally going through the therapy program herself, she saw firsthand how improved vision skills enrich lives in a very profound way. More efficient vision skills (focusing, eye movement, eye teaming, visualization) led to better performance in the classroom and more self confidence and self esteem. Before joining Dr. Metzger's practice in the fall of 2010, she was a vision therapist in Dr. Wayne Hemphill's practice in Olathe for six years where she received more in-office training and attended regional and national seminars. During that time she was active in Parents Active For Vision Education, a grassroots organization of parents/professionals whose mission is to educate the public about developmental vision and the benefits of vision therapy. "I am delighted to be part of Dr. Metzger's practice. I feel so fortunate to be involved in a profession that makes such a difference in people's lives -- for many, vision therapy is a life changing experience. It is a privilege to "coach" a patient as they make the journey of developing more efficient vision skills, and it is a joy to share in their improvements and successes." Caroline Metzger, Practice Manager With a background in graphics, marketing, web development and entrepreneurship, Caroline asked her dad to open a specialty-focused office in Kansas City in 2004. After a year of planning, the office opened in 2005 and has slowly but steadily grown ever since. She is proud to hold the titles of: Daughter, Practice Manager, Phone Answerer, Receptionist, Billing Department, Medicare Manager, Insurance Department, Transcriptionist, Marketing/PR Department, Web Site Developer, Graphics Department, and most recently, Move Manager. If you need anything, she's your gal. |
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