Dr. Denise Smith Believes in a People-First Approach Helping Children has Always Been a Passion
Q: If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?
A: Easy. To stop time. My second one would be to travel via teleportation. Third would be to see through the eyes of other people, namely my patients. I always thought if I could see what/how they actually see then I could find more solutions to help them.
Q: What do you do on your commute to/from work?
A: Listen to my “Bible in a Year” podcast then the daily Gospel with a short homily. It helps me get my mind and heart in the right place before starting up with my team and my patients.
Q: Do you have a favorite type of exercise?
A: Dancing!
- Cake // Pie?
- Sweet // Salty?
- Low-tech—absolutely // High-tech?
- Doing Dirty Dishes // Or Laundry?
- BBQ // Tex-Mex?
- Documentaries // Reality Shows?
- Glamping // Camping?
Dr. Denise Smith is the Founder and President of The Center for Vision Development.
While she is an optometrist by trade, she is an optimist at heart and has devoted her entire career to diagnosing and treating functional visual disorders that negatively affect people's lives.
She believes that no matter how difficult or complex things are, there is always something that can be done to make things better. As a Developmental Optometrist, she gives her patients options that they didn’t have before; that they didn’t even know existed.
Dr. Smith is a native Texan and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated with honors from Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry and is a member of Beta Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honor Society.
She completed a post-doctorate clinical residency in Pediatric Optometry and Vision Therapy Rehabilitation at the State University of New York in New York City in 2002 then headed back to Texas with a new outlook on vision. Soon after her return to Austin, her dream of opening a visionary practice dedicated to the specialties of developmental, pediatric, and neuro-optometry became a reality when she founded The Center for Vision Development in 2004, and she has never looked back.
As such, she received "The Advancement of Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Award" from The Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA) in 2014.
Dr. Smith has a passion for helping people with special needs and served as the Clinical Director of the Texas Special Olympics Lions Club International Opening Eyes program which allowed her to provide quality eye care to Special Olympics athletes in Texas and Mexico who otherwise may not have received necessary visual aid.
Dr. Smith is a published author and seasoned lecturer. She is a member of the Optometric Vision Development and Rehabilitation Association (OVDRA), the Optometric Extension Program Foundation, the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA), and the College of Syntonic Optometry (CSO).
Dr. Smith lives in Austin with her husband, Patrick, and her son, Waterford. Her favorite things (besides vision therapy) include the beach, the spa, Longhorn football, and most of all being a mom!
How she sees it: “Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.” - Anonymous
