Welcome to our collection of CPD articles designed specifically for eye care professionals. Dive into insightful content crafted to enhance your expertise and improve patient outcomes. Join us in our commitment to continuous learning and excellence in the field of low vision, cerebral visual impairment and paediatric eye care.
Advancing eye care: CPD articles for professionals
2026
Watch this space!
Paediatric assessment in children who struggle to engage with a standard eye examination
2025
Tooth, Cirta. 2025. Frailty and visual impairment. Cirta Tooth introduces the concept of frailty in the context of managing patients with vision impairment, including some case scenarios from her clinical practice. Optician, pp. 26-29.
Frailty and Visual impairment
Tooth, Cirta. 2025. Supporting language development in children with vision impairment. Cirta Tooth explains the significant role of vision in language development and how eye care professionals can support children with language and literacy development when they have a vision impairment. Optician 271 (7010), pp. 18-23.
Language development in children with vision impairment
*A twin article for speech and language therapists can be found in the 'Additional resources' section at the bottom of this page
2024
Tooth, Cirta. 2024. Low vision: A quick guide for optometrists and dispensing opticians. We invited specialist optometrist Cirta Tooth to put together a simple to follow guide for ECPs wishing to improve their offerings for low vision patients. Optician, pp. 22-25.
Cirta Tooth was invited by the editor to write a 'quick guide for optometrists and dispensing opticians' about low vision.
Cirta Tooth produced an introduction video about low vision, which can be watched in our 'Videos' section:
Tooth, Cirta. 2024. Emotional impact of sight loss: What can we learn from lived experience? Specialist optometrist Cirta Tooth considers the emotional ramifications of sight loss for patients and how ECPs can help. Optician 2024, pp. 23-28.
www.opticianonline.net/content/features/the-emotional-impact-of-sight-loss
Audio version of article:
Emotional impact of sight loss
2023
Tooth, Cirta. 2023. An introduction to cerebral visual impairment in children 4: Supporting children with CVI. In the final part of this series looking at an important cause of visual impairment in children, Cirta Tooth outlines how children with cerebral visual impairment can be supported. Optician 2019 (11), pp. 18-24.
Part 4: Supporting children with CVI
Tooth, Cirta. 2023. An introduction to cerebral visual impairment in children 3: Impact on learning and development. In the third of a four part series looking at an important cause of visual impairment in children, Cirta Tooth outlines how CVI affects children’s development. Optician. 268, pp. 14-17.
Part 3: Impact of CVI on learning and development
Tooth, Cirta. 2023. An introduction to cerebral visual impairment in children 2: Diagnosing cerebral visual impairment. In the second of a four part series, Cirta Tooth outlines how to diagnose cerebral visual impairment. Optician 268 (Number 6916), pp. 19-24.
Part 2: Diagnosing CVI
Tooth, Cirta. 2023. An introduction to cerebral visual impairment in children 1: Definitions, visual dysfunctions and prevalence. In the first of a four part series looking at an important cause of visual impairment in children, Cirta Tooth explains the nature of cerebral visual impairment. Optician 268 (Number 6911), pp. 26-29.
Part 1: Definitions, visual dysfunctions and prevalence of CVI
Tooth, Cirta. 2023. Should optometrists be able to certify patients for visual impairment? Cirta Tooth considers the results of a new study of ophthalmologist attitudes to optometrists being able to certify patients as being sight impaired or severely sight impaired. Optician 267 (Number 6908), pp. 28-3.
Certification for sight impairment: The role of the optometrist
2022
Tooth, Cirta. 2022. Optimising trainee learning in specialist clinics. One area of eye care, cited by trainees and SCPs alike, where further training would be useful is that of low vision practice. But what do they want to learn about low vision and how can this be supported? Cirta Tooth takes a closer look. Optician 266 (6871), pp. 32-36.
https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/opti.2022.266.6871.32
Workplace training for optometry students in a low vision clinic
Tooth, Cirta. 2022. Our mind’s eye: Fantasy, mental imagery and aphantasia. Cirta Tooth reviews a condition that can significantly impact upon vision and presents a case study by way of illustration. Optician 266 (6865), pp. 24-29.
Aphantasia: Visual imagery
Tooth, Cirta. 2022. Sight impairment: To refer or not to refer? That is the question.- Cirta Tooth takes a look at sight impairment registration and what knowledge and skills can help the eye care professional to decide for which patients a referral is warranted for certification. Optician 265 (Number 6848), pp.19-25.
Referring for sight impairment registration
Tooth, Cirta. 2022. Alzheimer’s disease and vision- Cirta Tooth describes the impact upon vision and offers two case studies illustrating how both basic and higher processing function can be affected. Optician 265 (Number 6858), pp.19-23.
https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10.12968/opti.2022.2.8877
Alzheimer's disease and vision
2021
Tooth, Cirta. 2021. What can we learn from a service evaluation in a hospital low vision clinic? Cirta Tooth discusses an analysis of the activities of a Scottish hospital low vision service and reflects on what lessons might be learned regarding the best approach to managing people with vision loss. Optician 264 (Number 6830), pp. 21-27.
Low vision audit in a hospital eye clinic
Tooth, Cirta. 2021. Prosopagnosia: When a familiar face becomes a stranger. Cirta Tooth describes the causes of, challenges from and compensation for impaired face recognition (C79589). Optician 264(Number 6828), pp. 18-26.
Prosopagnosia: impaired face recognition
Tooth, Cirta. 2021. Macula, magnifiers and more. This article describes the impact of visual impairment on patients with age-related macular degeneration and how this can be managed (C78030). Optometry Today 61(1), pp.7 0-73.
https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/cpd/2021/04/29/macula-magnifiers-and-more/article
Impact of sight loss in macular degeneration
Tooth, Cirta. 2021. Is colour vision relevant to optometric practice? In a companion article to her review of the impact of contrast sensitivity on everyday life (Optician 12.03.21), Cirta Tooth discusses reasons why colour vision testing can play an important role in detecting pathology and in understanding the impact of pathology on task performance and daily functioning (C77936). Optician 263, pp. 22-28.
https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/opti.2021.4.8526
The role of colour vision in diagnosis and the impact and management of impaired colour vision
Tooth, Cirta. 2021. Is contrast sensitivity relevant to optometric practice? Cirta Tooth discusses the role of contrast sensitivity in detecting pathology and how common eye diseases affect it and considers how this impact affects performance in undertaking everyday visual tasks (C 77629). Optician 263 (Number 6793), pp. 24-29.
https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/opti.2021.3.8515
The role of contrast sensitivity in diagnosis and the impact and management of impaired contrast sensitivity
Tooth, Cirta. 2021. From pathology to participation: Cirta Tooth discusses how the medical model meets the social model in a low vision clinic and the implications upon patient management by the eye care professional (C 773955). Optician 263 (Number 6789), pp. 20-26.
Medical and social model of care
2020
Tooth, Cirta. 2020. Dual sensory impairment: Assessment and management: In the second of her two articles highlighting deafness awareness, Cirta Tooth focuses upon dual sensory loss and the best approach to communicating with the deaf-blind when dealing with their eye care (C76541). Optician 262, pp.21-25.
https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/opti.2020.10.8336?journalCode=opti
Dual sensory loss Part 2: Assessment and management
Tooth, Cirta. 2020. Now I can see what you are saying. In the first of two articles highlighting deaf awareness, Cirta Tooth discusses creating a welcoming environment and facilitating communication with people with a hearing impairment in optometric practice (C76270) Optician 262 (Number 6770), pp. 21-25.
https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/opti.2020.9.8319
Dual sensory loss Part 1: Supporting good communication
Tooth, Cirta. 2020. Visual impairment, employment and empowerment: This article describes the impact of visual impairment in the workplace and the role that practitioners can play in helping these patients Optometry Today 60 (7), pp. 74-77.
https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/cpd/2020/07/08/visual-impairment-employment-and-empowerment/article
Impact and management of vision impairment in the workplace
Tooth, Cirta. 2020. Sight support in schools: This article describes the impact of visual impairment on educational needs for young children and how this can be managed. Optometry Today 60 (6), pp. 74-78.
https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/cpd/2020/05/22/sight-support-in-schools/article
Impact and management of vision impairment in schools
2019
Tooth, Cirta. 2019. Eyes on CVI 4: In the last of our series looking at cerebral visual impairment, Cirta Tooth (Optometrist Bsc, Prof Cert LV) uses example cases to show the impact of cerebral visual impairment upon visual fields and asks, what can be offered to patients with hemianopia or hemi-inattention due to acquired brain injury or childhood CVI. (C73830). Optician 259, pp. 18-23.
CVI Part 4: Cases of patients with visual field impairment
Tooth, Cirta. 2019. Eyes on CVI 3: In the third in our series looking at the commonest cause of severe sight impairment in children in England and Wales, Cirta Tooth uses example cases to show what can be offered to patients who show features of cerebral visual impairment in childhood (C72127). Optician 259, pp.19-22.
CVI Part 3: Cases of CVI in childhood
Tooth, Cirta. 2019. Eyes on CVI 2: Cirta Tooth (optometrist Bsc) continues her series helping clinicians to understand the visual world of patients with a discussion of history taking and investigative techniques (C71421). Optician 259 (Number 6701), pp. 25-29.
CVI Part 2: History taking and investigative techniques
Tooth, Cirta. 2019. Eyes on CVI: Cirta Tooth (Optometrist Bsc) introduces the concept of cerebral visual impairment and understanding our patients’ visual world (C70900). Optician 259 (Number 6694), pp. 22-24.
CVI Part 1: Introduction