Dr. Denise Smith is the Founder and Clinical Director 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 College of Optometrists in Vision Development, the Optometric Extension Program Foundation, the American Academy of Optometry, the Texas Optometric Association, the Central Texas Optometric Society, and the American Optometric Association.
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