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Book review of Visual & Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injury. Edited by Irwin B. Suchoff, Kenneth J. Ciuffreda and Neera Kapoor (Santa Ana, CA: Optometric Extension Program Foundation, Inc.), pp. 244, (pbk). ISBN 0-943599-42-3.

As a psychologist practicing in the area of rehabilitation and neuropsychology it has been my experience that problems of the visual and vestibular systems are oft-overlooked. It is fairly common for me to see patients who have been to numerous health professionals, yet have not been given a referral to have possible visual and/or vestibular dysfunction evaluated. Thus, when the opportunity to review this book arose, I consented. I admittedly reviewed the book from the perspective of one who has but a rudimentary understanding of optometrics and vestibular evaluation and treatment, yet hoped that I could add to my knowledge in this area. Given this limited foundation, the book is reviewed in a general sense, while recognizing that those who have greater appreciation for the details of optometry may experience the text quite differently. As one can readily guess from the publisher of Visual & Vestibular Consequences of Acquired Brain Injury, the text is written primarily by, and for, optometrists. Nine of the chapters focus primarily or exclusively on visual issues, while three attend to vestibular dysfunction. Another chapter provides an overview of neuropsychological evaluation. This chapter is written exclusively by psychologists. There are contributions also, in whole or part, from medicine and physical therapy. Reading and understanding parts of this book is likely to vary widely from reader to reader. In reviewing it, I had a number of other psychologists (all involved in neuropsychological rehabilitation) take a brief look at chapters and found that there was universal agreement that much of the optometric ‘language’ was beyond our basic understanding of that field. This needn’t preclude the book from being useful to those who know little about optometry, however, as the text often addresses topics in both conceptual and more detailed fashion. As is the case with many edited texts, this book has a number of strengths as well as some inherent weaknesses. Although it does not diminish the value of the overall book, the problem of redundancy between chapters was a minor annoyance. Many of the authors included epidemiologic information regarding acquired brain injury, generally about either stroke or traumatic brain injury. A different style of editing may have diminished this effect by including epidemiologic information in one chapter early on in the text. A reader is likely to skip portions of many chapters due to this, although the redundancy is such that this will not cause a loss of information. That issue aside, the text provides a well-edited overview of visual and vestibular issues, with chapters focusing (pardon the pun) on specific domains within each area. The text is organized in a fashion that permits the reader to easily read chapters dealing with one area of visual function, while skipping others. If one desired to learn about accommodation, for example, one could read the chapter ‘Accommodation in Acquired Brain Injury’, whereas strictly oculomotor consequences are addressed in yet another chapter. This level of chapter specificity is helpful in establishing the book as a reference tool. The references provided for each chapter, often numerous, provide direction for further in-depth study of the chapter topic. The chapters on the optometric implications of acquired brain injury, interdisciplinary rehabilitation approach and neuropsychological evaluation may be quite helpful for those optometrists (or other health professionals) who are in solo practice and are, at least in part, the targeted audience of the book. Yet, these chapters may be rather basic and unnecessary reading for many Brain Injury readers. As many optometrists (or other health professionals) may have practices in which persons with acquired brain injury are only a small percentage of their patients, these chapters may include information from which they will benefit. For those of us who are experienced in the rehabilitation team approach, these chapters may prove rather basic. For example, an overview of the area of practice of different rehabilitation team members is included in one