Our team of experienced Vision Therapists come from unique backgrounds that have led them to specialize in different areas of passion and expertise within the vision therapy space. This allows our team to be uniquely capable of working with a wide variety of patient types and diagnoses that cater treatment to each specific patient’s needs.
Julie Smith
Vision Therapist
Julie has been helping people suffering from brain injuries (TBI), stroke, low vision, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and learning disabilities since 2016. Her passion for this field started from her own experiences in recovering from a traumatic brain injury. As a part of her year and a half long rehabilitation process, Julie experienced first hand how transformative vision therapy can be.
Julie is passionate about offering vision therapy to those in need while also providing much needed emotional support and positivity to those struggling from a TBI. She is a board certified Neuro-Vision Therapist and has pursued extra courses and certifications to treat complex patients with vision-vestibular dysfunctions. Julie’s personal mission is to share with others the gift vision therapy has given her.
Taylor Benton
Vision Therapist
Taylor is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana and earned a master’s degree from the University of Central Florida in Applied Learning and Instruction before relocating to Denver. He has almost a decade of experience in the field of optometry as a certified vision therapist, certified optician, and certified paraoptometric assistant.
Taylor enjoys utilizing his diverse optometric experience, previous work as a behavioral specialist, and his research based, Educational Psychology graduate program to work with patients of all ages, backgrounds, and diagnoses. He is most passionate about treating complex strabismus/amblyopia cases, sports vision training, and the privilege of working with special needs populations. In his free time Taylor hikes the mountains of Colorado in the summer and loves snowboarding in the winter.
Krishelle Todd
Vision Therapist
Krishelle has spent much of her adult life helping and teaching people. While in college, she spent two years as a preschool teacher. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in International Studies from CSU in Fort Collins, she started her career as a vision therapist working primarily with developmental cases. After stepping away from vision therapy to explore other career avenues, half a decade later Krishelle’s true passions guided her back into helping people through vision therapy.
Krishelle is driven by a strong desire to help those in need. While her vision therapy career started working with developmental cases, she has refined her skills and abilities to treat patients of all ages and across multiple complex diagnoses. This includes gaining significant knowledge in the area of vision rehabilitation. Krishelle believes if she can make just the smallest difference in someone’s life and improve it, she has done what she was meant to do.
Ashya Gertler
Vision Therapist
Ashya is a native of Missouri, where she lived until she relocated to Denver to attend the University of Colorado. Ashya earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology based on her fascination with the complexity of the human brain. After college Ashya explored positions that allowed her to help people while applying her educational background. She began working as a Behavioral Technician with children, and transitioned to the role of Medical Assistant so she could be hands-on with a larger volume of patients. When her grandmother had a stroke in 2019, Ashya realized that working with patients that require complex therapies or rehabilitation is one of the most impactful ways to change a person’s life.
By pursuing a career in vision therapy, Ashya’s personal passions and educational background aligned. She loves helping patients with vision therapy because it creates complex, positive changes to a patient’s eyes and brain. She also feels deeply grateful to have the ability to change people’s lives in such a meaningful and significant way.
Hayley Latham
Vision Therapist
Hayley has worked in the field of medicine for over 6 years. She has previously studied at Grand Valley State University in the field of Allied Health Science where her love for healthcare began. Hayley’s experience and passion for assisting in the treatment of traumatic brain injuries and strokes is what led her to Neuro-Vision Therapy Institute, where she has continued to expand her education and skills. Hayley is passionate about tailoring therapy to the individual, so that everyone she encounters can be comfortable and confident throughout their treatment journey. During her free time, Hayley enjoys spending time with her husband and their two cats, playing board games, and hiking.
Megan Palsgrove
Vision Therapist
Megan has a background in education and social Work with degrees from Colorado State University and Metropolitan State College of Denver. Throughout her career, a common theme has always been the innate desire to help and heal others. When she discovered the field of Vision Therapy, she knew this important emerging field was a perfect fit for her skill set as well as an opportunity to grow. She values working with and supporting individuals in VT by learning and understanding each person’s uniqueness and collaborating with them throughout treatment. Megan is a Colorado native who loves spending time outdoors; hiking and camping with her husband and dog, running and traveling.