Optometric Multi-Sensory Training
Developed by Dr. Steven Curtis, OD, FCOVD, FNORA
OMST is an advanced therapeutic approach designed to improve how the brain filters, organizes, and integrates sensory information.
What Is Multisensory Processing?
Multisensory processing is the brain’s ability to:
- Filter out irrelevant sensory input
- Regulate responses to stimulation
- Integrate vision, balance, sound, touch, and movement
- Focus attention on what matters
This foundational brain skill begins developing in infancy and is typically established around age three. It originates in the brainstem and functions largely at a subconscious level. Babies and young children may often fuss over “nothing” sometimes because they are overwhelmed by the multiple sensory inputs bombarding them from their environment. The sensory inputs that the child’s brain is trying to process are vision, sound, motion, touch, smells, and many varieties of such. Many patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), concussion, stroke, or whiplash-associated injuries experience disruption in multisensory integration.
A common issue involves poor coordination between the:
- Visual system (what you see)
- Vestibular system (balance and motion perception)
- Proprioceptive system (body position awareness)
- When these systems are not properly integrated, patients may experience:
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Balance problems
- Motion sensitivity
- Light sensitivity
- Nausea
- Blurred or unstable vision
- Anxiety in visually busy environments
Why Multisensory Processing Matters
When foundational sensory processing is impaired, higher brain centers (the neocortex) must compensate for functions they are not designed to manage. This can contribute to:
- Mental fatigue
- Poor memory
- Speech or word-finding difficulty
- Frustration and irritability
- Executive function challenges
- Reduced academic or workplace performance
By strengthening the brain’s foundational sensory systems, patients often experience improved clarity, stability, and cognitive efficiency.
What Is Optometric Multi-Sensory Training (OMST)?
Optometric Multi-Sensory Training is a structured therapeutic program designed to help the brain learn or relearn efficient multisensory filtering and integration.
OMST uses controlled, simultaneous stimulation of multiple sensory systems, which may include:
- Prescribed frequencies of colored light
- Vestibular (movement-based) stimulation
- Auditory input
- Proprioceptive (body awareness) stimulation
- Gradually integrated optometric vision therapy techniques
This approach creates a safe and structured clinical environment where sensory systems can rebalance and strengthen.
How OMST Supports Brain Rehabilitation
OMST distributes therapeutic stimulation across multiple sensory pathways. This allows stronger systems to support weaker systems until more balanced integration is achieved — either restoring prior function after brain injury or supporting developmental progress in children.
Through repetition and guided therapy, patients relearn subconscious multisensory regulation skills. This foundational improvement often results in:
- Greater emotional stability
- Reduced sensory overwhelm
- Improved balance and coordination
- Increased cognitive stamina
- Enhanced visual comfort
For many patients recovering from TBI or concussion in Maryland and Washington DC, OMST serves as an important foundation before progressing to higher-level visual or cognitive rehabilitation.
Abilities Affected by OMST
- Emotional and Behavioral Regulation – manage emotions and behaviors on “autopilot”
- Gross & Fine Motor Control – coordinated use of muscles instinctively
- Balance – maintain stable stance and gait on “autopilot”
- Memory – store and retrieve words, facts, skills, concepts, experiences
- Organization – maintain orderliness in thoughts and activities
- Planning – setting goals and the sequences of actions to reach them
- Judgement – executive process of considering potential outcomes of a situation and choose a safe and competent course of action
- Mental Flexibility – shift from one way of looking at something to another
- Receptive/Expressive Language – understand words and sentences/express thoughts easily and automatically
- Sensory Modulation – respond to sensory environments without being overwhelmed or confused; attend to what is important at the moment and disregard what is not
- Sleep – circadian rhythm, acquire improved mental and physical stamina
