The 2018 Visual Snow Conference
Sierra Domb and the Visual Snow Initiative (VSI) team recently hosted the first Visual Snow Conference in history. This free summit brought together patients, their families, and Visual Snow experts from around the world. Doctors, researchers, and scientists with knowledge of Visual Snow Syndrome flew in from Australia, Canada, England, and various cities in the United States. Alongside VSI’s Founder, Sierra Domb, their words offered acknowledgement and validation to patients and their families. Everyone involved sought to raise awareness, share the current body of research, provide education, offer resources, and foster understanding for Visual Snow Syndrome.
Background
Sierra Domb experienced the onset of Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS), a debilitating neurological disorder, in 2015. Throughout her journey in seeking a correct diagnosis for her symptoms, Sierra encountered an alarming absence of recognition for her condition, as well as minimal resources available to help VSS patients. Once Sierra Domb realized that she was not alone and others with VSS worldwide had a similar experience of being misdiagnosed and marginalized, she founded the Visual Snow Initiative and the Visual Snow Conference to help create solutions.
Conference Highlights
Dr. Peter Goadsby, Professor of Neurology at King’s College London and Director of NIHR-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility lectures on “Dispelling Myths About Visual Snow” and offers a progress report on current research regarding Visual Snow.
Dr. Owen White MD, Director of Neuro-ophthalmology and the Ocular Motor Research Laboratory at Royal Melbourne Hospital, walks through his presentation “A Sensory Misperception” about Visual Snow.
Matthew Renze is a data analyst who has Visual Snow and has turned his expertise as a data scientist into a methodical study of living with and managing Visual Snow from an empirical perspective.
Dr. Yasser Khan discusses the challenges for medical staff in properly identifying symptoms of Visual Snow in his presentation “To My Colleagues: Recognizing Visual Snow.”
Dr. Victoria Pelak presents “Visual Snow and the Visual System: What We Know and Don’t Know” and discusses the cognitive origins of the debilitating condition of Visual Snow.
Professor Joanne Fielding presents “Visual Snow: A Behavioral Perspective” and dives into the neurological origins of Visual Snow.
Researcher/Scientist James Fulton shares his findings in studying the Visual Snow condition.
Founder of the Visual Snow Initiative, Sierra Domb shares with the audience how she has learned to cope effectively with Visual Snow Syndrome, as well as detailing the future of the Initiative’s search for a cure.
