• Dr. Bourn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Illinois College and a Doctorate of Optometry from the University of Missouri-St. Louis School of Optometry. She completed internships at the Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital's Eye Center in St. Louis, The John J. Pershing Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, and Webster Eye Clinic among several other private practices during her scholastic tenure. Opportunities to serve in divergent settings allowed Dr. Bourn to gain additional expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of ocular disease, pre- and post-operative care, emergency care, pediatrics, and vision training. She also had the privilege to mentor under the Pediatric Low Vision Consultant to the Missouri School for the Blind.

  Dr. Bourn has special interest in primary care including contact lenses, refractive surgery pre- and post-procedure care, dry eye management, and pediatrics. Dr. Bourn is fully licensed to prescribe therapeutic pharmacological medication and treat ocular disease and emergencies. She is a member of the American Optometric Association, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) and the Illinois Optometric Association, serving as the local Mid-State Optometric president for two years. As well as serving as a volunteer optometrist at Springfield Catholic Charities, Dr. Bourn has previously served as a board member of the Masonic Learning Center for Children, an organization working locally in Springfield to help children and their families overcome the obstacles of dyslexia. Dr. Bourn is married to Roger Short and has two boys, Ethan and Noah.

• We offer a wide range of optometric services and therapies including: • Vision/Eye Examinations • Contact Lenses • Surgery Co-Management: Cataract and Refractive • Treatment and Management of Eye Diseases • Glaucoma and Dry Eye Management • Vision and Occupational Therapy
  Your vision is important to you – and it’s important to us. When you come for your appointment, we make sure to schedule ample time so you will never feel rushed. Our primary focus is patient care.
  Our professionals believe that early detection and treatment of eye conditions are key in avoiding serious vision loss as well as maintaining overall health. A comprehensive eye examination will evaluate how well you see and identify these potential problems. It will also serve to evaluate stressors on your entire visual system. Once identified, the causes can be approached through a combination of corrective lenses and vision therapy. If you have certain eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, or complications from diabetes, your eyecare will require special attention. We can effectively manage these conditions and prescribe the appropriate medications or, when necessary, arrange for surgery. We co-manage with surgeons and hospitals across Illinois and Missouri to assure your best overall care.

• Bourn Vision and Learning Center has partnered with Bergh-White Opticians to offer a complete family eye care experience. We specialize in providing high quality, fashionable frames and contact lenses that can be customized by color, shape, and size to meet each patient's individual needs. We work with designers including Tom Ford, OGI, Dior, Fendi, Solo Bambini, and Nike among others to provide a wide selection to suit your taste. Bergh-White has even internationally partnered with a German designer to hand-craft frames specifically for their practice. Each patient is assisted in selecting eyewear and lenses that addresses their visual needs. Be it for dress, sports, computer usage or safety...we have you covered. You can be assured that our frame styling and contact lens selection is second to none.

• Having perfect distance and near vision doesn't necessarily mean that both eyes are working together as they should. Vision is the ability to take information from the eyes and process that information so that it has meaning (comprehension within a given context). For example, while 20/20 eyesight demonstrates that an individual can see certain sized letters at a range of 20 feet, it does not prove whether or not that individual is seeing double while reading at that distance, can successfully follow the letters while their eyes are moving, or suffer from eye fatigue through long periods of near work (homework, reading, computer work). Bourn Vision and Learning Center is one of the few practices in the United States that offers both vision and occupational therapy. We treat the eyes as a part of the whole mind-body connection and offer therapy to improve that interaction:

  • Eye Tracking and Teaming:  eyes working together to follow a line of print • Binocular Vision:  blending each eye's images to form one clear image • Accommodation:  eye focusing • Visual Motor Integration:  eye hand coordination • Visual Perception:  memory, form perception, and visualization • Gross/Fine Motor Coordination/Planning:  movements of muscles in the body • Tactile Awareness and Tolerance:  awareness of stimuli through touch • Balance:  ability to maintain center of gravity • Equilibrium:  ability to sense location and body orientation

  Our accomplished therapists work closely with patients and parents/guardians to determine an individualized therapy program and set of treatment goals.

• In addition to helpful forms, Bourn Vision and Learning Center offers patients an overall knowledge base pertaining to eyecare and health. Please fee free to browse the latest information on a variety of topics covering vision and learning, eye disease, surgery, macular degeneration, glaucoma, dry eye, and allergies among others.
  	Bourn Vision Patient Sheet

Recommended Sites

• Vision And Learning

  College Of Vision Development (COVD)

  Parents Active For Vision Education

  All About Vision

  Optometrists.org

  Eide Neurolearning Blog

• Phone:  (217) 787-8700
  Address:  2351 West Monroe Street, Springfield, Illinois 62704
  Bourn Vision And Learning Center
  Office Hours:
  Monday - Wednesday	8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
  Thursday	8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
  Friday	8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
  Saturday	By Appointment (Typically Second Of The Month)