Dr. Garson was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Montgomery County. She attended Northwood High School and graduated from the University of Maryland as a member of Psi Chi, the psychology honor society. Dr. Garson went on to a masters program in psychology at Villanova University. After completing the program, she then went on to attend optometry school at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia.

Dr. Garson has been in private practice in Northern Virginia for 32 years. She has been a consultant to the Seton Centers. Dr. Garson has been a lecturer at many of the schools, both public and private, in Northern Virginia. During much of her time in private practice, she has been an active participant in an on going behavioral optometric study group, the Behavioral Vision Project, that draws members from the east coast as well as the Midwest. In addition, Dr. Garson is a member of the Institute of Behavioral Optometry that meets locally once a month. Since opening her own practice in 1983, Dr. Garson has had the opportunity to help all kinds of patients from the age of 3 months until 94 years of age. A large part of her behavioral philosophy is that there is not a person who could not benefit from a more inclusive and holistic evaluation of how they use their vision. It is this philosophy and her own personal visual experience that drives her to want to give the best possible care to each of her patients, both young and old.

Early on as an undergraduate student, Dr. Garson started experiencing severe headaches. It was suggested that she go see an optometrist in Washington, D.C. who was good at diagnosing possible visual problems. The optometrist explained that a contact lens for her nearsighted eye with reading glasses over top for homework would be very beneficial. He also suggested that going to a colleague who did visual therapy would be the best solution to the visual dysfunction. However, like many college kids, there was no time to follow up on vision therapy and the contact lens with reading glasses worn over top for homework had resolved the headaches. Then in graduate school, with a new and heavier load than in undergraduate studies, Dr. Garson began seeing double. The optical solution of a contact lens and reading glasses was not sufficient to handle the intensive visual load. It was at this point that Dr. Garson became a patient at the visual therapy clinic of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. It. was this exposure to optometry that caused Dr. Garson to change course and to attend optometry school.