A Personal Journey
in Vision Therapy
DR. STELIOS NIKOLAKAKIS SHARES HIS FAMILY’S STORY
HIS OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH HAVING A CHILD WITH EYE HEALTH CONCERNS
HAS PUSHED DR. STELIOS NIKOLAKAKIS TO OFFER SOME OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE
VISION THERAPY TREATMENTS IN THE INDUSTRY.
By Sarah McGoldrick
“My wife and I were pregnant with twins and found
out that one of the twins had an issue with his heart
and would not make it to term,” Nikolakakis said. “He
passed away at 25 weeks gestational and it triggered
the birth of Gabriel at 26 weeks and one day and he was
born at 900 grams (2 lbs). The doctors told us at the
time all the possible neurological complications that
could possibly occur and they also included learning
disabilities, autism, and Cerebral Palsy.”
“So that started my vision therapy education journey
through an organization called the Optometric extension
Program (OEP). The other motivating factor was that
my nephew was also diagnosed with mild autism,”
he said.
Nikolakakis is a Vision Development Optometrist
and Adjunct Clinical Instructor, University of Waterloo
School of Optometry. He said it was a visit from a
friend that lead him to discover his son's complex
visual issues.
“It was when Gabriel was about 2 years of age that an
optometry colleague came to my house and noticed
that Gabriel had a primitive reflex called Asymmetrical
Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR) showing that normally
disappears at 3 months of age and mentioned how
vision therapy could support him.”
He said he was intrigued and that he would do
anything to help his son, which took him on the path
to Vision Therapy Education.
“The clinic has been open for one month now and
we already have six children with learning disability
challenges being supported and many many more to
come,” he said.
His own experience with his child and the process of
working through vision therapy with him has given
him a broad insight into the treatment process.
28 Optical Prism | March 2016
The four-part program that took over one year to complete. He said two significant events raised his belief
level in the impact and the difference vision therapy
can make in people's lives not only as vision therapist
but as an eye care practitioner as a whole.
“In our second of four courses, there was a colleague
in the class with a strabismus (eye turn) all her life. As
we were learning all the techniques of that section
the instructor would use her during demonstrations.