Optical Prism March 2016 | Page 30

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.