Curriculum Vitae
Paul Alan Harris, O.D,
F.C.O.V.D., F.A.C.B.O., F.A.A.O.
Fellow of the College of
Optometrists in Vision Development
Fellow of the Australasian
College of Behavioral Optometry
Fellow of the American
Academy of Optometry
Home: 3319 Highland Park
Place, Memphis, TN 38111 443-857-3925
Employment: Associate
Professor, Southern College of Optometry, 1245 Madison Avenue,
Memphis, TN 38111
901-722-3273
E-Mail: Paul.HarrisOD@gmail.com
or pharris@sco.edu
Paul Alan Harris, OD is a 1979
Graduate of the State University of New York, State College of
Optometry and is
currently in practice in
Baltimore, MD. He was board certified as a Fellow in the College of
Optometrists in Vision
Development (COVD) in 1983. He
became one of only two US Optometrists to become certified as a
Fellow in
the Australasian College of
Behavioral Optometry (ACBO) in 1994 and in 1999 also became a Fellow
of the
American Academy of Optometry (AAO).
In 1983, his series written for
the Optometric Extension Program (OEPF) Unique Services and Your
Success was
given an award by the Optometric
Editors Association for best series. He served as the Clinical
Director of the
Optometric Center of Maryland
from 1987 to 1988, during which time he also headed a research
program which
published the JAOA article, "The
Prevalence of Visual Conditions in a Population of Juvenile
Delinquents."
He has gone on to publish many
articles in both the Journal of Behavioral Optometry (JBO) and the
Journal of
Optometric Vision Development (JOVD).
In 1991 Dr. Harris brought
together a group of like minded behavioral optometrists and founded
the Baltimore
Academy for Behavioral Optometry
(BABO). The purpose was to facilitate the dissemination of the
clinical
expertise and skills that allows an
optometrist to help his/her patients attain their goals in life.
The idea proved to
be a success and has grown
tremendously over the years. Soon after the millennium
celebration Dr. Harris
became a board member of the Optometric
Extension Program Foundation (OEPF) and the courses were brought
into the OEPF and BABO was dissolved.
The courses are now called the OEP Clinical Curriculum and Dr.
Harris
continues as an
instructor for the courses as well as facilitating the constant
updating of the curriculum.
Dr. Harris spent one year living
in Denmark, from July of 1997 to July of 1998 during which time he
helped to
implement much of the OEP
Clinical Curriculum in the Danish school of optometry while working with four
groups
of students on papers which were all
published in the JOVD.
Dr. Harris currently serves on
the OEPF board of directors and as of 2005 serves as the
Secretary/Treasurer
and Director of Education.
Since September of 1998 he has been the chief investigator of vision
development
problems of inner city youth. His
research program, funded by the Abell Foundation of Baltimore, has
been
providing vision therapy to children at a
Baltimore City Public School in a double blind study of the effects
of
treatment of the problems endemic in this population. He
reported on the data at a conference held in April of
2001 at the
Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Harris is a vibrant speaker
and enjoys sharing his knowledge.
Date of Birth: January 9,
1954
Education
- 1970-1972 Interlochen Arts
Academy, Diploma 1972
- 1972-1975 Northwestern
University, Evanston, Illinois
- 1975-1979 State
University of New York, State College of Optometry, received O.D.
June 3, 1979
Activities and Awards,
Secondary School
- Achievement Awards, Science,
Mathematics, Trombone
- Graduated in top 10 of
senior class
Activities and Awards,
Professional School
- 1975-1977 Class President
- 1977-1978 Student Council
President
- 1975-1976 Alternate Trustee,
AOSA
- 1976-1978 Trustee, AOSA
- 1978-1979 National President,
AOSA
- 1979 AOSA Past
President's Award
Activities and Awards,
Professional
- 1975- Member, AOA
- 1977-1981 Member, New York
State Optometric Association
- 1979-1981 Member, Suffolk
Optometric Society
- 1980-1981 First Vice-President,
Suffolk Optometric Society
- 1979- Member, COVD
- 1979- Clinical Associate, OEPF,
Inc.
- 1979- Member, American Public
Health Association
- 1980-1983 Abstracts &
Bibliography Committee Chairman AOA Sports Vision Section
- 1981- Member, Greater Baltimore
Optometric Society
- 1981- Member, Maryland
Optometric Association (MOA)
- 1982-1984 MOA, Developmental
Vision Committee
- 1982-1984 MOA, Public Relations
Committee
- 1983 First Prize, Optometric
Editors Association for the Best Non-technical Article
- 1983- Fellow, COVD
- 1984-1986 President, GBOS
1984-1986
- 1984-1986 Chairman, COVD,
Public Relations Committee
- 1985-1986 Member, AOA Task
Force on Vision Development
- 1986-1987 Vice President,
Maryland Optometric Association
- 1984-1995 Cochairman, Baltimore
Institute for Behavioral Vision, An OEPF Study Group
- 1986- Adjunct Clinical
Professor for PCO, SCO
- 1987-1989 Clinical Director
Optometric Center of Maryland
- 1988-1989 Chairman, COVD
Juvenile Delinquency Committee
- 1991- Founder & Director
Baltimore Academy for Behavioral Optometry
- 1994- Fellow, ACBO (Australian
College of Behavioral Optometry)
- 1996- Board of Directors of the
Kraskin & Skeffington Institute
- 1997-1998 Consultant/Guest
Lecturer/Researcher at FTS Optometry School in Denmark
- 1998- Chief Investigator VT
Research in Baltimore City Public Schools
- 1998-1999 At-Large Regional
Director COVD
- 1999- Fellow American Academy
of Optometry, FAAO
- 1999- 2005 Director/Trustee
Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEPF)
- 2003- Appointed Director of
Professional Education for (OEPF)
- 2003- Received the Skeffington
Award for Optometric Writing at the COVD Annual Meeting
- 2003- Received the Mel Waxman
Award from the Maryland Optometric Association
- 2005-2009 Secretary/Treasurer
Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEPF)
- 2006 Co chair of Program
for 5th International Congress of Behavioral Optometry in Sydney
Australia
- 2009- Education Chair of
Program for the 6th International Congress of Behavioral
Optometry, Ontario, CA
- 2009- Vice President Optometric
Extension Program Foundation (OEPF)
Articles Published
- "O.D. in China, A Vision Care
Report", Optometric Management, December 1980, pp. 45-51
- "A Partnership Blend", Journal
of the New York State Optometric Association, Winter 1981, Vol.
7, # 1, pp. 12-13, 18
- "Myopia Control in China", OEP
Curriculum II, Spring 1981
- "A Partnership Blend", The
Winners Circle, OEP Curriculum II, June-July 1982
- "Unique Services and Your
Success", OEP Curriculum II, October 1982-September 1983
- "Computerized Optometry", OEP
Curriculum II, 12 Month Series, October 1983 - September 1984
- "AOA Sports Vision Section
Screening of Basketball Officials.", Journal of the AOA, Vol.
55, # 2, February, 1984
- "A Perspective on Behavioral
Optometry", Journal of the College of Optometrists in Vision
Development, 12/86
- "Visual Conditions of Symphony
Musicians", Journal of the AOA, 12/88. Volume 59, Number 12.
- "The Prevalence of Visual
Conditions in a Population of Juvenile Delinquents", Research
Reports and Special Articles, Curriculum II, Vol. 61, # 4,
January 1989, OEPF, Inc.
- "Unique Services and Your
Success", Introduction to Behavioral Optometry, OEPF, Inc., ISBN
0-943599-01-6
- "Toward a Unified Theory of
Vision", Journal of Optometric Vision Development, Vol. 24, #4,
Winter 1993, pp 26-39
- "Current Thoughts on the
Neurology of Vision", Journal of Optometric Vision Development,
Vol 26, Number One, Spring 1995 pp 23-32
- "The Behavioral Use of Prisms",
Vision Therapy, Tools of Behavioral Vision Care, Prisms, OEPF
Vol 37, Number 4, 1996, pp 1-32
- "Comparison of Danish and
American Children on the Groffman Visual Tracing Test", JOVD,
Volume 29, Number 2, Summer 1998 pp 78-82.
- "Comparison of Danish and
American Children on the Wold Sentence Copy Test", JOVD, Volume
29, Number 2, Summer 1998 pp 83-88.
- "Comparison of Danish and
American Children on the New York State Optometric Association
King-Devic Saccadic Test", JOVD, Volume 29, Number 2, Summer
1998 pp 89-92.
- "The Non-Malingering Syndrome
-- Catching it Twice", JOVD, Volume 30, Number 3, pp 142-151.
- "Vision and Driving in the
Elderly", JOVD, Volume 30, Number 4, pp 188-197.
- "Learning Related Visual
Problems in Baltimore City: A Long-Term Program", JOVD, Volume
33, Number 2, Summer 2002, 75-115.
- "The Binocular Continuum", JBO,
Volume 13/2002, Number 4, 99-103
- Co-edited "Lens Power in
Action" by Robert Kraskin with Greg Kitchener released by OEPF
February, 2003
- Editor, "Perspectives on
Vision", by OEPF August 2003
- Editor, "Perspectives on
Vision II", by OEPF 2004
- Editor, "Psycho-Behavioral
Vision Enhancement", by Albert Shankman, OEPF, 2005
- "Changes In Scores on the COVD
Quality Of Life Assessment Before & After Vision Therapy; A
Multi-Office Study", JBO, February 2007
- "The Stopwatch Used an a VT
Instrument", JBO, May 2008
Major Speaking Engagements
- 1979 "The Affective
Non-Cognitive Components of an Optometric Education", American
Academy of Optometry, Boston
- 1980 "Vision Care in China" at
Optifair East, New York
- 1982 "How to Add Vision Therapy
to an Existing Optometric Practice", AOSA convention, New York
- 1982 "Unlocking the Hidden
Goldmine in Your Practice.", MOA Convention, Baltimore, MD
- 1983 "How Vision Therapy Can
Make Your Practice Grow.", New Jersey OEP Seminar
- 1985 "The Use of Computers in
Optometric Practice.", OCNCR's Optometry Day & MOA State
Convention
- 1986 "Functional use of Visual
Evoked Potentials in a case of Streff Non Malingering Syndrome"
Skeffington Symposium
- 1986 "Visual Conditions of
Symphony Musicians", 1986 Eastern States Congress, New York
- 1987 "Artificial
Intelligence/Expert Systems and Behavioral Optometry"
Skeffington Symposium
- 1987 "Electrodiagnostic Testing
for Clinical Practice" and "Visual Conditions of Symphony
Musicians", Summerville, SC
- 1987 "Behavioral Optometry From
a to Z", Northwest Congress, Oregon
- 1988 "The Relationship Between
Posture and Vision" and "Unlocking the Hidden Goldmine in Your
Practice", Sun Valley Vision Conference, Phoenix
- 1988 "The Similarities Between
the Behavioral, Functional and Skills Approaches to Vision
Care", COVD, SC
- 1989 "Behavioral Optometry
Diagnosis and Treatment", Colorado Study Group. 9 hours, Dillon,
CO
- 1989 7 hours of education at
the Mountain States Congress all directly related to vision
therapy procedures.
- 1990 14 hours for the Central
California Optometric Association and the local Fresno OEP Study
group on behavioral optometry from testing to vision therapy.
- 1990 9 hours for the Colorado
Vision Therapists Association, Denver, CO, on vision therapy
procedures.
- 1990 4 hours for the Maine
Optometric Association on Behavioral Optometry for the Primary
Care Optometrist.
- 1991 6 hours for Japanese
Opticians (Optometrists) on Behavioral Optometry
- 1991 10 hours in Scandinavia on
Behavioral Optometry and Vision Therapy.
- 1991 6 hours for OEPF at the
Heart of America Congress
- 1992 10 hours in Norway for
Scandinavian Optometric Society
- 1993 8 hours for OEPF at South
East Vision Forum, Gatlinburg, TN
- 1993 32 hours for OEPF in
England, Vision Therapy 1
- 1993 10 hours in Sweden for
Scandinavian Optometric Society
- 1994 50 hours at the Danish
Optometry School in Copenhagen
- 1994 Astigmatism, 2nd
International Congress for Behavioral Optometry in Sydney
Australia
- 1995 The Skeffington 4 Circles
and the Neurology of Vision, COVD 25th Annual Convention
- 1995 Intro to Behavioral Vision
Care, Dutch Optometric Association, Maastricht, Holland
- 1996 Great Lakes Congress, OEPF,
Chicago, Illinois
- 1997 Behavioral Vision Care, 8th
Vision in Vehicles Conference, Marseilles France
- 1997 Eastern States Congress,
OEPF, Catskills, New York
- 1998 Vision and the Elderly
Driver, ICBO III, Washington DC
- 1998 Northeast Vision
Conference, OEPF, Boston, Massachusetts
- 1998 Esotropia, Panel &
Workshop, COVD 28th Annual Meeting, San Diego
- 2000 4 hours for the Kentucky
Optometric Association, Examining the 6-month and 3-year old.
- 2000 42 hours for the Kansas
Optometric Association, Vision therapy for Learning Related
Vision Problems.
- 2001 Learning Related Vision
Problems in Baltimore City, Symposium at Harvard Graduate School
of Education
- 2001 Co-presenter with Oliver
Sacks, MD at San Diego Vision Forum
- 2002 The Neural Substrate of
Vision and Behavior, at OEP Middle Atlantic Congress
- 2002 Learning Related Vision
Problems in Baltimore City, at OEP Middle Atlantic Congress
- 2002 Language and Communication
as Integral Parts of Vision and Visual Thinking, at the COVD
Annual Meeting
- 2002 The Role of Communicating
the Beliefs of the Clinician - Using the Placebo Effect in
Clinical Practice, at the COVD Annual Meeting
- 2003 Vision Therapy for the
Adult Patient, South East Council of Optometrists, Atlanta, GA,
February
- 2003 Managing Progressive
Myopia, South East Council of Optometrists, Atlanta, GA,
February
- 2004 M cell P cell Pathways and
Reading, Stress Point Retinoscopy, Quebec Optometric
Association, Montreal, May
- 2005 Sports Vision, Athens
Greece, September
- 2006 Behavioral Vision Care,
Australasian College of Behavioral Optometry, Hong Kong,
February
- 2006 Nature Nurture in Myopia,
International Congress of Behavioral Optometry, Sydney
Australia, April
- 2009 SECO Education Program on
Autism and Strabismus
- 2009 Behavioral Scholar in
Residence at NECO, Boston MA
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