OPT Visionary - Spring/Summer 2013

THE V ISIONARY • S PRING /S UMMER 2013 — 15 By Annette Bade, O.D., FAAO, Assistant Professor Much of the growth of this service can be traced back to Rachel “Stacey” Coulter, O.D. , who served as chief of the Pediatric Op- tometry Service from 1995 to 1999 and is the featured faculty mem- ber in this issue of The Visionary . Dr. Coulter has completed multiple studies focusing on preschool vision screening, ocular motility and attention, and convergence insufficiency management and has men- tored other faculty members to pursue clinical research. Through the NSU clinics, she has provided evaluations and treat- ment to many children and adults with autism. In her clinical ap- proach, Dr. Coulter incorporates concepts from DIR/Floortime—an interdisciplinary clinical model used to treat children with autism and other developmental challenges. She uses these skills to teach stu- dents and residents in the Davie pediatric clinic. Pediatric and Binocular Vision Clinic Experiences Major Growth NSUCO’s Pediatric and Binocular Vision Clinic began very modestly on the first floor of the North Miami Beach campus with one attending optometrist and five students in each rotation, and the low vision, contact lens, and binocular vision services all shared space. Since moving to the Davie campus, the pediatric service has blos- somed into a specialty clinical service providing typically developing children, special needs, and brain-injury patients with eye examinations and vision therapy. With more than 10 pediatric faculty members, the clinic has become a referral center for complex cases with patients traveling from across the state seeking care. Faculty members have overlapping areas of expertise and provide didactic as well as clinical instruction to the students. The Broward and North Miami Beach clinics remain sites for vision therapy and eye examinations. In addition, the Kids in Distress clinic provides care for foster children and their families. Nadine Girgis Hanna, O.D., and patient