Dr. Graebe Personifies Lifelong Learning
Dr. Rick Graebe, a behavioral optometrist in Versailles, is nothing if not dedicated to lifelong learning.
Over the more than three decades of his career, he has relentlessly pursued best practices for his patients, even if those practices sometimes challenged conventional wisdom.
Take one of Dr. Graebe’s specialties – Vision Therapy, which is a kind of physical therapy for the eyes, brain and body.
Instead of only eyesight, Vision Therapy addresses the entire visual system, which includes eye tracking, eye convergence and visual processing.
As the medical community has increasingly accepted holistic treatments, Dr. Graebe’s colleagues have warmed to Vision Therapy.
That’s one of the reasons he has accepted a speaking engagement to discuss the practice at the 2019 Kentucky Optometric Association’s Spring Congress, which will draw up to 500 practitioners to Lexington at the end of April. Dr. Graebe will discuss the benefits of Vision Therapy.
“I need to do more of this to help get the word out about Vision Therapy,” he said. “It’s also about paying it forward.
“So many people were kind enough to share information with me. I want to do the same.”
Dr. Graebe will follow up that conference by attending an international optometry gathering in St. Petersburg, Fla., in May.
A big draw at the conference is Dr. DeAnn Fitzgerald, an optometrist who runs a holistic clinic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that includes an occupational therapist, an athletic trainer and a massage therapist.
Dr. Graebe has visited her office and regularly participates in Dr. Fitzgerald’s hour-long monthly webinar.
“She’s one of those people where I say to myself, “I wish I knew what she knows.’”
One of the nation’s top doctors in the area of neural rehabilitation, Dr. Fitzgerald specializes in trauma cases and concussions. She’s particularly skillful with acute cases.
“I would put our work against anybody with chronic cases or months after an accident,” Dr. Graebe said. “She is really good with concussions that happened yesterday.”
Dr. Fitzgerald specializes in syntonics (light therapy), which uses colored lights to treat a wide range of vision issues.
Results have been impressive especially in cases of brain trauma.
“Syntonics is very advanced in how the visual system works with the brain,” Dr. Graebe said.
“Wavelengths of light will create different responses in the nervous system, and cells respond differently to different colors of light. This is exciting work.”