Introduction to modern analytical optometry

Historical Significance: This booket was first published in 1935. The Optometric Extension Program Foundation Inc (OEP) is a USA non-profit organization that began by providing elementary continuing education for optometrists in the 1920s when optometry was emerging from opticiancy. Later in the 1940s and 50s it embraced concepts, largely through the advocacy of Arthur M Skeffington, that continue under the banners of behavioral optometry and vision therapy. The OEP had its origins in a continuing education program developed by the Oklahoma Optometric Association. E.B. Alexander was the secretary of the Oklahoma Extension Program. SK Lesser was one of the advocates of OEP philosophy and wrote several books about its approach to optometry. (See also Cat No 1068). See also Kett WG. The 21 point technique Aust J Optom Dec 1936 and Jan 1937 in which Kett details the 21 points from a summary written by SK Lesser. (free download of Kett's papers from Clin Exp Optom on Wiley Interscience). The 21 point technique was one of the key concepts of the OEP. It describes many aspects of optometry as we know it today but which were not routinely part of optometry in the 1930s. The 21 point technique was and is criticised for being a recipe approach. The OEP later expanded into vision therapy. See Goss DA 'Biographical notes on two writers on optometric case analysis: Sol K Lesser and Martin H Birnbaum' in Hindsight 2012; 43: 5-9.(in Kett Museum Cat No 1962) for more information on Lesser and the OEP. A history of OEP can be found in Birnbaum MH. Behavioural optometry: a historical perspective. J Amer Optom Assoc 1994; 65: 255-264