PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY:  Dr. Merrill D. Bowan is a neurodevelopmental optometrist who has practiced  in the Pittsburgh area for over thirty years. Dr. Bowan graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in 1965 with a B.S. in Optometry and Doctor of Optometry degrees. His pre-optometric studies were done at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA. He served three years in the U.S. Navy, attached to the Marine Corps at Parris Island, SC. His areas of professional interest are visual processing in learning, language development, neurophysiological interference in the reading process, and the pathophysiology of refractive error.

          He was co-founder and Director of Perceptual Services at the Effective Learning Institute, a multidisciplinary center, during its existence in 1992-1994.  He has served as the director of perceptual training at Pace School (1970-72); chairman of the Visual Development and Training committee of the Pennsylvania Optometric Association; and consultant to the Title I funded perceptual program at the Bradley Center in Dorseyville, PA, for the program's 5-year span. He was also one of the founders of a multidisciplinary group dealing with developmentally delayed children and adults, called AVID Learning (The Allegheny Valley Institute for the Development of Learning) located in New Kensington, PA.

         Dr. Bowan is on the editorial review board of Annals of Ophthalmology (1997-2005) and he is a member of the Optometric Extension Program, a post-graduate education program.. He has lectured at the Middle Atlantic Optometric Congress (2003), Carlow University masters program in education, Duquesne University -- in both the reading department and department of special education, Penn State University Monroeville campus, the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Penn Technical Institute, and at numerous in-services at local private and public schools throughout Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio.

PUBLICATIONS:

The Visual Aliasing Syndrome. Presentation at the 50th Kraskin Invitational Skeffington Symposium. January 20-22, 2005.

The Myopia about Nearsightedness. MD. Bowan, Publ. 2004.

The Visual Aliasing Syndrome. MD. Bowan, Publ. 2004.

Point-Counterpoint: Only the optometrist should be permitted to perform subjective refraction.

Review of Optometry, September 15, 2004. (Online at: http://www.revoptom.com/index.asp?page=2_1294.htm. Last accessed 11/1/05.)

The Mind’s Eye. MD. Bowan, Publ. 2004.

Putting the Neuro in Developmental Optometry. Presentation at the 49^th Kraskin Invitational

Skeffington Symposium. January 17-20, 2004.

Introducing the binocular Dissonance Test. Presentation at the 65^th Middle Atlantic Optometric

Congress, Sept 20-21, 2003. Monroeville, PA.

The Puzzling Power of Plus and Prism. Transcript of the 48^th Kraskin Invitational Skeffington

Symposium. January 16-19, 2003.

"Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Vision: A Subject Review": a rebuttal, literature review and

commentary. (Optometry 2002;73:553-75).(Available in .pdf format online at:

http://www.oep.org/Learning%20Disabilities,%20Dyslexia%20and%20Vision,%20by%20Merrill%

20Bowan,%20O.D..pdf. Last accessed 11/1/05.)

ADD/ADHD: symptoms in search of a diagnosis. MD Bowan,  Publ. Oakmont PA. 2002.

Learning Problems are BRAIN Problems: What Neurology, Optometry, Psychology,

Education and Psychiatry Have in Common; MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1999.

Vision as it integrates with the other senses; Monograph chapter in OEP Foundation post-graduate curriculum, Vol. 40(2):1-10, Dec. 1999.

A Perceptual-Motor Model of Language; submitted for publication, J.Behavioral Optom.

The Cure for Nearsightedness; MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1999.

Differential Diagnostic Questions to be Answered to Determine the Roles of Vision and

Perception in the Efficacy of Learning; MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1999.

Neurodevelopmental Optometry: the difference between sight and vision; MD
Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1999.

Preventing Refractive Error: What's a Doctor to Do?; Workshop presentation, 3rd

International Congress of Behavioral Optometry, Washington, DC, May 1-4, 1998.

What's in a Name?; Guest Editorial, J. of Behavioral Optometry, Vol. 9/1998, No. 1.

Learning Success and the Role of Neurodevelopmental Optometry; MD Bowan,
Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1998.

Accommovergence: A New (?) Unifying Theory of Accommodation and Convergence; Transcript

of the 43nd Kraskin-Skeffington Symposium on Vision, OEP Foundation, Santa Ana, CA, 1998.

Perceptual Problem Checklist: Categorized by Related Perceptual and Visual Skill Areas;

MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1996.

Stress and Eye: New Speculations on Refractive Error; J. Behavioral Optom.7(5)115-22, 1996.

Differential Diagnostic Questions to be Answered to Determine the Roles of Vision and Perception

in the Efficacy of Learning; Transcript of the 41st Kraskin-Skeffington Invitational Symposium on Vision, OEP Foundation, Santa Ana, CA, 1996.

The Missing Link in the Four Circles of Vision, or, It's Time, for a Change; Transcript of the 37th Skeffington Invitational Symposium, Caryl Croisant Transcripts, OEP Foundation, Santa Ana, CA, 1992.

The OTHER Causes of Attention Deficit Disorders; MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1992.

Nutritional Considerations in Learning Problems; MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1992.

Motivation in Learning, What's a Teacher to DO?; MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1992.

Learning Problems and Behavioral Changes; MD Bowan, Publ., Oakmont, PA, 1992.

Refractive Error and Personality Style; Transcript of the 36th Skeffington Invitational Symposium, Optometric Extension Program, Santa Ana, CA, 1991.

Myopia, Astigmia and Hyperopia: Stress Diseases. An Initial Report on a Unifying Hypothesis;

Transcript of The 30th Skeffington Invitational Symposium, Caryl Croisant Transcripts,

OEP Foundation, Santa Ana CA, 1984.

The Control of Myopia; J. of Optom. Vis. Dev. 12(2)17-24, 1981.