Joseph L. Shapiro, OD, FCSO is a highly regarded optometrist respected by both traditional medical and alternative health practitioners. He has successfully treated children and adults with complex visual issues in New York City. His advanced perspective and pioneering efforts in the field of vision therapy have made him a thought leader among behavioral optometrists in the United States for decades.
Dr. Shapiro was an intern and resident when vision therapy programs were first introduced at the University Eye Center at SUNY College of Optometry. He coauthored the seminal book, Out of Sight into Vision, the first in a wave of holistic eye care books that expanded upon traditional treatment and introduced the connection between vision and stress. His innovative behavioral vision therapy protocols include noninvasive theraputic tools such as colored light therapy (syntonics), white light flicker therapy (TBI), microcurrents, and audiovisual entrainment in order to improve eye performance and visual comfort.
At Manhattan Eye, Ear, & Throat Hospital (Northwell Health), as part of the private practice of the Chief of Ophthalmology, he was the first optometrist to open a low vision service for the partially sighted in New York City. He was also a staff member and clinical supervisor of optometry students at the New York Association for the Blind, staff member at the East West Center for Holistic Health in New York City, and Director of the Center for Unlimited Vision, New York City.
Dr. Shapiro lead Grand Rounds and provided in-service lectures and interactive workshops at six New York and New Jersey metropolitan hospitals on functional vision therapy, including NYU’s Langone Rusk Rehabilitation Care Center. He has lectured on light and color at the School of Visual Arts and The New School, both in New York City. He collaborated with visual artist and NYU professor Peter Terezakis on an immersive, interactive multi-space project showing syntonic colored light combinations at Latvia’s Riga Art Space (Fos Ek Foton, Light from Everlasting Light) which offered a multisensory body/mind/spirit experience for the audience.
His reputation for achieving life-changing vision improvements for patients led him to become an on-air eye health commentator for numerous national media outlets. He also played a prominent role in the documentary Eye Care, A Natural Approach.
Dr. Shapiro continues to educate the public about how to maximize visual potential. At the 89th International Conference on Light and Vision, he lectured on the science of syntonic phototherapy in which various light frequencies are used in therapies to help correct visual dysfunction and even help with regulating emotional imbalance.
Dr. Shapiro is the creator of the Lightamins Apps, available for Android and Apple devices. Learn more about the Lightamins Apps.
Email: visiontherapyunlimited@gmail.com