About Our Doctors
David L. Cook, O.D., F.A.A.O., F.O.V.D.R., Dipl. A.A.O.—Binocular Vision and Perception
Clinician, author, international educator, Dr. David Cook, is one of the nation’s leading authorities on vision therapy, enjoying over forty years of experience as a clinician changing the lives of thousands of vision therapy patients, both in his own practice and the practices of the hundreds of doctors he has helped to train.
In 1974, he earned his A.B. in English Literature from U.C.L.A. where he was also co-captain of the gymnastics team. He received his doctorate in optometry from Pacific University College of Optometry in 1978 and in 1979 completed the vision therapy residency at the State University of New York’s College of Optometry, where he was also an assistant clinical instructor.
He is a Fellow in the Optometric Vision Development and Rehabilitation Association (F.O.V.D.R.), a Fellow in the American Academy of Optometry (F.A.A.O.), and a Diplomate in Binocular Vision and Perception in the American Academy of Optometry (Dipl. A.A.O.).
In addition to his books, When Your Child Struggles, Visual Fitness, and The Shape of the Sky, he has published over a dozen articles on vision therapy in peer-reviewed, clinical-science journals. Four of these papers have won best-article-of-the-year awards, the most recent chronicling his work with 75 strabismic patients achieving a non-surgical success rate of over 80 percent.
From the Optometric Vision Development and Rehabilitation Association (O.V.D.R.A), the international organization for vision therapy, he has received the prestigious Skeffington and Getman Awards, one for excellence in vision therapy writing and the other for excellence in developmental optometry.
Dr. Cook has served national and international exam boards and lectured across America as well as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Spain and Greece. He has addressed the International Reading Association and state educational-psychology and occupational-therapy organizations. Having appeared on such local television programs as Good Day Atlanta and Noonday, he remains a popular speaker—the podcast linked to this website, for instance, has over fifty thousand views to date.
His hobby is writing. He is a published poet in Northwest Magazine and a short story writer in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. His Visual Fitness: 7 Minutes to Better Eyesight and Beyond was published by Berkley Books, a division of Penguin Group, USA.
Dr. Ekta Patel, BTech. Optom., O.D., F.O.V.D.R.
Dr. Patel is board-certified in vision therapy and a full partner at Cook Vision Therapy Center, Inc. Drs. Patel and Cook consult on all patients together, providing expertise from their respective backgrounds and combined 60 years of vision-care experience.
Dr. Patel received her Bachelors of Technology in Optometry from University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She then attended New England College of Optometry, where she completed the four-year Doctor of Optometry degree in two years, graduating first in her class with highest honors. She was a member of Beta Sigma Kappa Optometric Honor Society and a recipient of the Advanced Standing International Program Scholastic Achievement Award and the William C. Barrett Scholarship Award for Clinical and Academic excellence.
She became acutely aware of the impact of vision problems on family life when her child developed an eye turn and, despite high intelligence, was struggling in school. The nightly “Homework Wars” dragged on for hours. At Cook Vision Therapy Center, she witnessed the transformative impact that the tailored program had on her son’s behavior, learning, and self-esteem.
Inspired, Dr. Patel switched her emphasis from general care and ocular disease to vision therapy. Having already been licensed for almost 20 years to treat binocular vision disorders, she immediately added an additional 150 hours of education devoted to neuro-visual rehab, strabismus, and pediatric visual processing as well as completing an intensive two-year clinical fellowship in vision therapy working should-to-shoulder with Dr. Cook.
Dr. Patel is board-certified Fellow in the Optometric Vision Development and Rehabilitation Association (F.O.V.D.R.). She is also a member in the American Optometric Association and the Georgia Optometric Association. She is fluent in English, Afrikaans, and Gujarati.
Check Out Our Resources
Dr. Cook’s Publications:
- Authored books VISUAL FITNESS and WHEN YOUR CHILD STRUGGLES.
- Published articles in top optometric journals.
- His article “Eyesight, infinity and the human heart” was voted “Best Non-Technical Article” by the Association of Optometric Editors.
When Your Child Struggles
Visual Fitness
