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It's time for a shift in our thinking. It's time to get our shift together. It's time for eyewear professionals to be agents of change; time for craftsmanship; time to return to the days of full service. It's time for those who know to teach those who do not know. It's time for those who do not know to surrender their ego. Kindly allow me to share a few Points To Ponder. I) Handcrafting prescription eyewear to fit the consumer cannot be outsourced to virtual sources. It's an art form, which requires actual direct contact with the patient. Handcrafting prescription eyewear cannot be learned online or in a lecture hall setting. Too much lecture training
The following link indicates there is too much emphasis on TRAINING LECTURES, not enough on PRACTICAL TRAINING. This results in the delivery of poorly fitting eyewear, the number one complaint of prescription eyewear consumers, which in turn causes consumers to avoid brick and mortar optical dispensaries. In other words due to the lack of available dispensing skills many consumers prefer to get their eyewear delivered via their mailbox. Check out this link. Too little practical training
II) Opticians, as Eyewear Professionals, are defined by how well the eyewear fits the patient, not by the number of customers served. Therefore, the mission of any skilled Optician must be to promote the practical, not virtual, training in the artful skills necessary to fit handcrafted, form-fitting eyewear with the goal of turning around the current and pervasive dehumanized dispensing of ophthalmic eyewear. If you agree I invite you to visit these web sites and then do whatever you can to assist this mission. III) Opticians are Eyewear Professionals. Eyeglass consumers need and deserve 3-D Dispensing, Plus: 1.) Discovery... Optician-assisted in-depth lifestyle interview; 2.) Design... Optician-assisted design and selection; 3.) Delivery... Optician-assisted handcrafted form-fitting, fit-to-forget eyewear; Plus... Free lifetime adjustments and minor repair services; NONE of which are available from online sources. Bottom line... all Opticianry is local. See 50 Things On-Line Sellers Simply Cannot Do – But We Can! BTW: I am a Florida and Arizona licensed Optician with 59 years in the industry. I teach the art form and craft of dispensing eyewear the way it was taught in the '50s. I teach ABO and Florida Board of Opticianry, CE approved Hands-on Practical Frame-Fitting and Adjustments Workshops. Kindly contact me if I can assist you. Call me at 855-410-2700 for details and/or for setting up your own Workshop. More Points To Ponder
There are a number of conflicted forces at work within the ophthalmic dispensing industry, which keep us from making progress. The two biggest are:
Regarding professional egoism, I suggest that we ask the question of those dispensers who claim they know how to fit eyewear, and those who claim that they have been working as an Optician for years. "Have you had any clinical training in handcrafting eyewear directly on the consumer?" The problem: too many dispensers came to their job as apprentices taught by other dispensers who themselves have mostly little or no clinical, hands-on training in the art and craft of form-fitting eyewear directly on the patient. "The real challenge for an Optician is to take a symmetrically 4-point This decades-old history, not price, is the reason independent Opticians have lost, and continue to lose market share. It is therefore incumbent on those who know to teach those who do not know. And it is incumbent on those who do not know to surrender their ego. NOTES: EGOTISM is the feeling or belief that one is better, more important, more talented, etc., than other people. SHAKTIPAD is a state of egotism in which an optical dispenser is far less experienced, knows far less than they think they know, and who fails to acknowledge it. The worst case scenario is the optician who falls into the trap of convincing themselves and others that only they know the best way, and that the old ways need to change. Beware of the 'tiger's bite'! Shaktipad is a consequence of 'riding the tiger' of pride. One must ever be alert to the signs of shaktipad in order to take appropriate action. In the case of an optical dispenser in the state of shaktipad, the remedy is to seek out practical training with the attitude of a perpetual student, i.e., one who surrenders their ego, realizes that learning never stops, and that one can always improve their skills. "You learn at the hands of the Teacher or you learn at the hands of the Times." -- Eyewear Professionals See The Danger Independent Opticians Face. See Enough With The Talking Points. See GlassesOnlineWarning.com. My
AMD, Age-related Macular Degeneration, affects millions of Americans. If you are age 50-plus you are advised to monitor your eyes daily using this quick test Amsler chart for symptoms of AMD. If symptoms occur contact your eye physician IMMEDIATELY. The sooner treatment occurs the better the potential outcome. Normal
Macular Degeneration
Amsler Chart
Print out this chart and tape it to a wall or other surface where you can quickly check your eyes on a daily basis. Download pdf chart. Click here for more information. -- See The Danger Independent Opticians Face. See Enough With The Talking Points. See GlassesOnlineWarning.com.
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.) We have not yet effectively dealt with the reality that the majority of current dispensers are woefully under trained and extremely challenged when it comes to handcrafting prescription eyewear. For instance, I know senior Opticians who attend our 
.) There's also a lot of professional 
