ntaucom
6ukc univcusity mc6icM ccntcR.
VOLUME 23, NUMBER 9
MARCH 5,1976
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Master Craftsman Richard Hamilton
Duke Optician Creates 'Special'Visual Aids
LOOKS PRETTY GOOD—Richard Hamilton, manager of the Eye Center's Optical
Dispensary, examines a pair of glasses he made for a two-year-old child. Each lens is
about the size of a nickel. Hamilton, a master optician, said he enjoys making custom
visual aids for patients with special problems. (Photo by Jim Wallace)
By David Williamson
For most Americans, buying a new
pair of glasses is almost as easy as
purchasing a pair of shoes.
For a less fortunate few with special
eye problems, however, just finding
an optician who can construct the
sophisticated visual aids they require
is a difficult task in itself.
Richard Hamilton, manager of the
Optical Dispensary at the medical
center, belongs to a small group of
optical craftsmen across the nation
who have developed a talent for
helping these patients with “special”
needs.
Source of Pain
Consider the accident victim with
no ears or only one ear, or perhaps
no nose or one so scarred by burns
that glasses resting on its bridge
represent a continuing source of
pain. Or the child born with eyes
farther apart than normal.
“When optical companies
manufacture frames and lens, they’re
shooting for the average,” Hamilton
said. “Since they’re mass producing
their goods for a huge market, they
can’t possibly accommodate the
patients who come to us for help.”
And since custom work doesn’t
repay the time which goes into it,
most private opticians won’t touch it
with a 10-foot magnifying glass,
Hamilton said.
Watchmaker
The 49-year-old Hickory, N.C.,
native, who lives in Raleigh and
commutes to Durham daily, said he
became interested in the science of
optics during World War II when he
Nutrition Bill of Rights Adopted
By Sharon Polisson, R.D.
In line with this year’s Bicentennial
festivities, the American Dietetic
Association has chosen as its theme
for National Nutrition Week, March
7-13, “Improving Nutrition for the
Nation, 1776-1976.”
In 1776, the United States was
founded with a Bill of Rights
guaranteeing freedom for all. In
1976, a “Nutrition Bill of Rights” has
been adopted by the American
Dietetic Association.
The Nutrition Bill of Rights
recommends that every American
can have the following: “the Right to
Health" through improved nutrition;
“the Right to Choose" a variety of
foods that provide optimal nutrition
at competitive prices; and “the Right
to Be Informed" through adequate
nutrition education as a protection
VIP Produces Retardation Film
A videotape on services for the
mentally retarded in Durham has
been produced by Duke’s Video
Interaction Program (VIP) at the
request of the Development
Disabilities Task Force.
It is designed for showing to
professionals in the Durham area
who deal with problems of the
mentally retaided, and the first
showing was at noon today at
Department of Pediatrics Grand
Rounds.
I’he Developmental Disabilities
Task Force is made up of mental
health professionals and parents.
The tape points out a sense of
discouragement many parents feel
liecause they believe some physicians
are not aware of the services available
locally.
The ser\ices, as the tape shows,
range from evaluation of the
developmental disabilities through
various training opportunities.
The tape's producer, VIP, is part
of the C'ommunity Models Division of
the Department of Community
Health iiences.
against food and nutrition
misinformation.
The American Dietetic Association
is also strongly supporting and
encouraging the passage of the
National Nutrition Education Act.
This act is the initial step in providing
programs so that the public can
become more knowledgeable about
the foods needed in the daily diet.
Dr. Mary Swartz Rose, a pioneer in .
the science of nutrition, coined the
phrase, “ignorance, indifference and
poverty" in describing the greatest
enemies of nutritional well-beine.
r h e American Dietetic
Association is working for: the
recognition that nutritional care is
basic to health care; funding for
nutritional services in preventive
care; on-going support for reseaich
in the basic sciencc of nutrition; and
continuing education activities.
At the niedical center, the theme
“Improving Nutrition for the
Nation" will be displayed and
publicized next week in the form of
games, table tents, booths in the
cafeterias, posters, buttons and other
- educational materials.
served in the Navy. Originally trained
as a horologist or watchmaker, he was
hired after the war by an instrument
research laboratory which was«sting
aircraft involved in crashes.
The work he performed on
cameras and instruments at that
laboratory, which is now a part of the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, directed him toward
opticianry, he said.
In 1948 he joined the Durham
Optical Co., and in 1973, after 25
years with that firm, he resigned as
vice president to accept the position
as head optician at Duke. He said he
now prefers to work with
opthalmologists at the “edge” of
current eye research.
Dramatic Reaction
“It’s tremendously exciting to see a
child see well for the first time,”
Hamilton admitted. ‘The reaction is
so dramatic.
“I’ve had small children in the
dispensary or on the ward crying and
squirming until I got a pair of glasses
on them. Then all the fussing
stopped,” he said. “There was a
sudden awareness and a fascination
with the world around them.”
Hamilton, who is a fellow in the
National Academy of Opticianry,
pointed out that sight is particularly
-important during infancy and early
childhood because such a large
percentage of those years is spent
learning. A child who is visually
handicapped will develop
intellectually at a much slower rate,
Hamilton said, so every attempt is
made to fit such children with glasses
as young as six months.
“There are no good factory-made
pediatric frames,” he said, “and we
have to make many pairs
individually.” Currendy, Hamilton is
designing a frame for infants which
can be mass produced.
Venetian Blinds
One of the special devices the
(Continued on page 4)
Forbus Dies,
Service Set
A memorial service for Dr.
Wiley D. Forbus, who died
Wednesday, will be held.Sunday
at 4 p.m. in Duke University
Chapel.
Dr. Forbus, one of the original
members of the Duke medical
faculty, a world leader in
pathology and chairman of
Duke’s department for 30 years,
had entered Duke Hospital Feb. 6^
He would have been 82 March 14.
A story dealing with Dr.
Forbus’ contributions to Duke
and the field of pathology will be
carried in next week’s Intercom.