Richard C. Laudon, OD

Coordinator, Vision Therapy Service

Associate Professor of Optometry, New England College of Optometry

A native of Massachusetts, Dr. Laudon attended the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut.  He enlisted in the National Guard, and spent his graduation day at Fort Ord, California.  He obtained his doctorate at the New England College of Optometry and has been working at New England Eye Institute since 1975.  Dr. Laudon is the Coordinator of the Vision Therapy Service at New England Eye's Fenway Practice , and an Associate Professor of Optometry at the New England College of Optometry.

As one of our longest lasting practicing optometrists, Dr. Laudon has the largest family patient following within the clinic.  Many of the children that he treated in past years have become parents themselves and continue to come to him with their children.

Asked what appeals to him about his profession as an eye doctor, he replied: "The most rewarding part of my job is being able to make a real difference in a child's/patient's quality of life."

Dr. Laudon is an expert in Pediatric visual related learning problems and vision therapy. He has traveled not only nationwide, but also to: Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Columbia to lectures in these areas.  Dr. Laudon has spoken to parents, teachers, occupational therapists and other medical professionals on the importance of vision in our day to day functioning. His work has been widely published. 

In the area of vision therapy, Dr. Laudon has developed a home based training regimen that has helped patients decrease the number of clinical visits and the cost of actual therapy.  His regimen emphasizes a minimum of twenty to thirty minutes of therapy per day for a minimal of five days per week.  The patient is then seen on a bi-monthly basis for a three month period of time.  Improvement in a child’s performance is expected within a four to six week time frame.  Although some patients may require more extensive therapy, Dr. Laudon stresses three months of intervention is the rule of thumb.

Besides his passion for optometry, Dr. Laudon has always been interested in the world of investing.  He is currently the President of the Boston Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors for 2006.  He has also been the coordinator of their Mutual Fund Special Interest Group since 2000.  At the College, he has also taught an elective on Money Management and says: "I like to help people manage their money, especially young people, in an effort to make them more fiscally responsible."  He made his first financial television debut in a short segment on mutual fund investing on CNBC, which was televised as part of their holiday programming for almost a year.

On a personal side, Dr. Laudon lives south west of Boston with his wife, Bonnie, a School Psychologist, and two children: Jesse, who works for a hedge fund on Wall Street and Sara, who just recently completed a Masters Degree in Social Work at Boston College and is finishing a Fellowship at Children’s Hospital in Boston.  "Casey" is another prominent member of the family.  He is a golden retriever and lab mix!  Dr Laudon is an avid walker, who is on the road for a minimum six days per week for at least an hour per day.  His other walks with Casey are for leisure purposes only.