Lowenfeld-Akeson 2026 Recap

The 2026 Thirtieth Annual Lowenfeld- Akeson Early Years Symposium was hosted at California School for the Blind on February 7, 2026.

2026 Silverman Award

The Dr. William and Mrs. Ruth Silverman Excellence in Community Partnerships Committee is pleased to announce Dr. Emilly Gorski, Doctor of Optometry (OD), is the recipient of the prestigious 2026 Silverman Award.

The award, presented at the Thirtieth Annual Lowenfeld-Akeson Early Years Symposium* at California School for the Blind on February 7, 2026, recognizes a member of the medical community whose partnership enhances the knowledge of educators and therapists and enriches the lives of families of young children who are blind, deafblind, have low vision or whose developmental delays include vision loss.

Dr. Emily Gorski, OD, the 2026 Dr. William and Mrs. Ruth Silverman Award recipient.

David Silverman of Seattle presents the Silverman Award to Dr. Emily Gorski, OD.

David Silverman, of Seattle, Washington, son of Dr. and Mrs. Ruth Silverman presented the award to Dr. Gorski, following tributes from her colleagues, Deborah Orel Bixler of the University of California (UC) Berkeley Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science; and Samantha Peterson, Low Vision Clinic Coordinator at California School for the Blind in Fremont. Dr. Gorski is the highly regarded Assistant Clinical Professor at the UC Berkeley School of Optometry and is the Attending Optometrist at the California School for the Blind.

Nominated by the Low Vision Clinic Team at California School for the Blind; and a Parent of a child with low vision, Dr. Gorski exemplifies the spirit and ideals of the Silverman Award through her work with children, their families, and their communities of care.

The parent nominator spoke of Dr. Gorski's exemplary work: "This was the first time our child was able to complete a full low vision assessment and this information has been invaluable for our child, our family, our child's teachers, and doctors. The assessment information Dr. Gorski provided has allowed all of us to better understand our child's vision needs, allowing them to thrive this year at school and finally begin to read in Braille!"

The award is given in honor of Dr. William Silverman (1918-2005) whose studies of newborns at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center helped alter the treatment of premature infants and gave many parents greater say in their babies' care. A noted author, Dr. Silverman headed the editorial board of the journal Pediatrics (1962-68) and from 1981 until his passing, served in an advisory role at Blind Babies Foundation.

Dr. Silverman was an advocate for rigorous testing of new treatments for patients. "His championing of clinical trials led to the concept of evidence-based medicine" said Dr. Malcolm Holliday, former chief of pediatric nephrology at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Ruth (Roo) Silverman, a Registered Nurse, worked alongside her husband and served as his skilled research partner and scribe.

*The Lowenfeld-Akeson Early Years Symposium, named after blindness educators, Berthold Lowenfeld and Nancy Akeson, is sponsored by California Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (CAPVI); California Deafblind Services (CDBS); California School for the Blind (CSB); LightHouse-SF Little Learners; and San Francisco State University's (SFSU) Graduate Program in Visual Impairments.