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Vision screening program discovers eye problems early

HOT SPRINGS The Hot Springs Lions Club was helping Hot Springs Elementary students see clearly into their futures Tuesday morning, April 11.

A team of specially trained Lions Club volunteers, sporting yellow vests, implemented a free vision screening program, Lions KIDSIGHT South Dakota, at the elementary school. The effort is part of a statewide program provided free for children ages 12 months and up.

Using a specialized screening machine that peers inside the eyes, Pinky Horner, Program Coordinator for KIDSIGHT South Dakota, and six Lions Club members Gary Merkel, Perry Holmes, Chuck Kraus, Gene Nachtigall, Ed Renstrom and Leon Melstad were helping elementary students discover the status of their vision.

A student entered the room, gave a Lion his orange sticker and had his or her named checked on a list of students who were to be screened. (Parental consent was required with all screenings.) The student sat in a chair in front of a Lions Club member who held the screening machine, which looked something like an old Polariod camera.

The room door was closed, the lights turned off and the students eyes were scanned from several feet away.

From the students point of view, sitting in the chair, they saw colored lights that flashed patterns.

From the perspective of the scanner operator, an image of the students eyes appeared on the scanners screen.

Within seconds, the accurate information the scanner collected was sent to a printer, and each student scanned received a precise evaluation of their eyesight, with a prescription for correction if this was necessary. No physical contact was made with the student, and no eye drops were needed.

The scanning could be done with glasses on or off, and the glasses-wearing Lions Club members who tried the machine out on themselves, said their scans were spot-on in terms of diagnosing vision abnormalities.

The Lions Club has traditionally made efforts to improve vision across the nation, but why is vision screening important for young kids?

According to Lions KIDSIGHT South Dakota, the first few years of a childs life are critical in the development of good vision.

Preschoolers should have their vision checked for issues such as misaligned eyes, and problems that need correction with eyeglasses. These problems are not always evident by simply looking at a child, and children often compensate for vision problems so well that parents, teachers, even pediatricians may be unaware of a problem.

By the time a child is old enough to be in primary grades, many of these common vision-robbing conditions can no longer be effectively treated.

Because the eye is almost completely developed by the time a child is six years old, early detection of vision issues is mandatory in enabling critical physical and mental development and preventing sight-robbing diseases.

Less than 20 percent of children receive a comprehensive eye exam prior to age six, according to Lions KIDSIGHT South Dakota. Studies show that during a childs first 12 years, 80 percent of all learning is obtained visually. And down the road, studies indicate 70 percent of juvenile delinquents are found to have a vision problem.

A lazy eye, amblyopia, for example can develop when an undetected vision problem goes untreated during a childs formative years. The incidence of amblyopia in the U.S. is estimated to be 3 to 5 percent of the population. Vision problems can also result in learning difficulties as a child enters the primary grades.

Other problems scanning can detect include: Myopia (near-sightedness), hyperopia (far-sightedness) astigmatism (blurred vision), aniscoria (pupil size deviations) strabismus (lazy eye), anisometropia (unequal refractive power).

The Lions Clubs KIDSIGHT program, has referred hundreds of children to an eye doctor for further examination and treatment. Most parents of those children had no idea their child had any problems with their eyes. However, with this program, the parents were able to get their child the medical care they needed.

Lion Gary Merkel said the KIDSIGHT program would be scanning pre-schoolers at The Discovery Zone on Thursday, April 13, and then returning in the fall to screen pre-schoolers, kindergarteners, and third and fifth graders in the fall.

See more here:
Lion's Club offers clear vision for students - Rapid City Journal

This entry was posted on April 18, 2017 at 7:48 pm and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |