Vision disorders are
a common problem among children in the United States. Based on an estimate,
almost 25% of children in the school going age have vision problems.
Despite the rise in medical care and living standards of people, most of
the young children, even of pre-school age, are not getting appropriate eye
care. Only an estimated 1/3rd of all kids have eye tests or vision
screening before joining a school.
Another study
conducted recently showed that 11.5% of teenagers face vision difficulties that
go unchecked and are not treated at all. That is why, the society as
whole should strive towards early detection and treatment of eye and vision
disorders. This can become possible by spreading the knowledge about the
crucial stages in the development of the human vision. The earlier the vision
disordered is discovered and treated, the higher the chance of the child not
facing any negative effects on his/her growth and development.
Eye tests and vision
examinations such as visual screening, conducted in the school or even
pre-school are not sufficient on their own, and they can never be substituted
for professional and expert eye care. This is the concern of the American
Optometric Association (AOA). Vision screening is a restricted procedure of
reviewing some aspects of vision problem areas. However, only professional eye
doctors can diagnose eye diseases and prescribe the correct medication and
treatment. Even simpler procedures of recommending eye glasses and contact lens
(like the 1 day acuvue moist)
should be done by an experienced doctor. If this is done before the child
enters school, there will a significant reduction in academic failure due to
vision problems.
Negligence of taking
timely eye tests (and not realizing their flaws) is the major cause of
undetected eye problems in children. Many eye problems can be treated simply by
using contact lens such as the 1
day acuvue moist, or spectacles. Several studies also
point out the growing need of effective eye examinations for children. As
mentioned before, vision screening in public and private schools is necessary,
but it is not a one step solution to solving eye problems.
Such tests and
programs are designed to detect the children who possibly have vision problem
that can affect their learning development at school, along with affecting
their physiological and perceptual processes. Screenings, however, are not
designed to diagnose eye disease, and they do not direct a person
towards treatment. Visual screening is just a first step to indentify whether a
person needs future eye care or not.
Coupled with their
ineffectiveness is the fact that only 33 states, according with the District of
Columbia actually require public and private schools to conduct vision
screening! Furthermore, it is also worthy of attention that vision screening
programs are not uniform. Their range and abundance is not the same in
all states.
Moving on, it is also
noticed that people misunderstand the need for an all-out eye exam program with
improved vision screenings. Enhancing the quality of vision screening
programs is good, but is not the same as a comprehensive vision examination.
The limitations of vision screenings are not in the knowledge of the masses.
Awareness should be created in the public and it should be communicated
that merely passing the eye examination does mean that the person does not have
any eye problems.
A weak communication
network is also a reason why children experience eye problems that are not
treated on time. What this means is that there should be clear communication
between the school nurses, doctors and the parents. As soon as any of
these groups discover the slightest hint of eye disease in a child, immediate medical
attention should be given.
Failure to do so can
put a question mark on the credibility and quality of the vision screening
attempts at the education institutions. Another problem is that only the visual
acuity is considered the benchmark in a screening process. All parties
involved, as well as well the society at large should know the immense costs of
untreated vision problems, not only to the children’s eyesight, but also to
their learning development at school.
Finally, it is also
important to know that children who are handicapped physically or mentally have
greater chance of developing visional abnormalities than their peers. Moreover,
such children are not capable of completing vision screening and other eye
tests in an appropriate way. This further demonstrates why many vision problems
in children are not undetected and is left untreated.
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