I remember when Bebe started Kindergarten, she went through an evaluation with all of the teachers to see what she knew and what we could still work on before school started. The school did this as part of the Kindergarten screening they do every Spring. This way we had all summer to go over some of the things she could improve on.
Another thing they did was bring in the school nurse to run a vision screening. It wasn’t foolproof but Bebe got recommended to our pediatrician and then to an eye doctor. Turns out my little fashionista was far-sighted.
That was an eye opener for me (no pun intended). She’d never complained of headaches or said something was hard to see. I’d never had to yell at the kids for being too close to the TV, computer or even reading in the dark; you know all those things our parents told us would ruin our eyes… so I was really stunned to find out that she needed glasses.
The Jewish Guild for the Blind is part of a Children’s Vision Health Initiative to make sure all preschool children get properly screened.
Currently, it is estimated that only 21% of preschool children receive vision screening.
The not-for-profit Jewish Guild for the Blind is leading the charge to implement national standards for vision screening in preschool-age children. The Guild’s Children’s Vision Health Initiative seeks to ensure that the vision of young children does not continue to be overlooked.
The Guild’s initiative focuses attention on this critical issue in order that eye health and vision screening become part of a child’s routine preschool physical examination by a pediatrician.
Up until Bebe’s Kindergarten screening, I never considered having their eyes checked prior to school but because there is no national standard for vision screening and eye health, millions of kids start school with eye problems that can easily be remedied and get their academic career off to a good start.
If you’d like to learn more or have questions check out the Jewish Guild for the Blind and their newly launched Telesupport network here.
