A Vision for Children Everywhere
To learn at school every child needs to be able to see their texts and lessons on the board or screen. To develop relationships with their peers they need to be able to see faces and play safely. To take in the world around them they use their eyes.
That why our practice is proud to support Our Children’s Vision - a global call to action to ensure that effective, inclusive, and sustainable eye health initiatives for children and adolescents become a priority for governments around the world. Undetected vision conditions do more than just limit a child’s ability to see. They limit their ability to learn, can lead to the misdiagnosis of a learning disability like ADHD, can increase the likelihood of becoming a juvenile delinquent, and in some
instances can even lead to blindness, if not identified and treated early.The statistics tell the story.
Children with uncorrected vision:
• Are often misdiagnosed as having a learning disability
– 40% of kids with diagnosed learning disabilities have vision issues
• May suffer from permanent vision loss if a vision issue, like amblyopia (better known as lazy eye), is not treated by age seven
• Could face legal troubles
– One study suggests 70% of juvenile delinquents have been found to have uncorrected vision problems
• Could earn up to 12% less over their lifetime
It is estimated that half the world’s population will be myopic - or nearsighted - by 2050, and the cost to the global economy will be a huge $202 billion annually through the loss of educational and economic productivity. If we can reach children while their eyes are developing, we can slow and even reverse this trend.
An eye exam and a pair of glasses can be the solution. When children, particularly girls, are educated they tend to be healthier, participate more in the labor market, earn higher incomes, and enable better health care and education for their own children in the future.
Over the coming months, our practice will make a donation for every frame sold to help ensure that every child, everywhere has access to the eye care they need. Visit our practice to learn more - or make a donation to www.givingsight.org.
And don’t forget to ensure that your own child has had an eye exam! We can see patients as early as 6 months old! We invite you to contact our office to make an appointment.
