Vision Test Is Eye-opening Experience
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Del.icio.usWith all the emphasis on early reading, kids these days had better be able to see the words.
Two service clubs are working to make that a little easier by giving eye tests to East Oahu children. Since public schools no longer provide vision screening, the Hawaii Kai Lions, and more recently the Hawaii Kai Rotary Club, have picked up the slack through free tests. And from results compiled this fall by the Rotarians, it’s not a moment too soon.
The club’s vision volunteers referred 30 percent of third-graders they tested for further screening. According to Hawaii Kai optometrist Roger Ede, who supervised the program, generally about 25 percent of children of elementary school age have undetected vision problems.
“It could be very subtle; parents may not know it,“Ede explained, adding that it’s “quite a revelation to lay volunteers. They ask,‘Are we doing it right?’ “
“We were a bit horrified,” admitted Rotarian Linda Knight, who coordinated the club’s recent tests at Kamiloiki, Hahaione, Koko Head and Holy Trinity schools. “There were so many kids with vision problems. Twenty out of 50 at Hahaione needed to see a doctor. Some couldn’t see near or far. One child couldn’t see out of her right eye at all. How do they get along?”
Rotarians spend a few minutes with each child, employing eye chart tests and other simple methods to check for near- and farsightedness, lazy eye and eye coordination. For those who don’t pass, a letter is sent home through the school office recommending further exams by optometrists.
The Rotary club also gave paperback dictionaries to every third-grader at each school they visited.“They were so excited,” Knight recalled. “Of course, they need to be able to see it to read it.”
The Hawaii Kai Lions perform similar tests each fall in all of the preschools from Hawaii Kai to Kaimuki, said Ede, who is a club member. They screened more than 300 children between Sept. 26 and Nov. 2. In one session, 16 out of 63 were found to have potential vision problems.
Hawaii Optometric Association provides some charts and testing equipment free of charge.
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