Mandatory eye exam before entering 1st grade?

[fjpod]

Any opinions on the moves by optometry across the country to promote at least one mandatory eye exam (not screening) before entering first grade? A few states have passed such legislation.

[Bjort&Company]

I think it should be mandatory for an eye exam before they enter kintergarden instead of first grade. Or even earlier. The earlier the better. Parents don't realize that they can't tell if their child can see and the child dosen't know any better to tell them because that is how they have seen their whole life. The earlier the better.

Bjortandcompany

[chip anderson]

Only if also accompanied with a rider that:

1) Provided that any spectacle Rx be filled at an independent shop.
2) No payment for spectacles under 1 diopter.
It seems that there almost all the medicaid and medicare glasses seem to be needed in an Rx of +50 -.50 x 180 or so, which most children will not wear and can't tell the difference in whether they or on or not. If Rx is higher than + or - 1.00 the patient will be able to tell if it's helping or not. The taxpayer won't be stuck paying for glasses that no one except the prescriber/supplier can see a need for. If the prescriber is not the suppier, I suspect that the spectacle cost to the state will reduce by 50% or more.

Chip

[shellrob]

My pediatrician actually suggested we get my daughters eyes checked out now and she's not even 2 yet.

[Jacqui]

Any opinions on the moves by optometry across the country to promote at least one mandatory eye exam (not screening) before entering first grade? A few states have passed such legislation.

I'm all for it.

[hcjilson]

Well over 90% of what a child learns,is learned by seeing.In most states, the basic eye test given by schools hasn't changed since it was first adopted.The New York Children's Vision Coalition published a poster with the date New York State adopted the test. Would anyone care to guess what year that was?

Of course it makes good sense to have a child's eyes examined before attending school. Everyone should get behind this in your own state. I am sure the Childrens Vision Coalition would be happy to help in any way they can.

The Coalition has exhibited at the last 3 Vision Expo's in NY. You may recall walking past their "visionmobile" parked on the second floor just in front of the exhibit hall.Quite a machine it is, 2 complete lanes on wheels.I am sure they'll be doing it again next Expo. Stop by and say hello, there's a better than even chance I'll be there.

Yes, its true, New Yorkers happily accept volunteers from Cape Cod.

[OptiJim]

Defiately this should be done! I was 15 years old when I fould out I needed eyewear. Failed my driver's license vision screening. Turned out I was about a -1.50d OU. I had passed all the screenings at the school and never had a complete eye exam until then. When I first put on my new glasses, I was amazed at how clear I could now see leaves on the trees.

[Laurie]

I would even add, that they get a second exam prior to entering the third grade. Many latent hyperopes could be caught at this time (with cycloplegia), and we could cut down on the amount of people who end up ambyopic by this action.

Another interesting quote:

(from the NEA, National Education Association):

"We Learn to Read until grade 3, then we Read to Learn for the rest of our lives."

If we don't master this important skill early in life, the rest of our lives are adversly affected.

This issue became near and dear to my heart years ago, when I began getting involved in eyewear clinics for homeless clients and other economically disadvantaged groups. I have been organizing these clinics with my students and volunteer doctors once a year for 15 years now, and by far, the incidence of Ambylopia in this demographic is outrageously high...up to 34 percent one year! I have no doubt that there is a link between vision and where you may end up in life.

One more fact, from a girlfriend of mine who worked in the CA prison system:

When they did their long term planning, they would estimate how many jail cells they would need in the next 10-20 years based on how many children could not read by the 4th grade.

: (

Laurie

[drk]

BAD idea.

You guys want dentists to make it a law that they have to have their teeth checked?

You want nutritionists making a law?

You want anyone making a law telling you that you have to do something to comply with the government's wishes, before they'll accept your child?

This is misguided, and I do not support it.

[shellrob]

I do think students should get eye exams prior to school but mandating they get them is a whole other story, I agree with DRK. There's too much to this subject. I myself, being in this field, will get my child an exam before school, but I also don't think it's right that I be told to do it or else....

[hcjilson]

BAD idea.

You guys want dentists to make it a law that they have to have their teeth checked?

You want nutritionists making a law?

You want anyone making a law telling you that you have to do something to comply with the government's wishes, before they'll accept your child?

This is misguided, and I do not support it.

Is it the law that children be innoculated against smallpox? etc. Of course it is, and mandating an eye exam is no different.You may also provide the means to do it for those unable to afford it, as they have done in New York City.To call this misguided is wide of the mark. The purpose is to keep children healthy and able to learn at their potential.

[Laurie]

Hello again,

I wish simply spreading the word would do the trick...in an ideal world, right?

Who knows...maybe with government intervention we could change the lives (for the better) of children who would be disadvantaged due to visual problems.

I do understand the importance of not overstepping government involvement in our lives.

In your opinions, what would the downside be to mandating eye exams in the crucial visual development/learning years?

: )

Laurie

[Judy Canty]

I think the idea of a comprehensive eye exam before entering school is a fine idea. I just question the motives behind this push for a legal requirement. I had similar misgivings about VCA's "Check yearly. See Clearly." campaign. As an independent Optician, will either program benefit my practice as much as it will Optometry or Ophthalmology practices with dispensaries? I think not.

[Spexvet]

Good idea!

[fjpod]

I knew this topic would generate some interest and some heat. There are many good eyecare/eyewear providers out there and some bad ones; just like there are some good chefs and bad ones, good teachers and some bad ones, etc.

The government tells everyone, "hey we're sending soldiers and money to Iraq" or the state says, " you need a license to operate a motor vehicle" We all have to comply so as to avoid a chaotic society even if we are opposed to the concept.

The question here is should a child have a mandated eye exam at an early age to prevent vision loss. I sense some are in the negative due to a hostility against eyecare/eyewear providers.

In a perfect world, all parents would be very responsible and have their child's health and eye/vision health checked on a regular basis. But, we all know that not all parents are responsible, or even capable of caring for a child. Even if they are, and the child does see a pediatrician and have school screenings, many amblyopes, strabs, anisometropes and latent hyperopes go undetected.

I guess my view is clear. FWIW

[hcjilson]

I think the idea of a comprehensive eye exam before entering school is a fine idea. I just question the motives behind this push for a legal requirement. I had similar misgivings about VCA's "Check yearly. See Clearly." campaign. As an independent Optician, will either program benefit my practice as much as it will Optometry or Ophthalmology practices with dispensaries? I think not.

Judy,
I think the premise is to benefit the child. Incidently, the year posed in my earlier question, was 1858!

[Judy Canty]

Harry,
I didn't say it wasn't a good idea. I just question the motives.

[chip anderson]

The premise is to help the child. The underlying, is to guarantee more income for optometry under the guise of public concern.Beware of those who ''care" too much.
How about a mandatory complete physical and mandatory care for all maladies both real and insurance or taxpayer paid.

[shellrob]

I do believe they should have the exam done as I know why they should, mandating it however is another story.

[drk]

Why not have the government mandate more and more and more? What kind of world do you want to live in?

I can name 50 things equally important to a person's life that the government could mandate, using your logic.

Smallpox was communicable, unlike strabismus. Duh.

[Laurie]

Hi There,

How about this:

If we improve upon one's ability to read at a young age, and decrease the incidence of amblyopia, latent hyperopia, anisometriopia/antimetropia, we are helping potential productivity for our future, which helps us all. (sorry for run-on sentence).

In other words, enhance intellectual growth and self esteem.

: )

Laurie

[just eyes]

How many 50-60 year old patients have you seen with a balance lens due to an uncorrected amblopia that was not corrected when they were young?

Kentucky has this law, I dispensed a first pair of glasses to a five year old with an ou rx, plano + 6.00. The parents did not have a clue that Junior had vision problems.

[Foveator]

I've been an OD for 25 years and I can't tell you how many moms have gotten to the verge of crying when they realized that their child had not been seeing clearly...FOR YEARS. Their pediatrician said the kids vsision was okay. Sometimes, an ophthalmologist said the vision was okay (no diseases; a little blur is no problem).

If kids have problems focusing at near (very common), lose their place easily, hold papers to close, have wierd posture when doing school work, get headaches - particularly later in the day, tilt their head or close or cover an eye when reading, they need a thorough eye exam. The current system does not work. A large percentage slip through the cracks. School screenings only screen for myopia, and that's only if the kids doesn't memorize the letters from the person before them. So for most of the kids in the lower grades who are hyperopic, the screening is worthless. If GRADES are not satisfactory, check vision.

If I wrote the law, there would be mandatory vision tests before Kindergarten and 6th or 7th grade. It does sound self serving, but for the MILLIONS of kids nationwide who are suffering with compromised vision and struggling with their schoolwork and their potential future success, wouldn't a required eye exam early in their educatrion be a good thing if it caught and eliminated the problem? School nurses and educators think so.

Required immunizations will protect the children from serious diseases, but if there's a vision problem, they will still struggle through school. Fix the vision problem and it will make a life changing improvement in their future.

And, about the dentists... When dentists realized that adding fluoride to the water supply could virtually eliminate tooth decay, they became the biggest proponents of doing just that. Who else would be better able to understand the advantages of this type of law than an expert in the field?

By the way, there's a law in every state to put a drop af antibiotic in a newborn's eye to protect against the chance of the mother having a STD that might blind the child. What is the difference of mandating an eye exam at age 5 to insure proper development of the one sense that will be responsible for 80% of all of knowledge the child absorbs in school? If the vision is poor or barely functional, why send them to school in the first place? If you lose them in the early grades, it's too late.