Saving Sight will offer free KidSight vision screenings at the St. Louis Science Center on August 2 (9:30-3:00) and August 3 (11:00-3:00). Late summer is a perfect time for parents to get their children’s vision evaluated. It’s estimated that 80 percent of learning occurs through the eyes, so healthy vision is essential to success in the classroom. Eye doctors recommend that children receive an eye exam before starting grade school. Children with vision or learning problems should get exams earlier. So in addition to buying school supplies and clothes, parents should also make sure their children start the school year off with the vision they need to succeed.
KidSight staff and Lions club volunteers at the St. Louis Science Center will help identify children with vision problems through quick, painless, and noninvasive vision screenings. No appointment is necessary. Parents will immediately receive the screening results: either a “pass” or “refer” report. Parents whose children are referred (i.e., detected as high-risk for vision problems) will be urged to take their children to an eye doctor for examination and treatment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vision loss is “the most prevalent disabling [condition] among children.” Children often adapt to vision problems or lack the ability to express them, so parents usually don’t know there’s a problem. To identify problems and prevent their children from falling behind in school, parents should follow eye doctor recommendations for childhood eye exams.
KidSight screens approximately 45,000 children in Missouri each year free of charge. Using portable screening equipment, KidSight technicians screen for the most common causes of childhood vision loss, including amblyopia (“lazy eye”). They visit childcare facilities, Head Starts, community events and other child-friendly venues. Learn more at www.saving-sight.org/KidSight.
For more information, contact Tamara Oberbeck, KidSight program manager (573-777-8554, TOberbeck@saving-sight.org), or Clayton Clark, communications & development specialist (800-283-1982 x115, CClark@saving-sight.org).
About Saving Sight
Saving Sight is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to change lives by saving sight. Founded in Columbia, Mo. in 1960, the organization introduced eye donation and the gift of sight to Missouri. Today, Saving Sight operates vision health programs that serve more than 50,000 people each year, including the KidSight vision screening program for children. Saving Sight offices are located in Missouri, Kansas, and central Illinois. For more information, please visit saving-sight.org.