DOCTORS RECOMMEND ROUTINE EYE EXAMINATIONS FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL SUCCESS

Washington, DC . . . As summer ends and kids head back to the classroom, the Contact Lens Council (CLC) encourages parents to have their children screened for vision problems as part of September's back-to-school routine. A visit to a pediatrician or an eye care specialist can rule out common misdiagnoses of learning disorders in school-age children and better prepare a child for his or her education.

It's estimated that 80 % of all learning during a child's first 12 years comes through vision. Yet, nearly 86 % of children age five and under have not had a complete eye examination. That translates to about 18 million children who will not have had an eye examination by an eye doctor by the time they start school.

Statistics bear out the need for complete eye examinations for school-age children. Vision disorders have been ranked as the number one prevalent handicapping condition in childhood, with around 5 % of children identified as having visual acuity problems.

“Children can be easily mislabeled as ‘poor learners’, when, in actuality, they may simply have a visual problem,” says Dr. Stuart R. Dankner, a prominent pediatric ophthalmologist in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Dankner works extensively with children and cites two conditions most frequently overlooked without proper vision screening: amblyopia and focusing problems. “Both conditions can affect how well a child learns, ” he cautions.

The CLC and eye care professionals encourage parents to schedule regular vision screenings for their children and to consider contact lenses for vision correction. More children are wearing contact lenses for vision correction, as lens wear has become easier and more convenient than ever before. There have been numerous recent developments in contact lens and lens care technology, including bifocal contact lenses, contacts that correct astigmatism and one-step multipurpose cleaning and storage solutions.

For more information on contact lenses and eye correction, please visit The Contact Lens Council at www.contactlenscouncil.org or call 1-800-884-4CLC.

The CLC is a non-profit organization serving as an educational resource on vision correction for consumers and is devoted to promoting the safe use of contact lenses. Alcon Laboratories, Allergan Optical, Bausch & Lomb, CIBA Vision, CooperVision, and Vistakon (a division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Products, Inc.) sponsor the CLC. The American Optometric Association, Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists, and the Contact Lens Society of America are advisory members of the CLC.

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