August is National Children’s Vision and Learning Month.

August was declared National Children’s Vision and Learning Month in 1995. The goal of  this national observance is to help educate parents and educators about the critical link between vision and learning.

Learning is all about Vision; 80% of what a child learns in school is presented visually. Unfortunately, studies show that only 31% of children ages 6 – 16 have an annual eye examination, and 70% of children under 6 have never had an eye exam. As a result 1 in 4 children will go back to school this year with an undiagnosed vision problem that could interfere with their ability to learn. Give your child the advantage that comes from good vision.

Uptown Eye Care has partnered with the Minnesota Optometric Association (http://minnesota NULL.aoa NULL.org/) in recognizing August as Children’s Vision and Learning Month. To kick off the month MOA Children’s Vision Committee, with the help of a federal (HEHP) grant is supporting Pre-K Eye Exam day on Wednesday, August 1^st. Uptown Eye Care’s Dr. Mary Gregory will be offering no cost eye exams to 4 and 5 year olds that will be entering kindergarten this fall. This is a great opportunity to make sure your children are ready for learning with good sight!

Spaces are limited, so please call our office at 763-271-2020 to schedule your child’s Pre-K Eye Exam today.

For more information see our post, Pre-K Eye Exam Day.

Interesting Stats on How Vision Problems Can Interfere with Learning:

• “25% of students in grades K-6 have visual problems that are serious enough to impede learning.”  – American Public Health Association
• “When vision problems go undetected, children almost invariably have trouble reading and doing their schoolwork. They often display fatigue, fidgeting, and frustrations in the classroom—traits that can lead to a misdiagnosis of dyslexia or other learning disabilities.”  – American Optometric Association
  
• “It is estimated that 80% of children with a learning disability have an undiagnosed vision problem.”  – Vision Council of America
• “Early diagnosis and treatment of children’s vision problems is a necessary component to school readiness and academic learning; and that vision screening is not a substitute for a complete eye and vision evaluation by an eye doctor.  Comprehensive eye and vision examinations … are important for all children first entering school and regularly throughout their school-aged years to ensure healthy eyes and adequate visual skills essential for successful academic achievement.”  – National PTA Policy Statement 2005, Elements of Comprehensive Health Programs
• “Early testing for vision problems is key to preventing learning disabilities or, in some cases, significant visual impairment in children.”  -  Ned Calonge, MD, MPH, Task Force Chairman, Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
• “A three year study of 540 children found that those children who had visual perceptual and eye movement difficulties did poorly on standardized tests.”  – Dr. Lynn Hellerstein, FAAO, FCOVD, Developmental Optometrist and Past President of COVD.