Lions provide vision screenings for kids
Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007
BELLA VISTA - Any number of things can affect a child's education, including poor nutrition, a stressful home situation and physical maladies. Included in the latter is poor eyesight.
One civic organization, the Lions, is fighting back on an international level, doing everything possible to ensure that each child receives vision screenings and follow-up care, when indicated.
Locally, members of three Lions clubs in the Bella Vista-Bentonville area have dedicated themselves to testing preschoolers in hopes of finding vision problems early enough that medical intervention will have some impact.
Using a sophisticated Polaroid camera, club members travel to schools across Benton County photographing the youngsters' eyes, then turning those pictures over to a trained optometrist who screens them for potential problems.
Ed Jenner, a member of the Bella Vista club since 2001 and a project co-chairman, said the program began locally several years ago under Ray Zern.
"He started it, and I inherited it from him," Jenner said.
Jenner has been involved in the program for four years.
He said of all the things he has done in his life, including a career that involved work with NASA and as a school teacher, he has never found anything that gives him more personal satisfaction than this program.
"It is probably the most rewarding feeling," he said. "It's what keeps me involved in Lions."
Recently, club members met at the Benton County Sunshine Preschool in Bentonville and, during a two-day period, photographed more than 70 pairs of little eyes.
Jenner was the photographer. He was assisted by co-chairman Joe Kern, Chet Campbell, Mary and Mike Patrick, Joyce Simon, Darline Shelton and Ralph Wallis.
The idea is simple - simple, that is, until one considers that to be successful, children younger than 6 must sit still long enough for two photos to be taken of their eyes. And, of course, their eyes must remain open.
In order to get and hold a child's attention, the camera comes equipped with flashing lights, and it plays music. If that doesn't work, one of the other Lions is there, standing behind Jenner, holding up a toy or making funny faces, all designed to keep the child looking straight ahead.
Once the pictures are taken, they are pulled out of the camera, just like all Polaroids. Then, for 30 seconds, while the film is processing, Jenner must keep the child occupied in the event another shot is needed. On average, they will reshoot one out of every 20, he said. That's an acceptable number, since the film costs $ 27 for 10 exposures.
The camera - an MTI PhotoScreener - costs $ 5, 000.
It is a portable, instant vision-screening device, according to published information made available through the Lions. It uses 3, 200 ISO (speed ) film. It has to be fast in order to capture the necessary information before the subjects move.
The camera can screen for and detect such problems as amblyopia, or lazy eye, the leading cause of monocular blindness, according to the information provided. And it can detect disorders that can lead to amblyopia, such as nearsightedness (myopia ), farsightedness (hyperopia ), astigmatism and the onset of cataracts.
Jenner said the group limits its testing to age 5 and younger for very specific reasons.
Most children, according to the Lions' literature, are tested by an eye doctor beginning at age 5 or 6, a point at which they can read, but also beyond the normal incubation period - ages 1-3 - for lazy eye. That same 1- to 3-year-old time frame is when the disease is most easily treated.
As many as 1. 2 million U. S. youngsters ages 6 months to 5 years will develop serious vision problems and need to be tested during those times.
The Lions, said Jenner, make no judgments on the pictures they see, although after doing this for some length of time, they can tell when a problem exists.
Once all of the photos are taken, they are carried to Dr. Robert Hurst to be read at no cost.
After examining each photo, Hurst checks one of two boxes - either "OK"or "Refer," the latter meaning he saw something suspicious and recommends a follow-up exam.
All results of the doctor's exam, whether anything was detected or not, are sent to the parents.
Parents may then contact Hurst for additional information, including a more involved assessment and his recommendations.
Hurst has been associated with the Lions nearly a dozen years and has been involved in the screening program since its beginnings in Benton County.
"They deserve an A plus," he said of the Lions who participate in this program.
Hurst said doing the screenings early offers more chances of catching vision problems and dealing with them in a timely fashion.
He estimated that 10 percent of the photos he sees indicate further exams or treatment. And he has screened hundreds of them in the last four to five years.
The program doesn't end once those photographs are examined. Jenner said if a child needs follow-up care and the family cannot afford it, the Lions will step in and assist.
Locally, he said, they have an arrangement with Boozman-Hoff Regional Eye Clinic to do more extensive examinations of those children identified with problems. Nationally, the Lions are closely aligned with Mid-South Lions Sight and Hearing Service, which is funded primarily with Lions dollars from around the world. The federally registered not-for-profit organization's main service areas include Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
Because of the logistics and the amount of time needed by all involved, the Lions only do screenings of large groups, such as those found in schools.
The next stop for the club is Noah's Ark Learning Center later this month, where volunteers expect to see about 120 children.
For more information on the screening program, call Jenner at 876-2149. For more on this program and other projects provided by Lions International, go to http: // www. lionsclubs. org.
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