Thank you Essilor Vision Foundation for sponsoring this post. EVF provides over 500,000 pairs of glasses per year to people in need and works with schools, eye doctors, charities, and corporations to help build vision ambassadors focused on serving their community.
My oldest daughter will turn five soon, and we’ve been preparing her for kindergarten in the fall! Aside from working on the alphabet, counting, and writing her name, we’ve also scheduled her first visit to the optometrist. A child’s vision is a huge contributor to their performance in school, so we want to make sure that we catch and address any issues with her sight as early as we can.
As a mom and a teacher, I am very excited to tell you about Essilor Vision Foundation! EVF is a nonprofit organization that provides eyecare resources to families with less access. There are many factors that determine a child’s achievement in school, and EVF is bringing attention to the important role vision plays. Whether or not a student can see well impacts their behavior, self-esteem, and ability to learn. It can even influence how they socialize with peers and engage in extracurricular activities. All of these reasons make it necessary to take kids to regular eye exams, especially if they show signs of difficulty seeing.
When I was eight, my teacher noticed that I was squinting every time I looked at the blackboard. It was very obvious that I couldn’t see her lessons from across the classroom, and I started to get frequent headaches from straining my eyes. She suggested to my mom that I have my vision checked. We learned from an optometrist that I was nearsighted and had astigmatism. Anything further than three feet away was fuzzy, and we were told that I needed corrective lenses.
We drove home after that visit with my very first pair of glasses, and I felt like an entirely new person. I have no idea when my vision started declining, but for the first time in a long time, I could actually see. The leaves on the trees were brighter and more defined, street signs suddenly came back into focus, and I could see drivers in other cars singing along with their radios. My view of the world improved instantly, and I returned to school more confident and ready to learn. By covering the cost of vision exams and glasses, EVF has helped over one million people experience this same eye-opening sensation since 2007.
Several years later, I became a kindergarten teacher in Compton, CA, where I served a low socioeconomic community. The families wanted the best for their children, but they were simply not informed about vision health. I took it upon myself to notice if my students squinted a lot, had challenges with spatial awareness, seemed unfocused, were short-tempered, lacked hand-eye coordination, and complained of headaches. Although perceived misbehavior in young children can be the result of being in a new environment or symptoms of a conduct disorder, sometimes they just can’t see very well.
The few times that I suspected a student was having trouble with their sight, I met with their parents to share my observations. Each family reacted with uncertainty. Optometrists are costly, especially if you’re uninsured and have multiple children to worry about. I wish that I would have known about EVF back then so that I could have referred them immediately.
1 in 4 children in the U.S. has a vision problem that affects their ability to learn, but a fourth of parents also cannot afford vision exams. Across the country, there are communities just like the one I taught in, and EVF is working hard to reach them all.
You can make a difference by contributing to Essilor Vision Foundation today! Your donation will help provide vision exams and glasses for families in need so that all children can reach their fullest potential.
Click here to donate to Essilor Vision Foundation today. A child’s sight should never be a reason for them to fall behind and your generosity has the power to give someone a better life!
Talk to you soon!
