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Lions to host free vision screenings

Sat, Feb 24th 2018 07:00 am
The Grand Island Lions Club, in conjunction with Lions S.E.E. and Lions Kidsight USA, is hosting free vision screenings for children 6 months to 6 years old. Screenings will be held in the conference room at the Grand Island Memorial Library on Thursday, March 1, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and from 4 to 7 p.m.
These screenings are primarily for those children who have not been checked in the recent Lions screenings in the Grand Island public and parochial schools or at three of the Island's child care facilities (Island Kids, Kiddo's Korner, and St. Timothy's). The goal includes screening those children who attend other educational facilities or who are home-schooled.
The screenings use the latest technology to detect amblyopic conditions, more commonly known as "lazy eye." Those conditions include far- and near-sightedness, unequal refractive power or pupil size, misaligned eyes, blurry vision, and blockages to light entering the eye such as cataract. The trained volunteer screeners do not contact children nor are drops used to dilate the eyes. It takes less than 30 seconds to perform a screening with instant results. According to the Lions, automated screeners are 80 to 95 percent effective in detecting vision problems, but Lions note screenings do not take the place of an eye exam performed by a qualified pediatric ophthalmologist or optometrist.
Vision experts agree that 80 percent of a child's learning is through vision. Therefore, if a child can't see well, he or she cannot learn well. The 6 month to 6-year-old age bracket is the best time to correct vision anomalies before any conditions become permanent resulting in more expensive, and possibly ineffective, treatment modalities possibly resulting in a lifetime of poor vision for the child. For more information, go to www.lionsseeny.org.
The Lions highly recommend pre-registration for the screenings in order to facilitate the process. Contact Lion Thomas Witkowski at 716-909-1862 or via email at [email protected] to register or for more information.

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