|
|
October is Lazy Eye Awareness Month
October has been designated Lazy Eye Awareness Month by the Ohio Amblyope Registry.
By October, most school-aged children have had time to adjust to the new school year and many of these children will participate in a school vision screening to ensure that they are ready for reading, writing and arithmetic. About 10 - 15% of children fail a school vision screening each year and parents are then asked to have the child see an eye doctor for a complete eye exam to determine the reason why they failed the vision screening test. Unfortunately, because of busy schedules, many parents don't get around to taking their child to the eye doctor for follow-up testing. Many children who fail a school vision screening will have undiagnosed amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye. Often, a child with a lazy eye will look perfectly normal and parents have no clue that their child is blind in one eye due to amblyopia. Without early detection and treatment, lazy eye may lead to a permanent loss of vision.
To encourage parents to schedule an eye doctor appointment for a child who has failed a school vision screening, October has been designated Lazy Eye Awareness Month by the Ohio Amblyope Registry. The Ohio Amblyope Registry is the first and only statewide program designed to serve the needs of children with lazy eye and their parents. The Ohio Amblyope Registry provides patches for the treatment of lazy eye, distributes written information about lazy eye and provides case management services whereby parents are contacted on a regular basis to make sure they are maintaining their child's eye doctor appointments for the treatment and cure of the lazy eye.
The Ohio Amblyope Registry maintains a web site at www.OhioAmblyopeRegistry.com where parents can learn the latest information about lazy eye, its treatments and causes. In addition, the web site has a searchable database of almost 800 eye doctors throughout Ohio who see children for eye problems and specifically amblyopia. Parents can register their child with amblyopia on the web site to receive treatment supplies and literature. School nurses, who perform the majority of school vision screenings, can go to the web site and print off the names of all the eye doctors in their respective city or county who see children. |