The Perry Lions Club this week completed about 90 vision screenings of Perry preschoolers as part of their annual participation in the Iowa KidSight program, a joint project of the Lions Clubs of Iowa and the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
Iowa Kidsight brings Lions Club volunteers together throughout Iowa to conduct vision screenings in their local communities. The results of the free exams are interpreted by trained staff at University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and returned to families for any needed follow up.
According to doctors, the first few years of a child’s life are critical in the development of good vision. A child’s vision should be checked yearly for conditions such as misaligned eves, cataracts and problems that need correction with eyeglasses.
“The earlier these childhood conditions are detected, the more successfully they can be treated,” said Perry Lion John Andorf, who spearheaded the Perry Kidsight program this year. “The Lions Club screenings are free for all Iowa children thanks to the volunteer efforts of Iowa Lions Clubs and the program’s sponsors.”
Iowa Kidsight aims to provide free, objective vision screening for infants and young children in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. They also seek to educate the public about the risk of undetected vision loss and identify ways to sustain similar vision screening programs across the state.
The program’s target population is children from 6 months of age through kindergarten, but the Perry Lions focus on preschool-age children. They work closely with Perry Elementary School Nurse Shelly Thompson.
About 15 percent of the children tested by the Perry Lions will need either retesting or will receive a notification from the University of Iowa that further medical examination is called for.
The Lions tested children Monday at the Head Start Program at Crossroads Church in Perry and Tuesday at the Perry Elementary School and St. Patrick’s School. Thursday found them testing youngsters at the Perry Child Development Center.
The screening camera used for the exams is a precision instrument costing about $10,000, Andorf said. The camera is on loan from the Panora Lions Club.
The Perry Lions Club also finances eyeglasses for low-income students lacking other sources of support, and they have a hearing aid program for older area residents.
