However, I want to stress the importance of having school staff and parents understand the purpose and limitations of vision screening, in order to avoid giving parents a false sense of security concerning the status of their child's vision. It is now understood that school screenings may miss many educationally significant vision problems. Attached you will find additional supporting information for your consideration as you develop a means of encouraging parents to seek professional eye examinations for all children entering school. As a result of the documented relationship between eye health, clear comfortable vision, and school achievement, I strongly encourage school districts, parents, eye health professionals, and communities to work together to ensure that children receive professional eye examinations at recommended intervals, thus providing them with the necessary tools to achieve their full potential. Regular vision screening and eye examinations are an integral part of a child's health supervision for assuring the health and well being of the child, and also for removing health related barriers to learning.
Vision is one of the most important factors related to learning activities and abilities.
Vision disabilities or disorders can severely impact a child's ability to perform and achieve in the school environment. Early detection and management of educationally significant vision disorders by an eye doctor can maximize a student's ability to perform at school and can minimize possible future need for remedial or special education. When eye examinations are provided, amblyopia and other serious eye problems can be detected and managed early for optimal results. Professional eye examinations further enhance the benefit of and provide the basis for subsequent school vision screening during the child's school career. This research further documents that many school age children have serious vision problems which can go undetected because of limitations inherent in vision screening programs.