Experts estimate 25% of school-age children in the United States have vision problems. Yet, only 10% of kids between 9 and 15 years who need glasses actually have them. It’s alarming to me that about 40-67% of children with vision problems do not receive the recommended eye exams or glasses.

It’s estimated that 80% of learning comes through the visual processing of information. Imagine how many children could improve their learning if only they could see properly. According to the National PTA more that 10 million children in this country suffer from vision problems that may affect academic performance. Despite this reality, two out of three children in the U.S. never receive any preventive vision care before they enter elementary school.

Although 33 states (including the District of Columbia) require vision screenings, 27 of these states do not require a child who fails these screenings to be sees by an eye doctor. Most of these screenings only check vision on a distance chart and do not test kids up close, where reading and computer work take place. There are many other visual skills, too, such as eye focusing, eye teaming, visual tracking, and more that need to be assessed and addressed.

Untreated vision problems are linked to high school drop out rates, social and emotional problems, juvenile delinquency, adult literacy problems, and incarcerations. One economist estimates that if a mere one percent more males graduated from high school each year, we would reduce the number of crimes committed by 100,000 per year and save $1.4 billion annually.

How many of our children would have the course of their lives changed and what would be the positive impact on society if the full range of vision problems were adequately detected and addressed?

Stay tuned and Bewell!