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California School Vision Screening started in 1947 with Education Code 49455 and underwent minimal changes in 2005, resulting in no recognizable difference. In other words, it has not changed since 1947. The purpose of the CA school screening law is to detect any vision condition that may interfere with our children's ability to learn. Vision care has grown significantly since 1947, with even more progress in the past five years. The forms I see with my patients only include 20/20 eyesight readings. It has since been proven that the primary vision condition affecting learning is vision processing. Vision processing was not in widespread treatment until 1988. The 2005 revision did not include vision processing.
An important point is its name: Vision Screening. It is not a vision examination. It is only a screening. The screening evaluates less than 3% of the vision system. It only checks 20/20 visual acuity. Of course, 20/20 eyesight is essential. Yet, it is only the starting point in our office.
Dr. Walter B. Lancaster, just before the 1947 law, performed eye testing on the students at Dartmouth College. They were shocked to find the best students had the worst eyesight. Now, what do you do when your time-worn theories about nearsightedness fall apart? Two groups of optometrists resulted. The traditional, already established eye doctors chose to believe that vision and learning were not related. After all, isn't that what the study showed? The best students had the worst eyesight! Many hold that view to this day. Yet another group asked why the best students would have the worst eyesight. Not only that, there must be more to learning than the ability to see the blackboard. Developmental optometrists emerged. It was determined that the good students became nearsighted from spending hours over-focusing their eyes at near reading many books. Then treatments were found to prevent and even reverse nearsightedness. More importantly, it led to research that found visual processing was the link between vision and learning. Equally important, it can be successfully treated.
California School Vision Screening started in 1947 with Education Code 49455 and underwent minimal changes in 2005, resulting in no recognizable difference. In other words, it has not changed since 1947. The purpose of the CA school screening law is to detect any vision condition that may interfere with our children's ability to learn. Vision care has grown significantly since 1947, with even more progress in the past five years. The forms I see with my patients only include 20/20 eyesight readings. It has since been proven that the primary vision condition affecting learning is vision processing. Vision processing was not in widespread treatment until 1988. The 2005 revision did not include vision processing.
An important point is its name: Vision Screening. It is not a vision examination. It is only a screening. The screening evaluates less than 3% of the vision system. It only checks 20/20 visual acuity. Of course, 20/20 eyesight is essential. Yet, it is only the starting point in our office.
Dr. Walter B. Lancaster, just before the 1947 law, performed eye testing on the students at Dartmouth College. They were shocked to find the best students had the worst eyesight. Now, what do you do when your time-worn theories about nearsightedness fall apart? Two groups of optometrists resulted. The traditional, already established eye doctors chose to believe that vision and learning were not related. After all, isn't that what the study showed? The best students had the worst eyesight! Many hold that view to this day. Yet another group asked why the best students would have the worst eyesight. Not only that, there must be more to learning than the ability to see the blackboard. Developmental optometrists emerged. It was determined that the good students became nearsighted from spending hours over-focusing their eyes at near reading many books. Then treatments were found to prevent and even reverse nearsightedness. More importantly, it led to research that found visual processing was the link between vision and learning. Equally important, it can be successfully treated.
Now we know that school eye screening only detects children who do not have 20/20 eyesight, which is not related to learning. Then, doesn't the limited screening at least perform a public service by identifying kids who need glasses? Let's look a little closer. Eye screening only detects children who have already lost their 20/20 vision. They now have conditions like hyperopia, myopia, or astigmatism. By the time of the screening, the condition is already embedded and too late to reverse it, let alone prevent it. Wouldn't you want your eye doctor to have methods to prevent and reverse vision conditions? That is the emphasis of development for optometrists. In my opinion, school vision screening reports are too late and fail to identify the vision conditions the program was designed to detect. Further, since it does not detect visually related learning problems, there is a false impression by the parents, the teacher, the school psychologist, and the family doctor that vision is not a factor in your child's learning struggles.
Even though Suzie's mom had vision insurance, she did not bring her daughter for vision care because Suzie passed the school vision screening. The screening falsely assured her that her eyes were fine. Due to undetected eyestrain, Suzie developed nearsightedness, and the following year's screening revealed a loss of 20/20 acuity. Had we seen her before the first screening, we could have provided learning glasses (lens therapy) and visual hygiene procedures that may have avoided the nearsightedness. She also had an eye turn, which the screening did not pick up. Again, had mother not relied on the misleading school screening, we would have found the eye turn at a point where it may have been easier to treat.
We already know that school visual acuity screening throughout the country, not just CA, does not identify visually related learning problems. So what can we do? Actually, within the very school vision screening law, there is a helpful section:
Section (e) Gross external observation of the children’s eyes, visual performance and perception, pursuant to Education Code Sections 49455, shall mean continuous observation by teachers of the appearance, behavior and complaints of pupils that might indicate vision.
Your teachers could identify those with visually related learning problems. It requires training for both teachers and nurses to recognize vision symptoms, but this portion of the law is the least followed, if at all. Could you make sure your school gets this training?
Section (e) Gross external observation of the children’s eyes, visual performance and perception, pursuant to Education Code Sections 49455, shall mean continuous observation by teachers of the appearance, behavior and complaints of pupils that might indicate vision.
Your teachers could identify those with visually related learning problems. It requires training for both teachers and nurses to recognize vision symptoms, but this portion of the law is the least followed, if at all. Could you make sure your school gets this training?
There is one more wrinkle to consider when it comes to school eye screening: How might a classroom environment harm your child's eyes? The primary concern of damage to vision is the use of digital devices. This is a problem even in adults. Before the digital age, senior citizens slowly became more and more farsighted. Since the introduction of the personal computer, we have found that people are becoming more nearsighted as they spend more time staring at the screens. We usually did not see nearsightedness in children until the fourth grade, when education switched from learning to read to learning from reading. Thanks to the digital age, we see nearsighted kindergarteners. We now have a myopia epidemic!
The aftereffect of the extended shutdowns by the CA government brought children to my office with marked damage to their vision. I saw more cases of keratoconus in the two years after the shutdown than in the previous two decades. Accommodation (focusing eyes clearly at near) is not fully developed until the age of six. Also, vision processing skills (the ability to gain meaning from the images we see clearly) don't fully arrive until the age of six. We must return to books. Informed districts are starting, and I have heard of at least one elementary school in Lodi using books. A child should not be introduced to a digital device until six, and then only for limited periods. Bill Gates, the digital entrepreneur and father of Lodi Schools' Chromebooks, keeps his kids from the devices until they are teens.
Introducing subjects above the developmental age harms both education and vision. Head Start, early Childhood education, and pre-kindergarten do this. Dr. Steve Ingersoll, a developmental optometrist who revolutionized a school system in Michigan, stated that a child could learn more from playing in the mud than in a classroom. An Italian psychologist, Maria Montessori, teamed with Jean Piaget and discovered that children learn at a faster rate than adults. However, many people overlook that they meant at their current level of development. We, unfortunately, introduced the same concepts used in higher grades to the children before kindergarten. Our kids aren't ready for that. Subjects must be adjusted to their level of development. If you wish for early education, be sure to select a Montessori school.
Children seated at a desk for six hours are fatigued. They need breaks. CA labor law requires adults to have two breaks a day! Indeed, kids need the breaks more. Teachers should switch subjects between those that require less near focus skills, such as reading, and then music. Children should stand to answer questions and be allowed to get up and sharpen their pencils. Recess is essential. The body that supports the eyes needs to move. No child should be punished with the denial of recess. The one who needs recess the most is likely the one who misbehaves.
The size of the desk has long been forgotten. They are all the same size! A child two inches shorter than his classmate must focus his eyes four times more when reading. The desk surfaces are flat and should be slanted so the child does not have to accommodate more at the bottom of the page than at the top. When I was in elementary school, the desks were slanted, and the janitor adjusted both the desks and chairs for each kid.
The aftereffect of the extended shutdowns by the CA government brought children to my office with marked damage to their vision. I saw more cases of keratoconus in the two years after the shutdown than in the previous two decades. Accommodation (focusing eyes clearly at near) is not fully developed until the age of six. Also, vision processing skills (the ability to gain meaning from the images we see clearly) don't fully arrive until the age of six. We must return to books. Informed districts are starting, and I have heard of at least one elementary school in Lodi using books. A child should not be introduced to a digital device until six, and then only for limited periods. Bill Gates, the digital entrepreneur and father of Lodi Schools' Chromebooks, keeps his kids from the devices until they are teens.
Introducing subjects above the developmental age harms both education and vision. Head Start, early Childhood education, and pre-kindergarten do this. Dr. Steve Ingersoll, a developmental optometrist who revolutionized a school system in Michigan, stated that a child could learn more from playing in the mud than in a classroom. An Italian psychologist, Maria Montessori, teamed with Jean Piaget and discovered that children learn at a faster rate than adults. However, many people overlook that they meant at their current level of development. We, unfortunately, introduced the same concepts used in higher grades to the children before kindergarten. Our kids aren't ready for that. Subjects must be adjusted to their level of development. If you wish for early education, be sure to select a Montessori school.
Children seated at a desk for six hours are fatigued. They need breaks. CA labor law requires adults to have two breaks a day! Indeed, kids need the breaks more. Teachers should switch subjects between those that require less near focus skills, such as reading, and then music. Children should stand to answer questions and be allowed to get up and sharpen their pencils. Recess is essential. The body that supports the eyes needs to move. No child should be punished with the denial of recess. The one who needs recess the most is likely the one who misbehaves.
The size of the desk has long been forgotten. They are all the same size! A child two inches shorter than his classmate must focus his eyes four times more when reading. The desk surfaces are flat and should be slanted so the child does not have to accommodate more at the bottom of the page than at the top. When I was in elementary school, the desks were slanted, and the janitor adjusted both the desks and chairs for each kid.
Our education system is creating increasingly more damage to our kids' vision while worsening our country's academic standing. Not until we wake up and make appropriate modifications will the downward spiral continue. Imagine how far we are behind Scandinavian countries.
I, Dr. Henshaw, am only one voice, but we can help the kids in our office with the above-mentioned learning glasses and visual hygiene, even though the schools push our kids beyond their limits. I created a positive series of information for parents on this website to ensure your children’s academics are productive without harm to their vision.
As a parent, there are many things you can do. I will answer the following 7 questions:
I, Dr. Henshaw, am only one voice, but we can help the kids in our office with the above-mentioned learning glasses and visual hygiene, even though the schools push our kids beyond their limits. I created a positive series of information for parents on this website to ensure your children’s academics are productive without harm to their vision.
As a parent, there are many things you can do. I will answer the following 7 questions:
1. What part of vision is related to learning?
2. What is the best economical school vision screening that relates to learning for which the original mandate was written?
3. At what age should reading be introduced?
4. What happens if kids are introduced to academic skills above their age level?
5. Why are children introduced to academic content above their age level?
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6. What should be done to assure neither vision nor academics are harmed in the school setting? |
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7. What can we do now, as the US education system won’t change overnight? Dr. Henshaw's Two-Step Program Go to 7 Steps to Preserve your Child's Vision at School for details. |