Lions Club Members Offer Vision Screening to JELA students

(Submitted by the Johnston Lions Club)

A group of trained volunteers from the Johnston Lions Club performed free vision screenings for JELA students.

In late November, 14 trained volunteers from the Johnston Lions Club photo screened 246 children at the Johnston Early Learning Academy in Johnston as part of the KidSight program. The KidSight program supports the Lions Mission of being the Knights’ for the Blind. This is just one way the Lions Clubs give back to the local community.

Lions Clubs have the capability of performing eye screenings of preschool children during the nonverbal ages. They can screen children between the age of six months to six years old. The Lions on the KidSight Screening Team have been trained in the use of the Vision Screener and are available to perform screenings at a location. This free vision screening was offered to the children by the Johnston Lions Club in conjunction with the Iowa Lions KidSight vision screening program and the Iowa Lions Vision Foundation.

The vision screener used is capable of screening for Astigmatism (blurred vision), Myopia (near-sightedness), Hyperopia (far-sightedness), Anisometropia (unequal refractive power), Strabismus (eye misalignment), Amblyopia (lazy-eye), and Anisocoria (pupil size deviations).  The individual screening takes just a few seconds and is performed from a distance of about three feet. There is no physical contact with the child and no eye drops are administered.

The Johnston Lions Club provides parents with a consent form and an information cover letter prior to the screening date. Lions will not screen a child without a signed consent form. The results are reviewed by the University of Iowa Children’s Ophthalmology Department. Parents receive a letter if a problem is discovered.

It is important to understand that this is only a screening and does not constitute an examination or diagnosis of vision problems. Further evaluation should be performed by a professional eye examiner, such as an optometrist or an ophthalmologist.

The Lions of Johnston and the KidSight Volunteers wish to thank the staff and parents of the Johnston Early Learning Academy Center.

This service is offered free of charge by the local Lions Clubs under the Iowa Lions KidSight vision screening program.  For more information on the KidSight Program, go to the link, www.iowakidsight.org.