Bothell, Washington (PRWEB) November 05, 2014
On November 8, 2014, many stakeholders in the education of children will come together at U Washington Bothell to discuss the problem of undetected vision issues among Washington children. Although Washington law mandates checking children's distance vision in school, children do not read at twenty feet away, so seeing 20/20 doesn't mean that they will be able to focus on the books they are reading at 20 inches away or so.
In any Washington elementary classroom, research shows 25 percent of children may have undiagnosed vision issues that interfere with their success in school, especially in the most critical areas: reading and math.
THE SILENT PROBLEM: No screening for children’s near vision is required by Washington law; schools are only required to find out if children have “20/20” vision, the ability to see at a distance of 20 feet, using a test developed during the Civil War in 1863. Children in today’s elementary schools spend about 85% of their time reading books and laptops at a distance of six to twelve inches. Teachers and parents rarely have any information at all about the vision abilities children need to perform well with schoolwork.
A panel of experts from all over Washington -- optometrists, M.D.s, educators from K-12 and higher education, lawmakers and judges, graduate students investigating the issue, a published parent advocate, and representatives of underserved populations -- will come together to raise a red flag on this long-ignored and well-documented children’s health issue.
THE SOLUTION: Decades ago, when the daughter of President Lyndon Baines Johnson was failing in school, she received appropriate intervention for vision issues that changed her ability to function in the classroom and in life. Luci Baines Johnson concluded:
"If good education is the key to a strong country, then good vision is the key to a good education.”
Let’s Fix This: Join us at the Symposium on Vision and Learning
- Saturday, November 8, 2014 9:00-4:00
- Location: University of Washington Bothell Discovery Hall
To learn more and register, please visit http://www.educatingyoungeyes.xyz.