TFG Charity of the Month

SEEING IS BELIEVING
WITH YOUR HELP, THE CHILDREN'S EYE FOUNDATION'S GOALS ARE NOT OUT OF SIGHT

The Children's Eye Foundation sees no reason why five percent
of America's children will suffer from a vision disorder that could
lead to a permanent, but preventable vision impairment called
amblyopia because it wasn't detected or treated early enough.
“Only about one-third of children in the United States get their
eyes screened during the preschool years (between the ages of
three and five). The numbers are exactly the same for poverty-level
children and children from high income households. This is a non-discriminator,” says George R. Beauchamp, MD, professor
of clinical ophthalmology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and chairman of the foundation's board.

“If your child has amblyopia and it's not found and not fixed during the critical phase of development, then there are demonstrable changes in the brain, meaning that the cells that serve the eye that's not seeing well start to atrophy in a way—and that's what makes it irreversible. These are preventable brain changes. The problem is easily and relatively inexpensive to correct and has a great impact on the child,” Dr. Beauchamp adds.

As such, the foundation has set its sights on the education of the public and health care professionals about the necessity of early detection and treatment of vision disorders. The foundation has mounted its “See An End to Preventable Blindness” campaign with an ultimate goal of eliminating amblyopia and preventable blindness.

Seeing Is Believing

Routine screening between a child's third and fourth birthday is the centerpiece of the foundation's project to have universal screening. “Children can identify pictures and common objects that, if tested in a standard way, would give a measure of visual acuity: how well they see. It's a good time to find out if it's the same in both eyes. The presence of one eye that is very different optically from the other is asymptomatic—the eyes might be straight. 71 percent of children in America will see a primary care physician during the time when they should have their vision screened. It doesn't make sense that the kids don't get adequately screened. We are working with our colleagues in pediatrics to create a coherent program for them that would also begin to drive that same program backwards into their training. So, as the years go by, more and more pediatricians would have access to the best practices of screening for vision problems,” Dr. Beauchamp explains.

He adds that the need to advocate for such change is vital because: “We participate in an unfortunate circumstance in that caring for adults with insurance is much more remunerative than caring for children because, as one of my colleagues put it so succinctly, we have several problems in pediatrics: all of our patients are unemployed, none of them vote and half of them are illiterate. That combination means that they don't have a significant voice to be heard.”

Currently, the foundation has two demo projects in the works: one in West Virginia and the other in Jacksonville, Florida. “In 1965, the Sweden Institute started a similar vision screening program. Through a coordinated national program, they were able to get the incidence of amblyopia down to less than one percent. Israel has done a similar program, too. To use a sports metaphor, we need to block and tackle. Block the kids and tackle the problem. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that,” Dr. Beauchamp says.

Dr. Beauchamp reminds us to trust our instincts when it comes to our children. He also says that there are milestones that should be monitored, adding that most pediatricians, family practitioners and pediatric ophthalmologists are aware of. If there is any misalignment of the eyes, any asymmetry of the eyes, droopiness of the eyelids any redness and the child rubbing the eye to indicate irritation and sensitivity as all are signs that something might be amiss. “Frankly, this isn't very much past what a parent would do anyway, if they were watching their child and asking questions of their pediatrician. However, there are some things that have changed in terms of advice. For example, it used to be thought that a child's misaligned eyes would just get better if they waited long enough. It is normal for a child's eyes to be misaligned and even have a tendency to cross in the first four months; however, if the condition is present after that period of time, then you it's probably not going to get better without something being done,” adds Dr. Beauchamp.

What can you do to help?
Dr. Beauchamp says, “We'd like to provoke a cooperative effort between parents, children, primary care providers, particularly pediatricians and family practitioners, and those of us who want to help. I urge the readers to become informed about the kinds of things that they should point out to their pediatrician—how's your child's vision? Is there any concern there? What about family history? Family history raises the likelihood that some of these conditions could be found.”

Support The Children’s Eye Foundation See by Three program, a progressive five-point program aimed at significantly reducing amblyopia in young children by the year 2010.

The five points are:
	1.	Educate health professionals, including pediatricians, family physicians and school nurses about amblyopia and other ocular diseases.
	2.	Mount an awareness campaign to alert the public to the early signs of eye disorders in both infants and young children.
	3.	Develop and refine promising diagnostic technology.
	4.	Design, implement and evaluate a community-wide screening and treatment program.
	5.	Foster a spirit of collaboration and cooperation with other related organizations, such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians, to develop an integrated approach to the diagnosis and treatment of all ocular diseases of childhood.

We at THE FAMILY GROOVE believe in what The Children's Eye Foundation is seeing. We thank Dr. Beauchamp and team for taking the time not only to advocate for our children, but educate their parents and help ensure that the future is a vision.

THE FAMILY GROOVE donates a percentage of its revenue to its featured charity of month.

For more information, to make a donation or to get involved, please go to www.childrenseyefoundation.org.