Greg Hicks, OD, of Hoya and AOA president-elect Dori Carlson, OD, at the first-ever School Readiness Summit. |
According to the AOA, the Summit—organized in response to President Barack Obama’s call to ensure that no child is left behind in the classroom due to an undetected eye or vision disorder—produced a healthy vision and learning blueprint to replace “a broken system that is leaving millions of children to endure the effects of diseases that are treatable and vision loss that is preventable.”
Summit organizers welcomed participation by the U.S. Department of Education with keynote speaker Dr. Alexa Posny, assistant secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. "If America is to produce world class students, we must make sure they have all the tools they need for success. Eye exams should be a part of efforts to improve America's educational outcomes," Posny said.
The Summit produced a joint statement backing "comprehensive eye exams for school-aged children as a foundation for a coordinated and improved approach to addressing children's vision and eye health issues and as a key element of ensuring school readiness in American children."
The School Readiness Summit joint principles statement was signed by: American Association of Diabetes Educators, American Federation of Teachers, American Optometric Association, American Public Health Association, Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, Council for Exceptional Children, Foundation for Eye Health Awareness, Hoya Vision Care, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, National Association of School Nurses, National Commission on Vision and Health, National Education Association's Health Information Network, National Head Start Association, National Rural Health Association, Prevent Blindness America and The Vision Council.
"Thanks to the School Readiness Summit, we're an important step closer to eliminating undiagnosed and untreated vision problems from America's schools," said AOA president-elect Dori Carlson, OD. "Too many American children still go through years of school before a learning-related vision problem is ultimately detected; typically after many other more costly interventions," Carlson added.
"This is the first time we've seen such a comprehensive group of educators and health care providers agree that the lack of eye exams for children is a problem and that we need to finally move toward fixing it," said Barry Barresi, OD, PhD, executive director of the AOA.
