COLUMBIA, S.C. — Many children might face difficulty seeing the board in classrooms as the school year gets underway.
The American Osteopathic Association says a school eye screening fails to detect 75% of kids with vision problems. Optometrists say an eye exam can improve performance but can be expensive.
Optometrist Dr. Elisabeth Lawson at Well Partners Eye Clinic said the beginning of a school year is the best time to get a vision exam.
"Sometimes it takes a week or two for the glasses to be made," said Lawson. "Or if the school year has just started, you want them to be well equipped so that they can learn to their best ability."
Although South Carolina does not require students to get vision exams, Eunice Jones, the nursing coordinator for Richland School District One, believes vision problems can affect a student's behavior.
"Students picking on other students because they may not understand or see the information," said Jones. "But, yet, they're shy to say anything in front of everyone."
Parents who are underinsured or uninsured might find vision exams costly.
The Healthy Learners program in the South Carolina Midlands hopes to close that financial gap for children by coordinating care, transportation to appointments and helping parents with the Medicaid application process.
The program is partnered with local school districts to assist families with health services such as dental and hearing. Vision is also covered under their benefits.
Amy Splittgerber is the executive director at Healthy Learners, which partners with local school districts to help families.
"Most of what we provide are access to vision services, so eye exams etc.," Splittgerber said. "And, so, the child gets a full exam, and then most of the time, there is an eye issue. So, we provide glasses. Many of the children are on Medicaid, but some are not."
Splittgerber said the program benefits children uniquely because of the hands-on service they provide.
"For almost all of the children that we serve, we do provide care coordinations; so, we set up the appointment with the healthcare professional," said Splittgerber. "We also provide transportation for that child. We pick the child up, deliver them to care, bring them back to school. If there are any follow-up services like glasses to be picked up, prescriptions to be picked up, we take care of that as well and deliver that back to the school nurse."
Healthy Learners serves children in Fairfield, Lexington, Richland and Newberry counties.