Free Eye Screenings for Kids by Schroon Lake Lions

By Dennis DAmico

The Schroon Lake Lions Club has been offering free eye screenings for pre-K and kindergarten children in local elementary schools for the past several years.   

The program is called “LION S.E.E. (Screening Eyes Early)” and is in partnership with KIDSIGHT USA.  

So far this year, the club has screened 112 students, with approximately 10 percent needing additional follow-up.   

Our goal is to reach out to parents, schools and caregivers emphasizing the importance of early identification of potential vision problems and refer those that need further evaluation to an eye care professional.   

Our state of the art equipment can screen for six different risk factors that may lead to amblyopia and hopefully be corrected through early detection. 

The procedure is simple and non-intrusive. No equipment touches the child. According to educational experts, 80 percent of learning is visual. So if a child can’t see well, they can’t learn well. Yet most young children don’t get their vision screened until they have problems learning or paying attention in school. 

By then, it may already be too late.  

Unless vision problems are detected early, they risk becoming permanent by age seven. With this in mind, we will continue to reach out to schools and other organizations in order to screen as many young children as possible.