Practitioner Articles

Summary:
In A Healthy Child Is a Better Student, Redlener tells us research has revealed that “more than 20 percent of schoolchildren have some degree of visual impairment.” Pediatrics; uninsured New York school children to receive free eye exams and glasses states that the American Public Health Association reported that one in four children in kindergarten through sixth grade have visual disabilities that affect their ability to learn. The main take-away from each of these articles is that students cannot reach their full academic potential if their basic health needs are not first met.

As described by Redlener, uncorrected vision, mild hearing loss, hunger, dental pain, lead exposure, anemia, behavioral-health problems, and asthma all have a substantial impact on a child’s cognitive development and engagement in learning. These health conditions constitute the eight “health barriers to learning.” Collaborative efforts between schools, parents and communities to provide children, especially low-income high-need students, with health care services are necessary if students are going to succeed in school.

Research presented in Pediatrics; uninsured New York school children to receive free eye exams and glasses says that 80% of learning occurs through the eyes. Yet 86% of students do not receive a vision exam during their formative years in education. By not providing basic health care services to students, we allow millions of children to struggle and undermine their potential to succeed. It is unrealistic to expect that anyone, especially a child without the extra resources to help him to his goal, to achieve academically if he does not have the glasses he needs to read a book. Redlener and the author of Pediatrics; uninsured New York school children to receive free eye exams and glasses both emphasize the importance of providing children with vision screenings as well as the appropriate prescription lenses.

Redlener states the obvious when he says, “We are not going to be able to close the achievement gap until we deal with the factor of health in the equation of school success.” Vision falls under the category of health. It is, therefore, imperative that children are provided with the necessary tools to determine their level of vision, and act on the results that such examinations produce.

 

 

Links:
A Healthy Child Is a Better Student
by Irwin Redlener3

Pediatrics; uninsured New York school children to receive free eye exams and glasses
by Anonymous Author4