Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Friday, July 6, 2012
(BEDFORD) - The four local Lions clubs - Bedford, Bedford Noon, Mitchell and Fayetteville Community - with the assistance of Prevent Blindness Indiana and the Lions Clubs of Indiana will conduct a county-wide free vision screening for all adults and children at the Lawrence County 4-H Fair, from Sunday through July 14, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. each day.
The screenings will take place in the Commercial Expo Building at the fairgrounds, thanks to the support of three sponsors: Day & Carter Mortuary, Kyle Mason Excavating and Sipes Auto Body & Glass.
All adults will be screened for both near and distance acuity and proper field of vision, while children of all ages will be screened for far and near visual acuity, according to Lion Jim Fisher, sight conservation chairman of the Bedford Lions Club, who is spearheading the screening program.
"There will be no cost for any of the screenings, and the process takes only 10 to 15 minutes, done on a first come, first screened walk-in basis," Fisher said. "We request that a simple registration form be completed on arrival for each adult and child being screened to help us both in the screening process and reporting findings back to the individuals."
The screening will basically determine how well a person can see, and also look for indicators of problems, such as amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (misaligned eyes), astigmatism (irregular shaped eyes seeing differently), hyperopia (far-sightedness), myopia (near-sightedness), cataracts (media opacity) and glaucoma.
Vision screening of all children is very important since one out of 20 pre-school children has a correctable vision problem, and one out of four school-age children will have some type of vision problem.
"Children do not really know how well they should be seeing, so they will not complain about having poor vision," Fisher said.
A written report is provided for each person screened, and if screening indicates, a recommendation for a professional eye exam will be made.
"This eye screening is not intended to be a complete eye exam, such as those performed by your eye doctor," Fisher said. "It cannot be emphasized too strongly the importance of seeing your eye doctor if the screening suggests the possibility of some vision problem.
"The lack of family economic resources should not prevent seeing an eye doctor as soon as possible. If the family cannot afford this expenditure, you may qualify for assistance from Prevent Blindness Indiana."
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