Julie Davis
jdavis@cherryroad.com

Did you know that about 80 percent of what we learn in school requires good vision? Dave McBride does.

McBride, program director of the Nebraska Foundation for Children’s Vision (NFCV), visited the Nebraska City Rotary Club on April 9 to discuss how the foundation helps ensure children across the state have access to free vision evaluations before they enter preschool.

McBride said that about 75 percent of a school day is spent in visual activities, and more than 80 percent of what we learn is through visual processing. He added that 1 in 5 children entering kindergarten have undetected, treatable vision problems that can interfere with their ability to learn.

The NFCV participates in a national program called InfantSEE, said McBride, which offers free eye health and vision assessment to children ages 6 to 12 months from a participating Nebraska Doctor of Optometry.

The foundation also sponsors the See to Learn Program, which offers free vision assessments to any 3-year-old Nebraskan from a Nebraska Doctor of Optometry.

The NFCV also hosts school vision clinics in Nebraska to help students who might have a vision problem receive a free comprehensive examination and corrective lenses, said McBride, and the foundation has a Sight for School Fund that helps students in kindergarten through 12th grade who do not qualify for vision insurance obtain examinations or eye wear.

McBride also talked about some indicators of potential vision problems in children, including emotional outbursts, poor self-image, aggression, low comprehension, poor concentration, failure to complete assignments, frustration with school, and exaggerated head movements.

He said children are unlikely to self-identify as having a vision problem because they don’t know that how they see the world is different from someone without a vision problem.

For more information on the foundation or to locate an eye doctor, visit nfcv.org.