“I am very thankful and appreciate all of the programs and services your agency continues to offer. The quality of our school screening programs would diminish greatly without your agency’s efforts.”
- Donna McGinley, B.S.N., School District of Mauston
“Thanks for making a difference in my life.”
– Richard Lowe
I should have contacted you several months ago to inform you that I made an appointment with a Pediatric Ophthalmologist after my daughter Samantha Olander (4 years old), failed the vision screening your organization conducted on 11/4/08 at Country Grove Preschool in Madison, Wisconsin. The timing was perfect because a week earlier she failed her vision screening at her Well check up. Since she failed two vision screenings in 2 weeks her pediatrician (Dr. Margaret Wilcots from Associated Physicians in Madison, WI) moved up the date of an appointment I scheduled to have her vision tested from March 2009 to Nov. 25th with Dr. Kushner at UW Health in University Station.
The results of the evaluation indicated that Samantha had a lazy eye. She was immediately fitted for glasses and started wearing them 2 weeks after her appointment (Dec. 2008). She had a follow up appointment with Dr. Kushner's staff (Gail Morton) on Jan. 8th. Samantha's left eye improved significantly. The doctor was pleased with her progress. She is still wearing glasses, but the doctor didn't think they will have to patch her left eye. Samantha has another follow up eye appointment on Feb. 24th.
I appreciate the diligence of your organization in promoting healthy vision. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication. Please e-mail me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Melissa Olander
I am the mother of a 4 ½ yr old girl who attends St. Bernard’s Preschool on Atwood Ave in Madison, WI three days a week. When she was 3 ½ yrs old, Prevent Blindness came in to her preschool and did a vision screening on all of the children. We received notice that our daughter, Kala, did not pass the vision screening because her left eye “drifted inward”. I was alarmed, to say the least, and studied her left eye for quite some time and did not notice it. I also asked our daycare provider, who had been taking care of Kala since she was a baby and now two days a week, to please watch for this drifting left eye. She could not say for certain whether or not she noticed anything…it was that slight, if it was there at all.
Prevent Blindness’s screening notification recommended that we notify Kala’s primary care physician, which we did at her 4 yr check up, just as a precautionary measure, thinking her physician would not notice anything either, but we wanted her professional opinion, just to be safe. Kala’s physician studied her eyes hard and finally noticed a little something similar to what Prevent Blindness had noticed, but said it was very minor and hardly noticeable, but we were welcome to see a specialist, if we wanted to pursue it further.
We had to wait about six months to get in to see a pediatric eye specialist. It was a nerve wracking six months, but I was assured that waiting this long would not make matters worse or have any permanent ramifications. We saw the specialist and it was about a three hour visit, during which most of it I felt they were not finding anything and I felt a big sigh of relief. Kala was reading all of the eye charts very well and I was certain there was nothing wrong.
Unfortunately, the appointment ended with me being advised that, yes, Kala had a lazy left eye, and we would need to further monitor it. We are scheduled for another appointment very soon with the specialists, about six months since the initial appointment, where we find out what is the next step. We were reassured at the initial visit that Kala’s prognosis is good and that we were very lucky to have had this caught so early before her eyesight was truly affected.
I hope that Prevent Blindness is able to screen every child in Dane County and beyond. I am positive that if they hadn’t come into our preschool that we would still be oblivious to Kala’s miniscule “lazy eye”. We cannot say enough about Prevent Blindness and their early, even miraculous, detection. Her parents didn’t notice it, her daycare provider didn’t notice it, her preschool didn’t notice it, but Prevent Blindness did!
Thank you so very much, Prevent Blindness!!!
Gratefully,
Shannon Algrem
In the fall of 2003, Jacob Helmuth was your typical 4 year old. He could write his name, ride a bike and loved to run with his brother dribbling a soccer ball. So his parents were amazed when Prevent Blindness Wisconsin recommended he be seen by a specialist after screening him at the University Preschool Lab in Madison. They assumed that Jacob was just not paying attention during the screening since he had recently passed a vision screening at his pediatrician’s office. His parents even had documentation from the pediatrician noting no vision problems in either eye. But none the less, they took him to Dr. Movaghar, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Davis, Duehr, and Dean. His left eye was covered to test his right eye. He easily completed multiple rows of pictures and his mother was thinking this was just a waste of time. But her heart sank when Dr. Movaghar covered Jacob’s right eye and Jacob was unable to determine what the largest picture was with his left eye.
Jacob has been wearing glasses since Nov, 2003 and remarks frequently that they help him see. Jacob’s vision improved just slightly with the glasses so patching was started in May, 2004. At first he was reluctant since he had to put the patch on his right eye without his glasses on. This was very frightening to Jacob since he couldn’t see anything with his left eye without his glasses. So we learned to quickly put the patch on and get his glasses back on. Jacob is now wearing his patch 5-6 hours a day and his vision has improved to 20/30 with his glasses on! His family and doctor are hopeful that he will soon be seeing 20/20 and patching can be reduced to just 3 hours a day.
Kathy and Dave Helmuth
Prevent Blindness Wisconsin came to screen out preschoolers at Little Hands Preschool in Peshtigo, WI. Not only is the program well organized, but also the results in a young child’s life are well worth it.
Several of our preschoolers were given recommendations to their parents that they needed an eye examination by a doctor after the screening. The parents followed through and the students definitely needed glasses to correct their vision. One parent wrote, “I am very grateful for Prevent Blindness providing screening for my preschooler. They were able to identify that he has a problem seeing far away. When I took him to the optometrist, I was shocked to find out how significant of a problem he had! Getting glasses to correct his visual deficiency at an early age has made a huge difference in his learning and confidence! After getting his glasses he said, ‘hey mom, I can see!’ Thank you.”
Besides the favorable and appreciable comments from the parents of the preschooler whose lives have been changes now that their vision is corrected, I know as their teacher what a difference it has made. I had all three boys in the three year old class and now in my four year old class. Now instead of being uninterested in what I was teaching them they are eager to learn. Their attention spans improved and they can focus.
Thanks to the organizers and the sponsors of Prevent Blindness Wisconsin. I know of three preschool boys that are now off to the right start with corrected vision.
They will be affected for the rest of their lives because of your program.
Sincerely,
Susan Gross, Director / Teacher
Little Hands Preschool
In 2005 my 4 year old daughter was screened at her preschool by Prevent Blindness Wisconsin. She failed the screening, and was referred for an examination by an eye care professional. She was diagnosed with Amblyopia, and was discovered to have 20/200 vision in her left eye and 20/40 vision in her right eye. This came as a complete shock to us, since neither my husband nor I wear glasses, nor did her 2 older brothers. She had been screened at her pediatrician's office and neither my mother nor I (who are both early childhood teachers) had ever noted anything other than that she didn't care to sit and read with as her brothers had.
At Thanksgiving, Elyse proudly wore her new glasses and we shared her story with my family (all non glasses wearers). My brothers all chose to take their children for professional eye exams and each of them learned that they had a child with a similar condition. In the four years since Elyse's screening by Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, another nephew and another of our children have all begun wearing glasses. All 10 of these children were told by their doctors that their vision was "normal" but for five of the ten, that was incorrect. With out Prevent Blindness Wisconsin, I believe these vision problems would still be undetected and these children would be struggling students. Thankfully, because of the ripple effect of one vision screening, they are not!
Thank you very much for the follow up letter regarding our daughter's vision screen results.
As a result of the screen on 2/16/2009 we took Miranda to her pediatrician (Dr. Kelley at UW Health - University Station) who confirmed the results.
With her referral, and on 3/4/ 2009, Miranda was evaluated by Dr. David Gamm, at the Pediatric Ophthalmology Clinic at University Station in Madison. After three hours of multiple tests he determined that she has anisometropic hyperopia on her left eye. He prescribed glasses and she is already wearing them.
We'll be back on April to recheck her visual acuity. Once the acuity on her left eye has plateaued with spectacle wear alone, a regimen of occlusion therapy will be initiated to treat any remaining amblyopia.
Thanks a lot for the work you do. It was because of it that we discovered her problems that we hope will be fixed soon thanks to the early diagnostic.
Miranda Garcia – Dove
“Thank you for advocating screening at daycares – without it we would not have known!”
Gina Landucci – mother of Olivia Baumann
My name is Sandra Smile. The Healthy Eyes Program has been a blessing and a lifesaver. In the beginning they told me that an eye exam was not included but by the grace of God, you guys provided that, too. Ever since my grandchildren were born, I have helped raise them. When I got ill, my eyesight began to fail. It hurt me to my heart that I could no longer help with homework, reading them stories, doing puzzles, and playing board games. Thanks to you all and my new glasses. I have all that joy and laughter back in my life. The gift of being able to see is a precious gift indeed. You never miss it until it is gone. My grandchildren thank you, too.
Sandra Smith - Milwaukee, WI – Healthy Eyes Eyeglass Participant
I’m an unemployed individual that can’t see well without eyeglasses. I lost my glasses and it affected my life. I felt crippled, but thanks to this program I can see again and it’s something I don’t take for granted. I am very appreciative for this program, it means a lot to people who can not help with their present situation. Thanks & continue doing things that help others lives’ and being selfless.
Aaron Conerly - Milwaukee, WI – Healthy Eyes Eyeglass Participant
I was very happy that I learned about this program. I have gone over one year with my old glasses. They were scratched and had no ear pads on the bows, nose pieces were broken. If it was not for Prevent Blindness Wisconsin I would still have those glasses due to not having any extra money to purchase new ones. Thank you so much!!
Gloria J. Warthan - Sparta, WI - Healthy Eyes Eyeglass Participant
My daughter was able to get back to reading and school work, without having headaches. Because of this program she was able to get her glasses and feel more confident about herself. Her father lost his insurance and our income is limited. We could not afford her glasses. She is on Badger Care which does not allow her to have her glasses. She has a lot of health issues and because of the gift of glasses she has one less thing to worry about. We as a family would like to thank the people and the program that made this happen for her. Thanks again, The Vanderloop Family
Vanderloop Family – De Pere, WI - Healthy Eyes Eyeglass Participant
Aniah has been telling me that she had trouble in school not seeing the board during lesson time. I finally took her into the eye doctor about 6 months later and found out that she needed glasses. Aniah’s teacher and I figured out why she had been talking so much during class and interrupting the other students because she could not see, and began to get uncomfortable not being able to keep up with her classmates. Aniah & I truly appreciate this program.
Taneka Golden - Racine, WI – Healthy Eyes Eyeglass Participant.
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