Commentary: The New Mexico Lions Operation KidSight is a NM 501c3 non-profit organization that wants to share some very important information with you that you may not be aware of regarding children’s vision.
Did you know:
- 86% of children entering the 1st grade have never had an eye exam
- 20-25% of those children will have a vision problem
- A child’s vision development is complete by the time they are 7-8 years old
- Children with vision issues do not know they have a problem as they think everyone sees like they do
- Undetected vision problems can cause amblyopia (Lazy Eye) which can have a detrimental impact on a child’s vision health and learning. If not detected and treated early in life, amblyopia can cause a permanent loss of vision in the affected eye with associated loss of stereopsis (two eyed depth perception).
- About 60% of “problem learners” have some degree of a vision problem but are sometimes wrongly diagnosed with ADHA or mislabeled as lazy, dyslexic, autistic, slow or simply as a troublemaker
- About 80% of what a child learns is visual
- 35-40% of children that do not pass their annual school vision screenings in Pre-K, K, 1st & 3rd are never taken to the eye doctor
- A parent who wears glasses or had a vision problem as a child are more likely to have a child with a vision problem
You can help the Save Our Children’s Sight Fund provide eye exams and glasses to NM students by donating $1 or $5 at the MVD and MVD Express offices when you renew your vehicle registration
If you would like to help this program, the following is how you can:
- Become a volunteer
- Tell your family and friends with children and grandchildren how important vision care is to children
- Tell your friends and family with vehicles to donate to the Save Our
Children’s Sight Fund
- Monetary donations to the New Mexico Lions Operation KidSight are always accepted
The New Mexico Lions Operation KidSight provides the statewide programs and services discussed below:
- NM Lions Operation KidSight Vision Screening Program
- Provides free vision screenings for Pre-K, K, 1st and 3rd graders in NM public schools, private schools, parochial schools, daycare centers and health fairs
- Can easily screen children with learning disabilities
- Can screen children with glasses to test sufficiency of current glasses prescription
- KidSight screening teams work with school nurses or school administrators to schedule screening sessions
- NMDOH provides oversight of KidSight screening program
- 25 KidSight teams across NM provide vision screenings to around 40,000 students annually
- Save Our Children’s Sight Fund and NMLOKS Eye Exam & Glasses
Voucher Programs
- Provides eye exams and glasses vouchers to students ages 3-18 years old who are not covered by Medicaid or insurance. Students who live in a community with no Medicaid vision service provider are also eligible for a voucher.
- NMLOKS, Inc., under contract with NMDOH to administer the voucher programs.
- NMLOKS, Inc., Program Manager and school nurses identify 3-18 year old students who have been referred by nurse’s or KidSight screenings and who are not covered by Medicaid or other insurance.
- NMLOKS, Inc., Program Manager coordinates with school nurses to provide the contact information for the closest network eye doctor to share with the parent(s) to schedule their child's appointment for services.
- NMLOKS has established a network of over 100 vision services providers across NM who accept the NMDOH fee schedule for eye exams and glasses.
- Spare Pair Program
- Provides a free pair of glasses to any NM students who never seem to be able to get their glasses to school. The glasses remain at school.
- A current (within 1 year) glasses prescription is necessary to process the request for a Spare Pair. Once the prescription is obtained by the NMLOKS, Inc. Program Manager or school nurse, the student gets to choose the frames they like. The order is placed through the Essilor Vision Foundation who provides the lenses and installs them into the chosen frames. The glasses are then provided back to the student in about two weeks.
- If the eyeglasses prescription is older than a year, the student must have an eye exam.