Keeping a Close Eye on Students’ Vision

Thousands of schoolchildren in Orange County have eye exams each year, and those who need glasses but cannot afford them get spectacles through a number of school programs. Getting the kids to wear them, however, is another story.

To help remedy that, a volunteer organization is taking free vision-screening a step further.

“We’re trying to increase the number of students taking advantage of the program and wearing their glasses,” said Lucy Oltmanns, president of the Assistance League of Fullerton, which has been helping children get vision care for more than 11 years.

The league has targeted four of the 26 schools where it has vision projects and has begun tracking who should be wearing eyeglasses. League members then check up on the pupils and send letters through school nurses to parents of youngsters caught in class without their eye wear.

Some of the children say they don’t like glasses because of how they look in them or because they are teased by their classmates. One 8-year-old girl admitted that she intentionally breaks her glasses so she won’t have to wear them.

Such reluctance to wear glasses is common among youngsters, league members said. As a 10-year-old at Richman Elementary School in Fullerton put it: “If I needed them, I wouldn’t like them at all.”

One solution is to offer more fashionable frames.

Students and professors from the College of Optometry in Fullerton are now working with the league, and vision specialists from across north Orange County have agreed to provide their services at little or no cost.

The league found last year that of the 5,500 students they tested, 176 who needed glasses or more extensive screening also needed financial help. The league was prepared to pay for all of them, but only 55 took the offer.

League members said they hope to see the numbers increase with the new follow-up strategy.

“We’re working on it,” said volunteer Marilyn Sutton, a retired first-grade teacher.

Meanwhile, Sutton said, teachers are grateful for the league’s effort. The reason: Poor vision impairs learning.