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Show VISION DR. A. F. RICH, member. American Optometric Assn. Modern optometry is greatly concerned with the early recognition of visual defects in children; to correct and eliminate them so that each child can grow up and develop unhampered hy visual handicaps. At the White House conference on children in a democracy de-mocracy recently, representatives of optometry presented to the conference reports of a recent survey on school children, chil-dren, which revealed that only 11 ro of children starting to school at the age of six have any visual defects, and that a careful check on these same children over a period of four years showed that at the age of 10, 36 ro had visual defects, which is an increase of 25ro in four years. This increase is both startling and alarming, and this investigation, in the interest of our children and future citizens, should be carried forward to where the reason for this condition can be determined. Optometry is striving to do this. The only thing optometric research thus far has determined is that visual defects do develop in 25rb of our school children the first four years they are in school. Whether this is due to heredity, environment, or nutrition, nu-trition, or whether the school curriculum is becoming too heavy for growing eyes is a matter for further research. It is an important piece of research, because school children chil-dren with faulty vision usually show lower grade standings, stand-ings, and in this connection it is an important economic as well as social problem. Optometry today is concerned with so many problems prob-lems regarding the care and conservation of eyesight that it is impossible for us to do more than mention them briefly brief-ly here. Instruments for determining precisely and accurately accur-ately the limits or scope of the patient's fields for recognition recog-nition of form and color have been developed and technics tech-nics for using these instruments have been created whereby where-by the presence of bodily diseases, systemic or organic, are discovered weeks or sometimes months in advance of any other symptoms. The exact location of brain tumors is made possible by this charting of form and color fields. New instruments and technics for determining color fblindness, which is a matter of increasing importance in this modem age, have been invented. Instruments for mea-suring mea-suring photophobia, or light tolerance, have been devel-oped. devel-oped. Instruments and devices for testing stereopsis, or depth perception, which is an important factor in aviation and when operating our high speed automobiles, have been developed. Optometry is making highways safer by eliminating Tatigue hazards caused by eyestrain. All important work being done on the subject of defective vision in its relation rela-tion to motor vision is being done under the sponsorship of optometry. Optometrists are co-operating with school educators in the matter of problems involved in the development of effi-dent effi-dent reading. Poor readers are corrected of their defects by the use of a pacing device called a mptronoscope, and are trained to read better. Another instrument called the Tachistoscope for increasing the span of recognition is also used. Next week, Optometry's role in the Public Health of the Nation. |
