Aidan Palik with his mother, Lisa. Three years ago a Lions Club screening discovered Aidan was farsighted. With prescription glasses Aidan maintains his active life, including his favorite sport, lacrosse.
Written By Donna Engle, Photos by: Phil Grout
A refrigerator artwork at the Eldersburg home of Jason and Lisa Palik depicts eyeglasses above the words “I can see evr eye war.” The artist, Aidan Palik, 7, who is learning how to spell, found out how wonderful it is to see clearly everywhere when he got his first pair of glasses three years ago.
Neither Aidan nor his parents knew he had a vision problem. The possibility had not been raised in his pediatric wellness checks or by preschool teachers. Aidan did not show symptoms such as crossed eyes.
“The teachers weren’t concerned. We weren’t concerned,” Lisa Palik said. “He was an active, typical 4-year-old boy.”
Aidan’s problem was discovered when the Freedom District Lions Club screened children’s vision at his preschool. The Freedom club sends vision screeners to five preschools or day care centers in South Carroll annually, as part of Lions International’s efforts to prevent blindness and improve eye health and care. The club also collects eyeglasses for donation and buys glasses for children whose parents cannot afford them. Joe Wisniewski of Gaither, chairman of the club preschool vision program, is working to extend screening to youngsters not enrolled in preschool.
Lions Club member Bob Miller of Eldersburg had trouble checking Aidan’s vision. The boy followed the instruction to sit up straight and look into the auto-refractor, a computer-controlled machine that measures refraction errors, eye focusing mistakes that can reduce visual acuity. Miller had the machine properly positioned, but could not get a reading. A follow-up test the next day again produced no result. Miller suggested a professional evaluation.
A pediatric ophthalmologist found Aidan was severely farsighted. His visual acuity was below the range of the refractor; hence, no reading.
“Aidan didn’t know any better,” said Lisa Palik. “His world was what he always knew it to be. He adapted very well. When he got glasses, it was so nice. He told me people looked like real people. I felt like he was seeing my face for the first time.”
Experts say healthy vision is critical for a child’s development, and early detection and treatment can help prevent learning disabilities and additional vision loss. The Freedom Lions own two vision screening machines, which they lend to other Lions clubs throughout Carroll County for screening programs.
School-age children are screened when they enter Carroll County Public Schools, and in kindergarten, fourth and eighth grades, or whenever a problem is suspected.
“Any referrals that the teacher is seeing kids who have difficulty seeing the [chalk]board also get screened. Or a parent can make a referral,” said Marge Hoffmaster, supervisor of health services for the school system.
Wisniewski said auto-refractors screen for four vision problems: amblyopia – one eye seeing more strongly than the other “lazy” eye; nearsightedness; farsightedness; and astigmatism – objects appearing blurred or miscuepen, such as a circle resembling an oval. The Lions check depth perception separately.
Lions member Jacquelyn Self of Eldersburg introduced the depth perception test to a 3-year-old at a recent screening.
“We have some pictures to show you with these magic glasses. Look at what pops out at you when you put them on,” she said. The boy put on the glasses and identified animals of different sizes that emerged in 3D from a notebook-size device.
“We usually get about 10 percent of the kids referred to an eye doctor,” said Wisniewski. He and Miller cautioned that the number does not mean 10 percent of children tested have vision problems. Screening can identify a possible issue, but a professional ophthalmologist or optometrist makes the final determination.
Approximately 6.8 percent of children under 18 in the U.S. have been diagnosed with a vision condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For Dr. Dean Fiergang’s young patients, visiting the eye doctor is fun. A pediatric ophthalmologist whose offices include locations in Eldersburg and Westminster, Fiergang has sound medical reasons for starting children’s eye examinations with rapport-building games.
“You can know all the academic information you want, but if you can’t get the [vision] information out of the child, it won’t do you any good,” said Fiergang.
One challenge for pediatric ophthalmologists is understanding how well a very young child sees before the child is old enough to talk, Fiergang said. Play is the best answer.
“Even if a child is not going to speak to me, if I can play with them and get them to look at my lights, I can get how they’re functioning,” he said.
Babies can see objects no more than 10 inches away at birth, and gradually develop the ability to focus and see more distant objects. By six months, they can be tested for nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.
After age 3, when a child is verbal, “It’s so easy,” Fiergang said. Three and 4-year-olds can’t read letters, but they can tell whether an eye chart shows a tree or a horse.
Fiergang’s guidelines for parents wondering whether and when to have their children’s eyes examined:
If the child is healthy and there are no hints of vision problems, have a pediatrician or pediatric ophthalmologist check his or her eyesight by age 3.
If there is a family history of vision problems, have the child checked at 1 year. “If the parents got glasses in high school, no problem, but if the parents had glasses at age 2 to 4 or had amblyopia or strabismus, the child should be checked at 1 year,” he said. With strabismus, one eye cannot focus with the other on an object because of eye muscle imbalance.
Hampstead optometrist Dr. Thomas Kenney uses an eye chart with E’s going in different directions to test preschoolers’ vision.
“If a child has problems, we just give them the E chart to take home. They can make a game out of it and then practice,” he said. When the child returns, she is comfortable with the chart and ready for Kenney’s examination.
Kenney urged parents of school-age children to watch for frequent headaches, which may indicate a vision problem.
