Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency's Head Start program provides health, nutrition, special services, parent involvement, mental health and disability services, as well as education.
The health component provides for a number of screenings for all 3- and 4-year-old children enrolled in Head Start. Nutritional screenings, dental screenings, hearing and vision screenings are provided. You may ask, “Why bother with all these screenings for 3- and 4-year-old children?” But early identification of potential problems can improve a child's ability to learn and can literally save a life.
In the case of vision screenings, the Auburn Lions Club, a four-year partner with the Head Start program, has been “Photo Screening” all 275 children enrolled.
Auburn Lions Club members trained in the use of the MTI Photoscreener use a specially designed camera to take two sets of pictures of each child's eyes. These photos are then taken to an optometrist or ophthalmologist for examination. The exam assists in identifying six major pediatric eye problems including hyperopia, myopia, anisometropia, media opacities, strabismus and astigmatism. This is accomplished by observing any reflective crescents that will appear in each photographed eye if disorders are present.
Problems of the eyes are often overlooked in children because they don't have easily identifiable signs and symptoms. Children under 5 do not have the ability to explain what they can or cannot see. Photoscreening is a simple non-invasive accurate method of screening young children for eye disorders.
Over the last four years several children have been identified with serious eye disorders and this year, when a child had a questionable screening, the child's mother scheduled an appointment with the eye doctor thinking that, at the worst, her child needed glasses. This child was diagnosed with retinal blastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. Children with this type of cancer gone undiagnosed typically die within four years. Having no symptoms, it is unlikely that this child's cancer would have been caught in time without this photo screening. This child is presently undergoing chemo treatments and fully participates in her Head Start classroom. Her prognosis is good because the cancer was caught early.
Kudos to the dedicated members of the Auburn Lions Club for their dedication and commitment to photoscreening as well as the provision of glasses to those in need. They are all volunteers who spend their time getting training, doing the screenings and purchasing the necessary equipment.
Terry DeFelice is Head Start director.
In the case of vision screenings, the Auburn Lions Club, a four-year partner with the Head Start program, has been “Photo Screening” all 275 children enrolled.
Auburn Lions Club members trained in the use of the MTI Photoscreener use a specially designed camera to take two sets of pictures of each child's eyes. These photos are then taken to an optometrist or ophthalmologist for examination. The exam assists in identifying six major pediatric eye problems including hyperopia, myopia, anisometropia, media opacities, strabismus and astigmatism. This is accomplished by observing any reflective crescents that will appear in each photographed eye if disorders are present.
Problems of the eyes are often overlooked in children because they don't have easily identifiable signs and symptoms. Children under 5 do not have the ability to explain what they can or cannot see. Photoscreening is a simple non-invasive accurate method of screening young children for eye disorders.
Over the last four years several children have been identified with serious eye disorders and this year, when a child had a questionable screening, the child's mother scheduled an appointment with the eye doctor thinking that, at the worst, her child needed glasses. This child was diagnosed with retinal blastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. Children with this type of cancer gone undiagnosed typically die within four years. Having no symptoms, it is unlikely that this child's cancer would have been caught in time without this photo screening. This child is presently undergoing chemo treatments and fully participates in her Head Start classroom. Her prognosis is good because the cancer was caught early.
Kudos to the dedicated members of the Auburn Lions Club for their dedication and commitment to photoscreening as well as the provision of glasses to those in need. They are all volunteers who spend their time getting training, doing the screenings and purchasing the necessary equipment.
Terry DeFelice is Head Start director.
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