Vizavance, formerly known as Prevent Blindness Oklahoma, is a nonprofit organization. This organization was established in 1965 to help promote awareness of early vision intervention for children.
Vizavance currently serves all 77 counties in Oklahoma. Their goal is to advance children’s education through free vision screenings for the children. They are a leading organization in the region and are making a difference in their community through their work.
Why Are Vision Screenings Important?
Children learn and grow their knowledge through their eyes. In fact, 80% of what children learn in a classroom setting is from something they have to see. If a child is struggling with their vision, they will not succeed in the classroom setting.
Roughly 25% of school aged children have a vision problem affecting their learning, but only around 15% of those children will visit an eye doctor before starting school. By offering vision screenings, we are giving all children a chance to have their vision problems addressed before it is too late.
Who Have We Helped?
In the 2015-2016 school year, we provided 365,156 children with a free vision screening. These screenings are for children 6 months old through 12th grade. Vizavance works with child care centers, Head Start Centers, and public and private schools.
Of the students we screened, 36,368 of them were referred to an eye care professional for an eye exam. Our free vision screenings make parents aware of a slight or serious vision problem they may not have known about. Catching vision problems early and getting the proper correction can make a difference in your child’s life. We believe children are unable to reach their full potential until they can see correctly. Sometimes the difference between success and failure in school is as simple as a pair of glasses!
What Else Do We Do?
We offer Vision Service Plan Benefit vouchers for free exams and glasses to families who qualify, making it possible for parents to give their children proper eye care if they could not afford it on their own.
Vizavance also provides classes for nurses, school staff, and healthcare professionals who have an interest in becoming a Children’s Vision Screener. All our staffs undergo this training and are skilled professionals at vision screenings.
Contact Vizavance today to schedule your child’s FREE vision screenings.
