Sight. It truly is a wonderful thing to see!
Sight enhances our lives and aids in the learning process. Newborns search parents' faces for love and reassurance. Toddlers learn in leaps and bounds by watching those around them. Schoolchildren study their world, interpreting lifelong lessons from that which they observe. It is our children's right to possess and enjoy the gift of sight, and our responsibility to ensure their eyes stay healthy.
Why healthy eyes?
Eyes have been called windows to our souls, the lens through which we see our world. Were you aware that nearly one-third of our brain is devoted to visual functions, and most of the sensory information received by humans is visual? Some specialists describe the eyes as the external portion of our brain that helps us to explore our world. How children interpret their world, learn and form their core values has as much to do with healthy eyes as does your influence as parents in shaping and molding your children's character and personalities.
Can the benefits of vision be measured?
There are ways to measure the worth of vision. Though measures are not standardized, most would agree that optimal vision is an inherent good. The ultimate results of good vision may be measured in terms of their benefits to human productivity, which in turn may be measured economically. Economists agree that good health, including good vision, provides huge benefits in both human and economic terms. In children, the dollar "return on investment" is likely to be on the order of 10 to one. Therefore, relatively small investments in good vision, particularly for children, result in very large returns to the economy; and a failure to make these investments is indeed wasteful.
How can healthy vision be protected?
Before eye health can be accomplished, much has to initially take place. Pediatric ophthalmologists have to study the eye and childhood eye diseases to determine how to best care for your children and their eyes, for children's needs differ from those with adult eye disease and treatments. Vision screening becomes tantamount in determining what treatments have to be instituted to secure or restore healthy eyes. Pediatric ophthalmologists first have to understand sight and all of its components, studying how vision and the brain interact to produce the wonder of sight. Knowledge is then shared among eye physicians to reach out to solve the problems of sight.
What is the Children's Eye Foundation's contribution to eye health?
We have embraced healthy eyes as our mission and goal. Proof of this dedication to ensuring healthy eyes for children is demonstrated in the many programs we have initiated. For example, See by Three™, a vision-screening program to help uncover eye problems in children before the age of three so they can be effectively treated, has gained national attention. Through the generosity of our donors, we have founded The Strabismus Initiative, a program designed to further the research and teaching possibilities for all eye care physicians. We have also launched The Visual Brain Institute, a program created to incorporate multi-medical disciplines to study and understand the relationship between the brain and vision. Patient Guides, written by eye physicians and edited by parents who have experienced eye diseases and treatments described are teaching and support tools for patients and parents alike. The International Travel Fund, created to bring eye physicians from needy countries to study and share effective treatments for healthy vision to take back to their patients, is an ongoing effort to eliminate preventable blindness worldwide. All are efforts supported by the Children's Eye Foundation to improve sight and eliminate preventable blindness in children.
Isn't this a tall order?
Absolutely! Eliminating preventable blindness in children seems daunting! Can it be accomplished? Most certainly!
But we need your help. CEF makes it possible to ensure healthy eyes for our children through our many and diverse programs. But we are only as successful as guaranteed by your support. We make your dollars work for the good of your children. Partner with us to secure your children's eye health!
Join us in our efforts by supporting the Children's Eye Foundation. Together, we can make a difference!
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