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Easy Reading
Alicia Isenberg
As the recommended age of a child's first vision exam becomes younger and younger, it's no wonder that more children's vision disorders are being diagnosed at an earlier age. But the younger the patients, the harder it may be to get them to comply with wearing glasses.
For most parents, getting their kids to eat their vegetables or brush their teeth is a daily struggle. So expecting them to comply with the doctor's orders of wearing glasses—especially when they are out of their parents' sight? Forget about it!
Recognizing the need for more and better information about children's vision health, the optical industry creates a variety of literature and resources for children and parents alike.
Both informative and fun, these resources help parents to better understand their childrens' needs and provide tips on compliance, putting a positive spin on wearing glasses.
1 Jonathan Cate's book, The Adventures of JimBob Jackfoot Episode 1: JimBob Visits the Eye Doctor, uses illustrations and a funny storyline to make a child's first trip to the eye doctor a fun one. The book coincides with Jonathan Cate Eyewear's new children's collection, KatyKids, and Jonathan Cate also plans to offer point-of-purchase materials and giveaways to support the books' characters.
2 Will My Child Actually Wear These Glasses?, written by pediatric optician Katheryn Dabbs Schramm, ABOC, RDO, CEO of A Child's View, Inc., is a parents' guide to children's eyewear usage and compliance.
3 Parenting websites offer a wealth of knowledge for parents in regard to their children's health and development. For example, parents.com has a section dedicated to kids' eye health and provides links to a variety educational resources for both parents and kids.
In addition, vision-specific websites like littlefoureyes.com, a community-based site for family and friends of young children who require vision correction, feature message boards where parents can give and receive support, share tips, and suggest resources to other parents. EB
| Adventures in EYEWEAR |
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| Kids love a good story. Below are a few books featuring bespectacled heroes that may make the task of getting young patients on board with wearing their glasses just a little bit easier. Princess Peepers by Pam Calvert and Tuesday Morning Readers follow the lovable princess on her journey to self-acceptance, finding that being different from her peers can be fun—especially with a fabulous collection of eyeglasses. My Travelin' Eye by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw Young Jenny Sue is ridiculed for her glasses and her “travelin' eye,” a result of a condition called strabismus, until she and her mother decide to turn her drab eyewear into a fashion statement. All the Better to See You With! by Margaret Wild Kate feels left out because she is the only one of her large family in need of vision correction. But once she puts on her glasses, she sees the world in a new and exciting way. Arthur's Eyes by Marc Brown Arthur is self-conscious about his glasses. But when he stops wearing them, he gets into all kinds of trouble, teaching him that maybe four eyes really are better than two. |
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