AURORA, Ohio—The College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), along with state and local governments, is once again encouraging people to commemorate August as Children’s Vision and Learning Month. The purpose of this annual campaign is to highlight the connection between vision and learning, the importance of early detection of vision problems and the necessity of back-to-school comprehensive vision exam with a developmental optometrist.

One in ten children in America—over 5 million in all—has a vision problem significant enough to impact their ability to learn in school. An estimated 80 percent of learning occurs through a child’s eyes; behavioral visual skills such as focusing, tracking smoothly along lines of a text, and coordinating eyes to work together are all aspects of learning that are not tested in a typical school vision screening.

Help COVD raise awareness this August by:
• Urging parents to have their children evaluated for learning-related vision problems with a developmental optometrist, found at COVD.org.
• Liking the COVD Facebook Page and sharing info posted there about the connection between vision and learning
• Sharing campaign blog posts, added twice weekly throughout August on Tuesdays and Fridays
• Learning more about the campaign and past campaigns’ efforts on the Vision & Learning Month webpage.

Parents can use the Locate a Doctor tool at COVD.org to find developmental optometrists who conduct in-depth exams in their areas. For other vision problems, parents can try the drug-free optometric vision therapy.