Getting ready to go back to school typically means a trip to the store for supplies and new duds. This year put on the back-to-school to do list, a stop at Allison Eye Care Inc. for a free vision screening, too.
Dr. Allison Schulte, O.D., a lifelong Clarkston resident, said it is estimated more than 10 million children suffer from vision problems; and one in four school children has an undiagnosed vision problem that can lead to difficulty in learning.
Common symptoms include headaches, nausea, dizziness, squinting, holding a book too close to the face, skipping or rereading lines, and trouble seeing the chalk board.
But learning related vision problems, when accurately diagnosed, can be treated successfully and permanently, Schulte said.
And for the last five years, since opening the Clarkston practice in 1998, Allison Eye Care has offered complimentary back-to-school vision screenings.
The first year approximately 50 to 75 people took advantage of Schulte’s offer. It has since expanded to 100 to 200 people each year.
Schulte said she is, to her knowledge, the only one in the area to offer free screenings, which are intended for children between the ages of three and 18, and run month long in conjunction with August’s National Children’s Vision and Learning Month.
“I believe a lot of the schools in the area mandate vision tests. For someone who can’t afford a full eye exam, the screenings are an alternative. It doesn’t substitute a full eye exam. But it’s a nice thing to do for the community.”
At the screenings, children will have checked visual, distance and near acuity; color vision; near convergence; depth perception; automated refractive error; muscle imbalance; and eye muscle motility.
“If I do detect a problem. The parent will leave with a copy of the screening form, which I will go over briefly with the parent.” A full eye exam should be the next step and can be set up either at Allison Eye Care or elsewhere. “As long as the kids are getting assistance. That’s what’s important.”
For more information, call Allison Eye Care at (248) 922-1111. The office is located at 6770 Dixie Highway, Suite 203 inside the North Oakland Medical Center. Hours are: Monday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Wednesday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.