Children’s testing proves popular

THE Lions Club of Mount Gambier has taken its successful children’s vision screening project to a public venue for the first time, with about a quarter of participants being referred to an optometrist for follow up testing.

The free, no-appointment session at the Mount Gambier Public Library was held as part of events marking World Sight Day and gave parents an opportunity to have their children’s eyesight checked if they missed out during school visits by the club.

Some pre-schoolers were also brought to the session.

“Three out of the 14 children were referred to an optometrist – which is about the average,” said Jill Austin who co-ordinates the club’s Lions Eye Health Project.

“It was a fairly small turnout, but as you can see from the statistics it was a really good result.

“They were all local families, including some from Saint Martin’s Lutheran College and Suttontown Primary School.

“We’re looking at doing some more public sessions around town, perhaps back here at the Library or at Bunnings where the team has offered use of their foyer.

“It’s very rewarding to be involved with an initiative where children with possible eye health issues will now have follow up with an optometrist.

“The kids have been great, and the parents who came along have been wonderful.

“All our screeners enjoy taking part, and we will continue doing this for a long time to come.

“My message to parents is to let schools know that we offer this service, and that if your children can’t come to see us during a school visit, then come along to a public session,” she said.

The club’s trained volunteers check distance vision, colour vision and depth perception, and use a special handheld eye camera that checks for a range of other vision problems and generates a report for the optometrist.