Children's Vision and Learning Conference

Children's Vision and Learning Conference

This conference is designed as an opportunity for school nurses, educators, administrators, school psychologists, occupational therapists and optometrists to learn about the relationship between vision and learning. It will also provide an opportunity for dialogue to explore ways to collaborate and to make sure that vision conditions don't hinder children's ability to learn.

Technology will be a focus this year, with presentations on using technology to accommodate for vision problems and about 3D Vision Syndrome in the classroom.

Thursday, November 7, 2013
DoubleTree by Hilton Wichita Airport
Wichita, KS

Registration Materials:

• Preliminary Schedule
• Registration Form

If you have any questions or need additional information, please send e-mail to[email protected] or call 1-800-960-EYES.

Comments: I will be lecturing at this conference. If you are in the area, please come and join us! DM

Learning disabilities in young children actually could be vision problem

If not caught early, children’s vision problems may be mistaken for learning disabilities in the classroom, according to new research from a University of Lethbridge professor.

Noella Piquette, a U of L professor in the faculty of education, and Charles Boulet, a Diamond Valley optometrist, have been studying how young children’s vision affects how they learn. They’ve found that even sight problems that are usually imperceptible to children and their parents can make it much more difficult for the young students to keep up in school. Common eye screening tests - reading aloud shrunken letters of the alphabet - rarely catch these kinds of eye conditions in children, according to the study, recently published in the journal Optometry and Visual Performance.

Fewer than 15 per cent of children have their vision tested when they start school, even though 80 per cent of school learning is visual, Piquette said.....

Comments: To read more about it click here http://lethbridgeherald.com/news/local-news/2013/10/learning-disabilities-in-young-children-actually-could-be-vision-problem/

Vision Trauma Research Program

  DOD’s  (VTRP) Issues Program Announcement, Up to $14.5 M in Awards

 

 NAEVR has consolidated all new DOD announcements and past  abstracts into one box of links, posted in the Defense-Related Vision  Research section of the Web site at:

http://www.eyeresearch.org/advocacy/adv_dod-appropriations.html

 

The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Vision Trauma Research Program (VTRP) posted on the Grants.gov Web site its Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Program Announcements for up to $14.5 million in funding through two mechanisms:

 

• Translational Research Award, funded for a period of up to three years. This mechanism expects to fund 12 awards, for a total of $12 million. The maximum for any award is $1 million, with $5 million of the total reserved for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) visual dysfunction-related research projects.

 

• Hypothesis Development Award, funded for a period of two years with a maximum cost of $250,000 each. DOD expects to fund about 10 awards, totaling about $2.5 million. Of that amount, $1.5 million must be reserved for TBI-related projects.

 

The deadline for pre-proposal submissions for both awards is November 25, 2013. Each mechanism specifies the DOD-identified research gaps for which research should be proposed and states that proposals outside the focus areas should not be submitted. Domestic and international researchers can apply for funding.

 

DOD has also posted announcements seeking grants for “Neurosensory Research” (does not mention vision, but includes pain management) and “Regenerative Medicine Clinical Trial Award” which includes “Craniomaxillofacial Regeneration.”

 

Due to NAEVR’s advocacy, Congress funded the VTRP in FY2013 at $10 million−the highest level ever. Although subject to an eight percent sequester cut that reduced its amount to $9.2 million, the final funding amount is $14.5 million due to transfers of funding from other DOD programs, such as TBI research, as a result of the quality and responsiveness of vision researcher submissions. The vision community will have received $85 million in extramural research funding since FY2001 with the addition of these awards, $40 million of which since the VTRP was created by Congress as a distinct budget line in FY2009 DOD appropriations.

 

NAEVR’s 2012 Value of Defense-Related Vision Research Brochure details the history of the VTRP, presents the DOD-identified vision research gaps, and features summaries of presentations made by previous awardees in Capitol Hill briefings. It also highlights NAEVR’s 2012 Costs of Military Eye Injury study, which estimated total costs from 2000-2010 at $25.1 billion.  To view this document, click into the following link:

http://www.eyeresearch.org/pdf/brochure/DEFENSE_VISION_BROCHURE.pdf

 

To unsubscribe, email [email protected] 

 

James F. Jorkasky, Executive Director

National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR)/

Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR)

1801 Rockville Pike, Suite 400, Rockville, Maryland 20852

Direct: 240-221-2905  Cell: 703-909-6975  Fax: 240-221-0370

[email protected]    www.eyeresearch.org

ADHD or Vision Problem or Both?

....Children with undetected vision problems can exhibit symptoms similar to ADD.  Studies show that approximately 20% of school-aged children suffer from eye teaming or focusing deficits, which make remaining on task for long periods of time difficult.  Not saying it has anything to do with the bongs they are smoking from, of course. Like those with ADD, children with vision-based learning problems are highly distractible, have short attention spans, make careless errors, fail to complete assignments, and are often fidgety and off task.  However, their inability to remain on task is caused by the discomfort of using their eyes for long periods of time at close ranges, not true deficits in attention.  Unfortunately, parents and teachers are not trained to recognize the difference and these children are often misdiagnosed. ....

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/health/medical_breakthroughs/vision-therapy-for-adhd#ixzz2iTyZEDqc

Vision Therapy: Convergence Insufficiency

To find out more go to the College of Optometrists in Vision Development website.

No Two Brains Are the Same

« Eye Protect Brain

No Two Brains Are the Same

October 28, 2013 by Dr. Rochelle Mozlin

Meet Cavin.  In May 2011, Cavin fell about 20 feet from a rooftop water tower. His injuries were many, including the trauma to his brain.  In fact, his chances of survival were slim.  But Cavin not only survived, he has been fighting his way back and writing about it.

Cavin was interviewed by Robert Nurisio here.  This is one of my favorite quotes from that interview:......

Comments: Read this fascinating COVD Blog post....and watch the video... by clicking here or the title above. DM

International Neurotrauma Letter: Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury

Special Edition: Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury   Introduction to this Special Edition Incidence Rates for Traumatic Brain Injury in Children Audrey McKinlay and Carol Hawley Guidelines on Service Provision for Families of Children with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI): An International Perspective Mark A. Linden and Ingela Kristiansen Reintegration of Students with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Widespread Concern Catherine Aaro Jonsson, Eric Hermans, and Peter Rumney Education for Children with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Educator Knowledge and Understanding Mark A. Linden and Carol A. Hawley Issues Associated with Pre-school Child Traumatic Brain Injury Audrey McKinlay and Vicki Anderson Recent Articles of Note

Eye Protect Brain

Eye Protect Brain

The COVD Blog notes that:

...EyeProtectBrain is  a collaboration by the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD) and the Southeastern Congress of Optometry (SECO).  This new public health program has been launched to identify undiagnosed concussions in sports at all levels—from elementary school through professional players.

Why do we need this program?....

Need to know more? Click the title above or here. DM

4 things parents should know about the pediatric optometric care benefit

4 things parents should know about the pediatric optometric care benefit

1. Your child's coverage is based on a comprehensive eye exam.....
2. Your child's coverage extends through at least age 18...
3. Your child's coverage is included in your health plan....
4. Your child's coverage assures direct access to optometrists....

Comments: Read more about this by clicking here or the title above, DM

When Smartphones Do a Doctor’s Job

I was recently interviewed and then quoted in an MIT Technology story...

".....After running into Pamplona at a conference last year, Dominick Maino, an optometrist based in Chicago, wrote a column in his industry’s newsletter telling colleagues it was time to “panic … just a little.”

Maino thinks Netra can “give a good prescription, most of the time.” But an optometrist—there are 40,000 in the U.S.—looks at your eye health overall and can deal with complex cases. “He wants to put much more power into the hands of the individual, which isn’t a bad thing,” Maino says of Pamplona. “But you can’t write the doctor out of the equation. There’s a lot more to a great pair of glasses than an objective measure of refraction.”....."  Click here for full story. DM