1 Eye Pledge = 1 VSP Gift Certificate for a Child in need

Go to SeeMuchMore.com and take the Eye Pledge in just three easy steps:

-   Select the Eye Pledge that’s right for you
-   Direct a free VSP eye exam and glasses gift certificate a Boys & Girls Club of your choice
-   Share your pledge to help spread the word and help us reach our goal!

Check out this video featuring BGCA discussing the importance of the campaign and the impact it will have to help children reach their full potential.

For more information about the VSP Eye Pledge campaign and to take the pledge, please visit www.SeeMuchMore.com.  The site also includes an interactive, virtual savings calculator to learn about savings with VSP vision benefits, allows users to browse the latest eyewear styles, and provides helpful information about healthy vision.

Green Dot New York students, Lori, and Liz.

SeeZar at Green Dot New York in the Bronx.

The clinic outside of the Animo Ralph Bunche and Animo Justice campus.

Wednesday was my first day working as a tech on our mobile clinic, and it put me to the test! On our day of a series of events in partnership with Green Dot Public Schools, we visited Animo Ralph Bunche and Animo Justice. These schools share the same campus, so we were able to help students from both schools from one location.

These students were amazing! The results of the Green Dot program are apparent after talking to the kids that we saw. They’d just finished taking their PSAT test, and were articulate, polite, and eager to get their eyes examined. Looking back on myself at that age, I could have taken a cue or two from their manners and poise.

All of the students loved the selection of eyewear on the clinic, and were totally excited about the great brands available to them. Who wouldn’t be glad to wear glasses from Fendi, Coach, or Sean John?

Drs. Kurata and Silverman, the VSP network doctors who volunteered their time on the clinic Wednesday, were so gracious. They put students at ease, and were so efficient that we were able to keep to the schedule.

Vision is key to scholastic success, and these kids are college-bound! We were proud to be part of their path to accomplishment.

Victor was excited to model glasses for us.

Dr. Silverman with a happy student.

Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team - and a huge fan of NBA star Bobby Jackson.

Yesterday VSP participated in an event that not only gave kids an opportunity to be successful in school by providing them with comprehensive eye exams, eyewear and school supplies, but also gave them another reason to smile – a chance to meet and play basketball with Bobby Jackson from the Sacramento Kings!

We spent the day with 40 Herman Leimbach elementary students, their families and school staff along with parents and students from two other elementary schools who conducted their own school supply fund raising effort for these students through a program called “Kids Helping Kids.”

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Bobby Jackson arrived to the absolute delight of the kids (and the parents!). They toured SeeLia, our mobile clinic, and helped a few of the students pick out their new frames from the dispensary located on the clinic.

Bobby Jackson and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson pose with VSP Drs. April Omoto and Stephanie Kirschbaum.

Then the fun began when Bobby agreed to try on our vision impairment simulation goggles and attempt a few basketball drills. He experienced what would happen to his vision if he had different eye diseases, including glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and even hemianopia! The kids then had an opportunity to participate in the basketball drills wearing the different goggles so they could experience for themselves how good vision is an important component to being successful in both sports and in school.

Bobby Jackson attempts a free throw while wearing glaucoma simulator goggles.

VSP knows the important role regular eye exams play in back to school preparation, and we also know the important role giving back to the community plays in ensuring every child has access to receiving those exams. Even as we all battled the hot Sacramento sun, we all had smiles at the end of the day knowing the positive impact made on all those who were there.

Bobby Jackson poses with VSP's Niki Myers, Randy Santos, Joy Denney, Principal Sonjhia Lowrey (Herman Leimbach Elementary), and Dr. Diana Holcomb.

Dr. Kisling is a VSP network optometrist practicing in Ft. Collins, CO.

Is your preschooler or kindergartner ready for their first eye exam? There are critical times to have eye check ups, and this is when you as a parent typically start to have concerns that your child can see his or her best. The onset of the school year brings in many young children to the eye doctor’s office for the first time. Some of them are very anxious because their experience with doctors has normally been associated with sickness and pain.

You can help alleviate your child’s anxiety about going to see the optometrist with six easy steps:

1. Explain this is a fun type of doctor’s office without shots. Advise them they will need to answer a few questions as best as they can and there are no right or wrong answers. Assure them if they do need glasses they will get to help pick out colors and shapes they like. If they need vision correction, give them some ownership of the process. If it is determined they need glasses, make positive statements of how much they will enjoy seeing the leaves on the trees and their favorite movies.
2. Prepare them for eye drops. You can refer to them as tickle drops that make their eyes tickle for a few seconds. Yes, they do sting briefly, but when I tell children they will probably tickle a few seconds that is what usually happens. Right after drops are put in the eye I start asking children questions to distract them for the first minute or so. If they are thinking about something and answering questions they don’t feel the drops. You can do the same thing by barraging them with questions that have happy answers. Talk to them about how their eyes will be blurry up close for a few hours and they will need to wear some funny looking sunglasses when they are outside until the drops wear off.
3. Explain they will need to read very small letters on a wall. You can practice at home by making a homemade eye chart with print size you can read easily from across the room taped to the refrigerator. Have them cover one eye at a time and practice. If they don’t know their letters, yet pick three objects they know and do the same thing.
4. Tell your child the optometrist will shine some bright lights in their eye for a short period of time like a flashlight feels when shined at their face.
5. Explain they may need to sit very still for a few minutes while an eye computer checks their eyes. Play a game of sitting still and staring straight ahead for 1 minute with a reward when they do.
6. Promise a reward after the eye exam if they do good. Doing something they enjoy right after a vision exam will give a positive association with going to see the eye doctor. 

A happy patient!

Making your child’s first visit to the optometrist a fun, positive experience can help them maintain a lifetime of healthy eyesight. I find they are my easiest patients: normally cheerful and they rarely complain. Last but not least, schedule their eye exam at a time when they are at their best, not at the end of the day or around nap time. Help make it a fun new adventure. And if your child is under one year old, the InfantSEE® program will provide a one-time, comprehensive eye assessment offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost regardless of income. To learn more about InfantSEE® call toll-free (888) 396-EYES (3937) or visit www.infantsee.org.

David H. Kisling, O.D., A.B.D.A.
www.drkisling.com
www.twitter.com/dhkisling
Harmony Eyecare
Fort Collins, CO. 80525