Vision to Learn’s mobile clinic provides thousands of children each year access to eye exams and lenses at no charge. Anabelle Sedano reports for the NBC 4 News at 3 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2024.
A national program, Vision to Learn, has provided millions of kids access to free eye exams and glasses with the help of their mobile service.
Austin Beutner, the founder of Vision to Learn, began the company with the idea of providing students with the tool of vision to help them succeed in school. Beutner recognized the impact glasses can have on a child.
"Most children who don't have the glasses they need, don't know they need glasses," said Beutner. "So, they're often misdiagnosed as a behavior problem in kindergarten because they're all fidgety, roaming around, can't sit still. By third or fourth grade, they're mislabeled, called slow learning, something less polite by their peers. And by eighth grade, ninth grade, tenth grade, they're more likely to drop out."
According to the American Optometric Association, 1 out of every 4 children in the United States needs glasses.
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"Sometimes they know that they need glasses, but they know that their families cannot afford them, or their families can't afford the time to take them to an eye doctor," said Dr. Debbie Kim, a Vision to Learn optometrist.
Vision to Learn provides a solution to the problem by having doctors and specialists go to the kids. Vision to Learn’s mobile clinic provides on-campus vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses to students in underserved communities at no cost to their families.
There are currently eight vans serving the greater Los Angeles area and 60 total around the country. Since the program began, more than 3 million students have been provided with eye care across the nation.
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The program not only looks at their vision but checks on eye health as well.
"I look for any red flags. We not only look at the eyes, but we just look for everything that's important in their medical," said Kim.
Romello, McRae, an incoming Dartmouth College student, is a beneficiary of the program who discovered he needed glasses as a kid and was able to get the help he needed thanks to Vision to Learn.
"I definitely feel like without glasses My whole trajectory would be pointed in a completely different direction," said McRae.
McRae is now one of the millions of students who were able to get help with their vision early in their educational careers.
"We can make sure every child, like Mello, can become a young adult, go off to a great school, and live their best life if we help them early, help them young, and that's what we're trying to do," said Beutner.
