Low-Income Students Receive Hearing and Vision Clinics
As the education of our children is one of the most important investments we can make, so is their hearing and vision. Without the opportunity to develop healthy vision and hearing, a child's ability to learn, interact, and share becomes extremely hindered.
A school service committee in Toronto is recommending that six inner-city elementary schools receive trial clinics to give vision and hearing testing. Past hearing and vision screenings at 109 elementary schools in the city's poorest neighborhoods found that 40% of students required follow-up care – 27% with an optometrist or ophthalmologist and 13% percent for follow-up hearing program tests.
Having medical care in-school isn't a new idea, but the poorer schools need to be given more staff to apply these hearing test and exams. The first clinics will available after school, one day a week. What has been a problem for parents before were language and cultural barriers, transportation, or the parents' inability to juggle work and appointments.