Eye Care Blog

It is also obvious that the method must have prevented other errors of refraction, a problem which previously had not even been seriously considered, because hypermetropia is supposed to be congenital and until not long ago astigmatism was also supposed to be congenital in the great majority of cases. Anyone who knows how to use a retinoscope, however, can demonstrate in a few minutes that both of these conditions are acquired; for no matter how astigmatic or hypermetropic an eye may be, its vision always becomes normal when it looks at a blank surface without trying to see. It may also be demonstrated that when children are learning to read, write, draw, sew, or do anything else that necessitates their looking at unfamiliar objects at the near- point, hypermetropia or hypermetropic astigmatism is always produced. The same is true of adults.

These facts strongly suggest that children need, first of all, eye education. They must be able to look at strange letters or objects at the near-point without strain before they can make much progress in their studies, and in every case in which the method has been tried it has been proved that this end is accomplished by daily exercise in distant vision with a test card. When their distant vision has been improved by this means, children invariably become able to use their eyes without strain at the near-point.

The method succeeded best when the teacher did not wear glasses. Not only do children imitate the visual habits of a teacher who wears glasses, but the nervous strain of which the defective sight is an expression produces in them a similar condition. In classes of the same grade, with the same lighting, the sight of children whose teachers did not wear glasses has always been found to be better than the sight of children whose teachers did wear them. In one case I tested the sight of children whose teacher wore glasses, and found it very imperfect. The teacher went out of the room on an errand, and after she had gone I tested them again. The results were very much better. When the teacher returned she asked about the sight of a particular boy, a very nervous child, and as I was proceeding to test him she stood before him and said, “Now, when the doctor tells you to read the card, do it.” The boy couldn’t see anything. Then she went behind him, and the effect was the same as if she had left the room. The boy read the whole card.

There are today in the schools of the United States several million children who have defective sight. This condition prevents them from taking full advantage of the educational opportunities which the state provides, it undermines their health and wastes the taxpayers’ money. If allowed to continue, it will be an expense and a handicap to these children throughout their lives. In many cases it will be a source of continual misery and suffering. And yet practically all of these cases could be relieved and the development of new ones prevented by no more elaborate treatment than the daily reading of a test card.

Why should our children be compelled to suffer and wear glasses for want of this simple measure of relief? It costs almost nothing. In many cases, in fact, it would not be necessary even to purchase test cards, since they are already being used to test the eyes of the children. It places almost no additional burden upon the teachers, and by improving the eyesight, health, disposition and mentality of their pupils, it greatly lightens their labors. No one would venture to suggest, further, that it could possibly do any harm.

Directions for Using a Test Card for the Improvement of Vision in Schools

The test card is placed permanently upon the wall of the classroom, and every day the children silently read the smallest letters they can see from their seats with each eye separately, the other being covered with the palm of the hand in such a way as to avoid pressure on the eyeball. This takes no appreciable amount of time and is enough to improve the sight of all children in one week and to eliminate all errors of refraction after some months, a year, or longer.

Children with markedly defective vision should be encouraged to read the card more frequently. Children wearing glasses should not be interfered with, as they are supposed to be under the care of a physician, and the practice will do them little or no good while the glasses are worn.

While not essential, it is a great advantage to have records made of the vision of each pupil at the time when the method is introduced, and thereafter at convenient intervals—annually or more frequently. This may be done by the teacher.

The records should include the name and age of the pupils, the vision of each eye tested at twenty feet, and the date. For example:

John Smith, ten, September 15, 19‑

R. V. [vision of the right eye] 20/40

L. V. [vision of the left eye] 20/20

John Smith, eleven, January I, 19

R. V. 20/30

L. V. 20/15

A certain amount of supervision is absolutely necessary. At least once a year someone who understands the method should visit each classroom for the purpose of answering questions, encouraging the teachers to continue the use of the method, and making some kind of a report to the proper authorities. But it is not necessary that either the supervisor, the teachers, or the children understand anything about the physiology of the eye.

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