News from the AOA's Blog

In his recently published autobiography, brain cancer survivor Don Evans recounts how, as a teenager, he spent years trying to identify the health problem that many believed was psychosomatic and then struggled to overcome the post-surgical paralysis that doctors predicted would leave him permanently debilitated.
 
“It’s about hoping and dreaming and never giving up,” Evans says of the book.
 
It also holds a moral for optometrists and for other health care professionals, according to Carl Golightly, O.D., who performed the eye examination that ultimately uncovered Evans’ brain tumor. Read the rest of this entry ?

With a new name and an expanding mission, the AOA Vision Rehabilitation Section (VRS) is gearing up new efforts to support optometry’s increasingly important role in the growing field of rehabilitation services, according to section Chair Mark E. Wilkinson, O.D.
 
Formerly known as the AOA Low Vision Rehabilitation Section, the group was originally established by the AOA Board of Trustees to support optometric services for patients who are legally blind or visually impaired and cannot achieve functional vision through the use of conventional corrective lenses, Dr. Wilkinson noted. Read the rest of this entry ?

A “Joint Policy Statement” published online in the Journal Pediatrics on July 27 appears to cobble together outdated research and vision science, such as the controversial Irlen lens, in an attempt to discredit optometric vision therapy, according to prominent optometrists.
          
The policy statement, developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Ophthalmology; American Academy of Ophthalmology; American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus;  and American Association of Certified Orthoptists, sheds doubt on the claim that vision therapy treats dyslexia – a claim that vision researchers and clinicians have not made for decades. Read the rest of this entry ?

By Leonard Press, O.D.

 “Vision problems can interfere with learning, but vision problems are not the primary cause of reading or learning problems for most children.  Therefore, any effort to improve a child’s visual performance through vision therapy is unsupported, even if your child happens to be one of those who might be helped by vision therapy.”

 Any parent reading that statement would find it illogical if not misleading.  Yet for the fourth time in four decades, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, and American Association of Certified Orthoptists have combined their efforts to publish this notion in the guise of public interest. Read the rest of this entry ?

The American Optometric Association’s Ready for School campaign is designed to support grassroots promotion of the importance of a comprehensive eye exam for children as they return to school or go to school for the first time. Free community promotion kits are now available for members.  Based on feedback from members, this year’s kit contains the following: 

-Customizable news release for local media
-Information sheets that describe the difference between a comprehensive eye exam and a vision screening (in quantities of 50)
-Two-sided word hunt/seek & find activity sheet-copies can be made as needed
-Could Your Child Have a Vision Problem? questionnaire-copies can be made as needed
-Children’s Vision information sheet-copies can be made as needed
-‘Be Wise about Your Eyes’ stickers
-Children’s Vision PowerPoint presentation on CD “Sample of the Ocular Emergencies – What to Do” card for school nurses

Materials can be used to help deliver the Ready for School message within the member’s practice and community.  To request your free Ready for School community kit, email publicrelations@aoa.org. 

AOA's Ready for School Kit includes stickers, a CD and information pads

A report released earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services through the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) indicates that vision screenings, using standard methods of assessing visual acuity in older adults, a practice common in the primary care setting, is insufficient for use as a secondary prevention or screening method.
 
The AOA highlights the significance of the report as an important, evidence-based analysis that health care providers and aging Americans should carefully consider. Read the rest of this entry ?

Following is information concerning services for Dr. Pat Cummings.

Friday, July 17^th, 3:00 P.M.
St. Joseph’s  Catholic Church
11757 Old St. Augustine Road
Jacksonville, FL  32258-2001
(904)268-5422
http://www.stjosephsjax.org/

Friday, July 24, 7:00 P.M.
Wyo Theater
42 N Main St
Sheridan, WY 82801
(307) 672-9083
http://www.wyotheater.com/

A Memorial Fund is being established through The AOA Foundation.  Donations will be received at:
Optometry’s Charity–The AOA Foundation
243 N. Lindbergh Blvd
St. Louis, Missouri 63141

Pat Cummings, O.D., presents the Patrick Everet Cummings Memorial Scholarship, named for his son, to then-Pennsylvania College of Optometry Student Jean Suzanne Parker in this 2006 photo. Dr. Parker now practices at Digby Eye Associates in Greensboro, N.C.

Dear AOA Member, 
In a terrible loss to our profession, J. Patrick Cummings, O.D., died this past weekend in a plane crash.  A past president of the American Optometric Association, and current vice president of Vistakon, he represented the best in our profession.  The loss is profound, not only to those of us who were blessed to have known him, but to the countless people who benefited from his deep concern for the health and eyesight of all people. Read the rest of this entry ?