Trishelle Barton and Suzanne Tsang

We here at Good-Lite would like to congratulate Trishelle Barton from Pacific University. She was presented with a set of our LEA Grating Paddles by winning the Most Active Member award. Congratulations Trishelle.

For more information about Dr. Lea, visit her website

To read Dr. Maino’s active and interesting blog - MAINO’S MEMOS (love the name!)

]]> http://www.good-lite.info/?feed=rss2&p=71 http://www.good-lite.info/?p=67 http://www.good-lite.info/?p=67#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:55:38 +0000 Kay Nottingham-Chaplin Ed.D. http://www.good-lite.info/?p=67 With billions of dollars going to children enrolled in CHIP (Community HOME Investment Program), now would be a GREAT time to update your preschool vision screening material.

Date: June 19, 2009
For Release: Immediately
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

Headline: HHS Secretary Sebelius Announces Release of $6 Billion in New CHIP Funds to Insure Children

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that $6 billion in new federal funds will be made available to states and U.S. territories for fiscal year 2009 to provide health care to millions of children across America through their Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP).

The new funds for CHIP were made available by the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 4. CHIPRA provides additional funding that will help states and territories maintain existing CHIP enrollment and expand their programs.

Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study Group.

Optom Vis Sci. 2009 May 4. [Epub ahead of print]

PMID: 19417714 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

This is the Abstract:
The Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study Group conducted a multicenter, multidisciplinary, two-phase study to evaluate the performance of vision screening tests for identifying pre-school children with amblyopia, strabismus, significant refractive error, or unexplained reduced visual acuity (VA). The results of the VIP Study provide evidence-based guidelines for preschool vision screening. The best screening tests administered by eye care professionals were non-cycloplegic retinoscopy, Retinomax Autorefractor, SureSight Vision Screener, and linear, crowded Lea Symbols VA at 10 feet. The best screening tests administered by trained nurses and/or lay screeners were Retinomax, SureSight, and VIP single, crowded Lea Symbols VA screening test system at 5 feet. Eye care professionals can improve detection of strabismus by combining unilateral cover test with a refraction test and trained lay screeners can improve detection of strabismus by combining Stereo Smile II with SureSight. The best performing tests had high testability whether performed by trained eye care professionals, nurses, or lay screeners (>/=98%). Although very few children were unable to complete these tests, a child who was “unable” was much more likely to have a vision problem than a child who passed; therefore, children who are unable to complete one of these tests should be referred for further evaluation. When screening using the Retinomax, repeated testing to achieve the manufacturer’s suggested confidence number is valuable and improves specificity. Federal initiatives to increase the number of pre-school children receiving vision screening or examination will increase the number of pre-school children identified with amblyopia, strabismus, and/or significant refractive error. Although there is general agreement regarding the importance of early detection of amblyopia, controversy exists regarding the importance of early detection of refractive error. Because of the high prevalence of significant refractive errors and lack of evidenced-based guidelines for correction of refractive error in pre-school children, future research is needed to evaluate the value of correcting refractive errors in preschoolers who do not have amblyopia and/or strabismus.

Five to eight per cent (depending on the study you quote) of the men and one
half per cent of the women of the world are born colorblind. That’s as high
as one out of twelve men and one out of two hundred women.

Protanomalous or deuteranomalous individuals can usually pass as a normal
observer in everyday activities. They may make occasional errors in color
names, or may encounter difficulties in discriminating small differences in
colors, but usually they do not perform or see colors very differently from
the normal except on color vision tests.

The protanope and deuteranope, on the other hand, can be severely color
deficient. The real problem, as a protanope or deuteranope may see it, is
there are far too many hue names (color names) used by most people without
any obvious basis for using one instead of another. Why call something
“orange” when it doesn’t look different in any way from something else
called green, tan, beige, or any of several other color names?

The first show will be MEACO in Bahrain from March 27-29 where you can find us at booth 506. Chris Greening and Joe Villari will be exhibiting there. The 10th MEACO Congress is being held at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

The second show will be Vision East at the Javits Center, New York, NY where you can find Good-Lite at booth 1209. Both Dr. Kay Nottingham Chaplin and Tim Collins will be exhibiting there.

Stop by and visit us at either location.