I vividly remember sitting in the auditorium at the Georgia World Congress Center in 2005 as President Jimmy Carter issued a challenge to our profession. It was a dream of his to be able to partner with optometry in an effort to “catch” vision problems before children entered kindergarten, largely due to the fact that 2 of his grandchildren were diagnosed with amblyopia. Since the inception of the program in 2005 over 165,000 infants have benefited from the program. Of those reported, 9% were discovered to have ocular concerns that required follow up care. As you know, this early detection is critical for successful treatment and prevention of developmental delays.

InfantSEE, a public health program, managed by Optometry Cares – The AOA Foundation, is designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an integral part of infant wellness care to improve a child’s quality of life. Under this program, AOA member optometrists provide a no-cost comprehensive eye and vision assessment for infants 6-12 months old regardless of a family’s income or access to insurance coverage.

We often hear how well the dental profession promotes wellness visits every 6 months and in the same breath many optometrists lament why the general public does not put the same emphasis on taking care of their eyes and ocular. We only get two of those of those after all! This program is an excellent way to get parents to start thinking about scheduling their children’s eye exams on a regular basis.

I would like to invite you to become an InfantSEE Provider and join us in ensuring babies have the opportunity to develop the visual abilities they need to grow and learn.

Sincerely,
Sarah B Fratesi, O.D.