Meet Monroe. She was screened by Iowa KidSight this past year. Through this screening, Monroe and her parents found out that she needed glasses. Below is a conversation with Monroe and her parents after she had gotten her new glasses. 

Q&A with Monroe: 

Q. Tell us about your glasses: 

A. “I really like my glasses because they are rainbow and glow in the dark. My doctor put eye drops in my eyes and looked at my eyes. They covered up one eye and put little dots to see if I could see them. My doctor helped me a lot and it was a pretty good day…” 

Q. What is your favorite thing to look at? 

A. “I like to look at myself in the mirror and animals that are far away and even airplanes. I couldn’t see things far away before glasses.” 

Q&A with Monroe’s parents: 

Q. Did you know your child wasn’t seeing well? 

A. “We did not and had no indication that she was having trouble seeing things far away.” 

Q. What changes did you notice in your child since receiving her glasses? 

A. “She would describe objects, people, animals in greater detail than she did before. She could see intricacies of the world around her that she couldn’t see or describe before. It was wonderful!” 

Q. Thinking back to before your child received his/her glasses, were there things she did or didn’t do? 

A. “She couldn’t describe things in detail—which at the time, we thought was due to her developing language and now we realize it was her vision.” 

Q. Are there any other comments you’d like to share regarding your child? 

“The eye screening helped both my daughter and my son. Because of this screening, we took her to an eye doctor who diagnosed and treated her vision impairment. The doctor then recommended we get our son screened. He also has the same vision impairment and now has corrective lenses at a very young age. We are so grateful for this screening and the opportunity to set our children up for developmental success without vision being an obstacle. Thank you so much!”