Kids Vision for Life St. Louis (KVFL) was awarded with The Spot Vision Screener for the 2016-17 school year. This addition to our program has been made possible by a grant through the Saigh Foundation.
The Spot is a small, portable, hand-held device that provides a quick and accurate reading on patients as young as six months. Before receiving The Spot, KVFL utilized traditional Snellen eye charts to test visual acuities. Testing with eye charts could sometimes be a challenge. Accuracy of results depended greatly on a student’s comprehension skills and willingness to cooperate. Eye charts were also unable to detect potential health issues of the eyes.
With The Spot, KVFL is now able to record and test more than just a student’s visual acuities. The Spot not only provides acuity results but also tests the overall health of their eyes. Visual issues such as astigmatism, hyperopia, and amblyopia can now be detected on students who may have previously passed a Snellen screening.
The addition of The Spot has also increased the range of students KVFL can service. Before, screeners relied heavily on a student’s cooperation, comprehension, and communication to test a student. Using The Spot has allowed our team to easily and quickly screen students who have proven difficult in the past. Students who are preverbal or preliterate can now receive a vision screening, as well as ESL students or children with developmental delays.
Our team began utilizing The Spot at the beginning of the 2016 school year and has already noticed a difference in screening results.
Misty Hutt, a KVFL team lead, believes that The Spot has increased accuracy. “Screening days have been cut in half…and the bright lights on The Spot capture the attention of the kids keeping them engaged,” Hutt said.
The Spot has proved invaluable to the KVFL staff with its reliability and accuracy, taking the guesswork out of screening days.
