By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Starting Sat., May 14, the Hays Lions Club will provide free vision screening for children and adults on the second Saturday of each month.

The club has teamed up with the ARC Thrift Store, 600 Main, which is handicapped-accessible and has ample parking. Vision screening will be available from 9 a.m. to noon.

Vision disability is the single most prevalent disabling condition among children. Most times, children don’t know they can’t see well because that is the way they have seen since birth.

“By early detection of vision disorders and treatment of them, challenges to good vision are 95 percent correctable,” said Jim Huenergarde, Hays Lions Club vision screener.

A little more than a year ago, the Hays Lions Club, together with Hays First Care Clinic, purchased the portable $7,800 Spot Vision Screener made by Welch Allyn.

The screening is quick and non-invasive, accurate and reliable. It can detect nearsightedness, farsightedness, amblyopia (lazy eye), astigmatism (blurred vision), strabismus (crossed eyed), unequal refractive power, and unequal pupil size.

The device can detect vision issues on patients from six months of age through adults.

“This is a screening and is not a diagnosis,” Huenergarde emphasized.  “If irregularities are found, the patient or parent is given the results so that they can contact their vision specialist.”

The Lions also provide vision screening for day care facilities, pre-schools, public and private schools, Head Start programs, and works with the First Care Clinic.

For more information and to schedule an appointment, contact Jim Huenergarde at (785) 650-7338.