Valuable Vision

June is Child Vision Awareness Month! And this visually impaired blogger thinks that having a month devoted to vision awareness is important indeed! I’ve been wearing glasses since the fourth grade, when all of a sudden I couldn’t read the chalkboard from my seat in the middle of the classroom. Fortunately, my teacher noticed me squinting and moved me to the front of the room. Then he notified my parents and had my vision tested in school. When I received my first pair of glasses, I was amazed at all the details I had been missing.

The eyes are fabulous things! How fabulous? Here are some really cool facts.

• Over half of the brain is involved with seeing.

• Babies don’t produce tears until they are four to 13 weeks old. Initially, they just make crying sounds.

• About 39 million people worldwide are blind and about six times that many have vision impairments of some type.

• Eyeball transplants? Not yet. The optic nerve is too sensitive to reconstruct successfully.

• 80% of vision problems worldwide are preventable or curable.

Are you one of the few individuals with excellent sight, or do you wear glasses or contact lenses?