View report page

85
Report on the Eyesight of School Children.
"During the year 392 new cases have attended the Health
Centre for examination by the oculist and 1,626 re-inspections
have been carried out, giving a grand total of 2,018 attendances
during the year. Of these children 729 were fully tested for
defective vision (392 new cases and 337 re-inspections) and spectacles
were prescribed in 565 cases. The remainder either required no
spectacles or needed no change in spectacles previously prescribed.
"Source of Cases.—Children are referred to the Oculist from
three main sources. Routine examination of school children
provides the greatest number, though some are referred from school
on account of inability to see the black-board or to use readingbooks
or because of other symptoms noticed by the teacher.
"The second source of cases is the home. Children are found
by their parents to be suffering from headache, blepharitis, conjunctivitis
or some other symptom and are referred for examination
at the parent's request.
"A third source, on which further comment is made later,
is the Welfare Centre. Children attending the Centre are too
young to read or to give any subjective sign that their vision is
defective. In practice, therefore, only those who are suffering from
squint or some other external symptom, most commonly the former,
are sent for examination.
"Method of Examination.—The full examination of a child
involves three attendances at the Centre in almost all cases. On
the first occasion, after the application of a mydriatic to the eyes,
retinoscopy is performed, a subjective test being also carried out
on those who are old enough to know their letters.
"It is held by some authorities that a post-mydriatic test
is only necessary in certain types of cases. In Ealing, however, a
second attendance for such a test is now made as a routine matter.
This naturally involves an increase in the work of the Department,
but it appears to be justified by results. In theory, it is possible
to calculate the final correction by a simple deduction from the
correction under the mydriatic, but in practice the difference is
not by any means constant. This may be due to the fact that