“To widen access to eye health exams, Koenig is supporting legislation championed by State Sen. Chris Gebhard (R.-Lebanon) to require a comprehensive eye health exam when children enroll in public school, then again in fourth and eighth grades.
Gebhard introduced Senate Bill 780 last year, which stalled in committee, and will likely be reintroduced next year.
The bill seeks to identify kids who have eye problems, so they — like Nathan Koenig — can get the appropriate treatment, not struggle through school without addressing the root cause of their issue.
“Basically, it changes their life,” said Jesse Jones, an optometrist at East Falls Eye Associates, who is advocating for this legislation.
Pennsylvania wouldn’t be the first state to enact this kind of law. Since 2000, Kentucky has required that all children who start public school have an eye examination by an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Among more than 5,000 children who underwent the exam in Kentucky after the law was passed, hundreds were diagnosed with eye issues such as amblyopia, in which the brain doesn’t recognize vision information from one eye.”
A Pennsylvania boy was told he had a learning disability. Vision screening missed the real problem