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17 Friday , A ugust 20, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m Free specs for JKs in need The Ontario Association of Optometrists (OAO) has announced the start of a program that could provide free glasses to all junior kindergarten students who need them. The Eye See...Eye Learn program is being offered for the first time to all Halton JK students in the upcoming school year. Eye exams are already covered by OHIP for children 19 years of age and under, but eyewear is not. The program is designed to remove all barriers to children receiving proper eye care so that they can reach their full potential at school. The glasses are all brand new and high quality. In the school year ending in 2009, only 25 per cent of children between the ages of five and nine years of age had been examined by an optometrist and only seven per cent of children under five had been seen by an optometrist. Too often children dont com- plain to their parents about not see- ing well because they dont know what normal vision is supposed to look like, said Dr. Shirley Ha, a local optometrist, in a press release. Children can also be labeled with behavioural or learning disabil- ities because they are unable to see or focus on the work, when all they require is a pair of eyeglasses. An eye exam can give parents the peace of mind of knowing whether their child can see well or not. Halton District School Board Superintendent of Education Mark Zonneveld agreed. Children who cannot see the board focus on a pic- ture or follow words in a book will struggle to achieve their full learn- ing potential, he said in the release. We have an opportunity through the Eye SeeEye Learn program to educate parents about the critical link between vision and learning. JK students can get the eye exam at local optometrists. There is no cost to parents. For more informa- tion visit www.eyeseeeyelearn.ca.