LAKE MARY, Fla., Sept. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Spot vision screener is changing the screening process for educators across the country.  Each fall, schools across America will conduct a vision screening to make sure their students are visually equipped to succeed in the classroom. However, the eye chart has been the standard for vision screening over the past 150 years and requires time, sometimes missing students, some of whom will cheat the chart just to avoid getting glasses.

Now with Spot, students cannot manipulate the results and the device provides reliable data in seconds. Whereas it would take a school of 1,200 students several weeks to complete the vision screening process, Spot now allows schools to screen those students in a single school day, providing quick and accurate results.

Recently, Palmetto Elementary School in Poinciana, Florida invited PediaVision, maker of Spot, to screen 537 students at the school. The entire screening was completed in just five hours.

"PediaVision did some preparation before coming into the school, inputting the names of the students into Spot," said Sarah Miranda, a teacher at Palmetto last spring, who organized the vision screening.  "We already had a schedule of what classes would come down for the screening, so that no instruction time was lost. They used Spot and screened each class very quickly."

This process was vastly different than the previous screenings Ms. Miranda organized in the past at Palmetto.

"The speed of Spot was the major difference for us," said Miranda. "Each screening would only take 10 seconds per student. They were able to screen the entire school during half of a school day and not lose any instructional time. That was really important for us. The students would only miss electives, not their actual classroom instruction.

"Also, we have exceptional students and autistic students at Palmetto. Those are kids who have been unable to get a vision screening in the past. Using Spot however, we were able to get them to sit still for 10 seconds and screen all 19 of our exceptional students."

Miranda believes it is important to screen all of the children in elementary school from Pre-K through fifth. "Almost all of the students in the screening seemed like they had some kind of vision problem," Miranda said.  "Some should have been screened three times by that point in school, but because people move around so much, they are missed and go all those years without getting re-screened."

A few days after the screening was completed, Transitions Optical came to Palmetto to provide a free full eye exam to those students who had been recommended from the Spot screening. In addition, through a grant, Transitions provided free glasses to those students who needed them with the exception of those with a severe prescription or unusual eye diagnosis, who were referred to an ophthalmologist for further examination. The administration at Palmetto fully realized the impact this new vision screening process has made for the students.

"If the people at PediaVision had not come along and offered to do this screening, those students probably would have never found out they needed glasses," said Miranda. "The people living in this area don't have the money to pay for eye exams and glasses. When they see their kids with glasses and able to see for the first time, they are so grateful for everything that was done for them."

About Spot

The breakthrough vision screener Spot was recently introduced into the market and can assess the vision of anyone from 6 months through adult with accuracy, while delivering immediate comprehensive objective results. 

Spot has an incredibly quick capture time of one second or less which makes screening equally efficient in a physician's office or large-scale public screening. The WiFi enabled handheld device makes vision screening as easy as using a camera. Spot's touchscreen interface clearly displays the results accurately and instantly. 

About PediaVision

PediaVision, inventor of the award-winning Spot vision screener, is dedicated to solving the critical health issue of undiagnosed vision problems and transforming the lives of thousands of children each day. Automated and objective vision screening empowers organizations in public health and private medicine to ensure children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. 

Supported by ophthalmologists, optometrists, scientists and leading technology innovators, the Spot vision screener is breakthrough technology and represents what vision screening should be.  For more information, including how to order Spot, please visit www.pediavision.com. 

SOURCE PediaVision