On November 25, 2015 our Dr. Schwartz will speak at The Scarsdale Chinese Association, an organization founded over 10 years ago by the Chinese American families of Scarsdale to help members of the Chinese population get fully integrated into the community. The Association has been an excellent platform for information sharing, community bonding and providing ideas on how to contribute to the Scarsdale community. In this tradition, the Scarsdale Chinese Association will proudly host Dr.
Arlene Schwartz, of Hartsdale Family Eye Care, in Hartsdale, New York, as she will speak to the Chinese community on the topics of Myopia management, learning vision and Orthokeratology.
These subjects are of particular interest to the wider Asian community, as statistics show that anywhere from 80% to 90% of Asians exhibit at least minor nearsightedness. This is particularly alarming because of the central role that eyesight plays in a child’s overall ability to learn, especially in the classroom, and the significant impact it can have on the
development of a child’s self-esteem. Dr. Schwartz relates,”
Understanding how to arrest the development of myopia (nearsightedness) in children, recognizing that learning vision
is more than seeing 20/20, and exploring one of the most popular emerging technologies to stop the progression of myopia and, in some cases, reverse its affects, are all extremely important topics for this community.”
As children get older, many changes take place. These changes can also include the way they see. Especially for children who are already nearsighted, eyesight can begin to deteriorate significantly during this time. In the past, eye doctors were not able to do much more than try to keep up with the constantly changing prescription of the child, and
assure the parents that their child’s eyesight will likely stabilize as they reach early adulthood. Now, thanks to technologies such as Orthokeratology, doctors are able to proactively slow the progression of myopia, until the point at which it will stabilize naturally.
Orthokeratology is a non-surgical vision correction system that involves specialty contact lenses, worn at night, that gently shape the front surface of the eye to correct vision issues. Dr. Schwartz notes, “Research shows that, much like a retainer for teeth, the specialty orthokeratology lenses gently keep the eye from changing form, which slows down the progression of myopia during a time in a child’s life when change could
otherwise be quite drastic.”
Dr. Schwartz will also lecture on learning vision. On this, Dr. Schwartz commented, “Many parents believe that all a child needs to be successful in school is 20/20 vision. While this is important, it is not the whole picture. Children also require proper hand-eye coordination, proper eye teaming skills, and an extensive set of other important skills.”