A Letter of Introduction to VERA

......We can all agree that students who don't see well in class have difficulty learning and that as many students with vision problems as possible should be identified by schools and referred for vision care. And yet, this is not the case. There is no widespread agreement among optometrists, ophthalmologists, pediatricians, educators, school nurses, school administrators, advocacy groups and politicians as to what constitutes an optimal method and scope of school vision screening.

......Consequently, those states with vision screening regulations have requirements which vary widely. School nurses, who can be under legitimate time and vision testing skill constraints, often rely on traditional eye charts (which can miss over half of vision problems) or underutilize expensive, complex vision screening devices. When problems are identified, delayed follow-up of unfulfilled referrals contributes to the significant number of students whose vision remains uncorrected. Finally, millions of underachieving students (and certain adults) who have normal or corrected visual acuity still struggle to read, learn or function optimally because of abnormal focusing, tracking and binocular vision skills. Their difficulty is identified only by a chance encounter with a specialist eye doctor. We should be doing a better job of identification and communication of basic vision problems, of referral fulfillment, and of making it easier for abnormal vision skills to be identified by any interested school or care provider.

......A number of years ago, a few of us decided to try to break the logjam. Working from our experiences as eye doctors and parents of school-age children, we assembled an advisory panel of educators, administrators, school nurses and programmers and built the very first computerized vision screening program. That prototype jump-started three research grants, two patents and enlisting school after school to provide access to thousands of students and their academic standing to create normative databases for test scoring. Then we successfully field-tested components of our program on over a million students. Finally, we had validating research and application articles published and demonstrated the program's role in reducing the need for special education. Oh yes…and we came up with a catchy name like VERA™ (Visual Efficiency RAting). The result was a program free of traditional constraints to better school vision screening and one which can more directly contribute to well-being and academic success.

......To accomplish this without the needless complexity of trying to accommodate every state-required battery of tests, we determined the single, optimal battery of logic-controlled screening tests which, except for color vision, identifies at least the same number of students required by any of them. And screening efficiencies were discovered along the way. For instance, the common near visual acuity test is unnecessary since VERA tests for the causes of poor near vision in people under age 35: nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and abnormal binocularity. Another screening efficiency was to clinically prioritize the tests. There's no reason to continue screening once you've found a reason to refer, especially since that reason may invalidate subsequent testing (that's how our "SmartScreen®" works!). Since tests can also be selected, VERA can be used when more limited information is desired.

......The program also had to be easy enough to run with little or no clinical skills, so tests were simplified and helpful instruction screens were added, as well as program alerts to safeguard against invalid testing. To complete the program, screening results were automatically placed into personalized reports to eye doctors and parents that clearly communicate actions to be taken. When school vision referrals remain unfulfilled, the program enables follow-up with second notices specifically to parents of these students… in minutes instead of hours. We included automated grade-specific lists of these students to involve teachers in better accommodating them in class and in reinforcing the vision referral to parents. To facilitate using VERA outside educational settings, we included a customizable letter to report routine screening outcomes of adults and special populations to any recipient.

......The VERA program includes the first vision skills screening to systematically identify the majority of underachieving students who are learning impeded or disabled because of abnormal control of focusing, tracking and binocular vision. Using this separate part of VERA can result in improved student performance with fewer expensive special educational services when special educators, occupational therapists and specialist eye doctors act on this identification. Since vision skills can also become abnormal following mild traumatic brain injury and/or post-traumatic stress disorder, VERA can assist occupational therapists in directing management and care plans. And eye doctors can use VERA in pre-examination testing, to demonstrate the need for vision therapy to their patients and to encourage referrals from local schools.

......So now you know what you're looking at; a unique, tested and proven vision screening method that is not only different and better, but most of VERA's routine vision screening program is free! You can reliably identify and report basic vision difficulties and stop buying vision screening supplies or equipment when you download and install VERA on any Windows desktop or laptop. There's no purchase obligation, no trial period and no limit to the number of screenings you can perform. Even if you operate on a Mac platform, putting VERA on an inexpensive Windows laptop will give you the best portable "vision screening device" at a fraction of the cost of others.

...... Please enjoy our free program and direct any questions or comments to the "Contact Us" section of our website or to me personally at galanter@visualscreening.com.

Yours Truly,

Stephen M. Galanter, O.D., CEO,
Visual Technology Applications, Inc.