By CLICK Staff
Again this year, ECPs and optical professionals, along with parents, teachers and all those involved in helping kids feel good about wearing glasses are gearing up for August 4th, which will be the second annual
Great Glasses Play Day.
Across the country and around the world, people are helping to spread the word, participate, get involved in local events or create their own to celebrate children who wear eyeglasses—and social/digital media is already playing a large part in the planning. Via
Twitter and
Facebook, practitioners are signing up to take part and working to educate parents about the importance of early eye exams and screenings. A
YouTube video illustrates just some of the activities.
In August of 2012, Kristin Ellsworth of
Peeps Eyewear and Ann Zawistoski of
Little Four Eyes founded The Great Glasses Play Day (GGPD). They invited families and the optical community to meet up online and in person to celebrate children who wear glasses. Great Glasses Play Day is meant to be a day of imaginative play, celebration, and support. According to Ellsworth, getting involved includes:
- Support: Support children who wear glasses or who have other vision issues, and their families.
- Celebrate: Celebrate the advances in eyewear, that not only allow our children to see more clearly, but also act as a way to express our children's unique style.
- Educate: Educate parents about the importance of early eye exams by an eyecare professional and vision screenings in addition to follow up treatment of any issues that are identified. Early treatment can save vision!
- Raise awareness: Raise awareness of the issues of preventable blindness. So many eye issues go undiagnosed and untreated, especially amongst the most vulnerable and poor. And not treating the problems can lead to a lifetime of blindness.
Among the current supporters of The Great Glasses Play Day are the American Optometric Association, Children's Eye Foundation, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin and optical retailers who want to help spread the word or celebrate. Those who want to get involved can email
GGPD@shinypebble.com to have their store's logo and link added to the Supporters Page.
CLICK will continue to highlight GGPD 2013. In our next issue, we'll focus on how ECPs around the country and other groups are getting involved for the upcoming August 4th event.
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