Part 1 is here.

Through A Glass, Clearly

We absolutely must begin with this remarkable video: a beautiful baby gets a peek through eyeglasses, for the very first time:

Now for a bit of history about eyeglasses.

Crude attempts at vision correction date back to ancient Rome. What we would recognize as eyeglasses, however, debuted in the 13th century. By that time, thanks to the invention of glass, more experimentation could take place.

How is it then, in the 21st Century, young children are often stigmatized for wearing eyeglasses?  More about that in a minute.

Historical Eyewear Highlights

Let’s first examine some highlights in vision-correction history.

Stigma: Don’t Make a Spectacle of Yourself!

It took a few hundred years to perfect eyeglass design but much longer to erase the stigma.

That’s right, the stigma from wearing eyeglasses. To avoid making “spectacles” of themselves, many people preferred stumbling around.

These days we call eyeglasses eyewear—chic accessories for those who need them, and vanity items for some who don’t. Eye exams take place routinely, and few question the necessity of vision correction.

No one suggests: “If you can’t see well enough to read, then you need to take fish oil and stop eating processed food.”

Sure, healthy habits are important for every organ. I regularly do eye exercises to avoid eyestrain. But you rarely hear anti-ADHD-style rhetoric applied to eyeglasses—at least with adults.

With young children, it’s another story.

ADHD or Eyeglass Stigma:

Still Fair Game, for Children

Ann Zawistoski encountered “eyeglass stigma” when her little girl started wearing glasses at 14 months, for farsightedness.

Ann then founded a community called  Little Four Eyes,  for parents of young kids in glasses, patches, and contacts. She co-founded the Great Glasses Play Day (first week of May) to help end the stigma of wearing eyeglasses and “celebrate the great things that glasses can do for our children”:

• Glasses help our children to see well, they do not define our children’s intelligence or abilities.
• Glasses can be a way for our children to express their personality and individuality, but they do not define our children’s personalities.
• Simply put, glasses help our children to do what they love, better!

Sound familiar?

Some toddlers wear glasses. And some toddlers take medication for ADHD (see “Pt 1: The Truth Behind the ‘10,000s Toddlers’ ‘Report”)

Are we clear?

The series continues with Part 3: Vision is also a function of the brain

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic.

Gina