Persuasive Narrative

I have a confession to make. Without my contacts, I wouldn’t be “me.” I would not be a functioning member of society. It took being stranded without contacts or glasses for only a day for me to realize that the vision help I take for granted is what makes my whole life possible.

On the bleak, unfortunate day where I simultaneously stepped on my glasses and ran out of contacts, I couldn’t drive a car, leaving me stuck inside my house with not many options. My daily routine was impossible; even my yoga practice I found impossible without the visual aid of the DVD. I found myself getting increasingly frustrated at being unable to puncture the blurry, hazy bubble I was living in, no matter how hard I squinted. When they say everyone sees their own different version of reality, I had the realization that I was excluded from the real world that I knew existed, the one with crisp colors and details.

The thing is, there are people that don’t realize that they are denied the world that others take for granted being able to see. We might live in a powerful first-world country, but there are not only children but adults who have never seen an eye doctor in their lifetime. 15 of our states do not require any form of vision screenings for children prior to starting school. The National Commission on Vision and Health calls this “a public health emergency for millions of children.”

We’re all familiar with Maslow’s pyramid by now—there are essential needs that need to be taken care of before we can reach our full potential and achieve our greatest possible breadths of self-esteem, creativity, intimacy, achievement, etc.

Every time a child squints at the board, wondering why the words only reveal themselves to the rest of the class, they are left behind with the dust of cloud left by the chalkboard eraser. 80% of what a child learns in school is presented in a visual form—that leaves a child’s chance of getting an A at 20%. The frustration of not being able to see can even be misdiagnosed as a learning disability such as ADD, as well as causing wrenching headaches.

When a child can’t see the ball or the faraway motions of the opponents, their athletic performance doesn’t stand a chance against the others. When they can’t read the facial expressions of their peers, they miss out on an important part of normal socialization and can’t be the best conversant, friend, and debater that they could be.

Undetected eye problems are crippling. Not being able to see means leading half of what could be a whole life. Donate to the American Optometric Association to give a child in need the vision they desperately need to have a chance at life.