2002 was a very important year in the life and growth of the Sight &Hearing Association. In the face of some of the largest budget cuts ever seen by school districts and early childhood programs, we were able to step in and provide our services to help fill some of the gaps created by those cuts. Those services - vision and hearing screening - are so important in protecting the health and future of our children. Last year, SHA more than doubled the number of children we screen - growing from 7,000 to 16,000. We couldn't have done this without your support!

As a non-profit organization, SHA depends entirely on your donations and the support of foundations for the resources we need to bring our programs and services to the people of Minnesota. Along with most non-profits, SHA experienced a reduction in financial support due to the downturn in the economy. To those of you who have always been there for us, we want to say a heartfelt thank you for having found a way to continue supporting our programs. And to our new donors who have just started learning about the important work that we are doing, thank you for caring enough to find out more about our programs and for your thoughtful financial support.

We are proud of the quality of programs and services we provide to the community - and the value realized for each dollar donated. The Charities Review Council of Minnesota recommends that a non-profit's administrative costs not exceed 30 cents of every dollar donated. At the Sight & Hearing Association, only seven cents of every dollar goes toward administrative costs. Most importantly, we work very hard to leverage those resources. For example, the partners involved with our Vision Voucher Project for Kids help us provide the resources necessary to solve vision problems when they are first identified. Your contributions are at work in our community! Thank you again for continuing to support our mission: to prevent vision and hearing loss in all Minnesotans.

Sincerely,

Karen M. Arnold, President

While screeners from the Sight & Hearing Association find numerous cases of amblyopia each year, it's unusual to find the eye condition in more than one child on the same day from the same preschool. However, at least three children at Mount Olivet preschool in Minneapolis have been diagnosed with amblyopia since the Sight & Hearing Association screened there in December. Here are two of their stories.

Amblyopia, often called lazy eye, commonly runs in families. In Emily Kompelien's case, her grandmother has it. But neither her grandma or her mom, Jennifer, would have guessed that Emily, now 3, would be diagnosed with it.

"Emily has done so well with her fine motor skills," Jennifer said. "She was not showing any indication of not seeing well, so it was quite a surprise. I am so thankful for your [Sight & Hearing Association's] service - especially now that she's learning her letters, it's such an important time."

Emily was screened by the Sight & Hearing Association at her preschool, Mount Olivet in Minneapolis, in December. Her acuity was 20/20 in her right eye but 20/200 in her left. With the screening results in hand, Jennifer took Emily to see Dr. Keith Engel, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Park Nicollet, who diagnosed her with amblyopia.

Amblyopia occurs when one eye is stronger than the other. This causes the brain to cease using the weaker eye. To treat an amblyopic eye, a patch is commonly used to cover the stronger eye, which forces the weaker eye to work. Glasses are also another corrective tool.

"We were told to get glasses for Emily right away," Jennifer said. "Now, she'll start wearing a patch two hours a day. Hopefully, we caught it early enough that she'll only need glasses until she's 6 or 7."

To go with her big, blue eyes, Emily picked out blue glasses. What she really likes is the purple case they go in. But, she wasn't too thrilled about wearing the glasses at first.

"When we came home, she basically told me she would not be wearing them to choir or preschool," explained Jennifer. "Sure enough, the first day at school she wouldn't wear them. Her teacher said to her, 'If I wear my glasses, will you wear yours?' I kind of bribed her too. I told her we'd go out for malts if she wore them all week. Since then, she's done really well."

Because of the hereditary nature of amblyopia, Jennifer has made an appointment to have Emily's 16-month-old brother checked out too. "Since lazy eye runs in my family," said Jennifer. "I just want to make sure he's OK." And thanks to SHA's screening, Emily is sure to be OK too.

Five-year-old Myles Osgood loves to pretend he is a super hero. He'll fly through the house and try to scale the refrigerator. But while he was practicing his "super powers," his mom had no idea he couldn't see.

"We had no idea he had a problem," said Kris Amundson, Myles' mom. "We are so grateful you found it."

Amblyopia is not an eye condition you can observe. Most parents have no way of telling that their child has it, because their child doesn't know they should be seeing any differently.

Myles was screened by the Sight & Hearing Association and found to have 20/200 vision in his right eye. His mom immediately took him to his pediatrician, who referred him to a specialist in pediatric ophthalmology. Dr. Richard Freeman confirmed Myles has amblyopia. They started treatment right away.

"What really shocked us was the critical time frame, that you need to treat this before age 7," said Kris. "We're so thankful you came to our preschool and Myles' vision was caught before it was too late."

So far, Myles has worn his glasses for a month and has adapted quite well, says Kris. He is only on his second day of wearing a patch over his stronger eye, so it's too early to tell how that is going.

"I told my husband, 'What would we have done without this screening?'" explained Kris. "We are so fortunate to have a great preschool who thinks this kind of screening is important, and people like you, who provide such a great service. It really does take a village..."

To help those children who are referred for vision problems but can't afford glasses, SHA, for the second year, offered the Vision Voucher Project for Kids. Hundreds of children received vouchers for a free eye exam and glasses last year.

SHA was in the forefront of spreading our message via research-related awareness campaigns. For example, our research into noisy toys and resulting media coverage helped educate parents on the dangers of loud toys. Last year, approximately one million people heard messages regarding the dangers of noisy toys, the importance of protecting their hearing from noise, and general guidelines surrounding fireworks eye safety around the Fourth of July. In August, MPLS.ST.PAUL magazine, the region's leading lifestyle magazine, partnered with SHA for the fifth year to produce a special section focused on sight and hearing issues. In addition, our Web site at www.sightandhearing.org continues to generate requests for information from people worldwide.

Like any other new parent, I snap a lot of photos. One particular photo, though, changed my life. It happened to be of my son Evan, at the tender age of eight months, bouncing from the doorway in a Johnny Jump-Up. My camera's red-eye reduction was turned off. What I saw on that finished photo was a red eye and a gold one. Something was wrong. If both of his eyes were looking at the camera, they should both be red, I said to myself. Then I said it to my husband, Evan's pediatrician, and finally a pediatric ophthalmologist. They agreed.

Evan was diagnosed with intermittent esotropia, a form of strabismus. Sometimes, when he looks at something up close, his eye will turn in. When I was told Evan would need to wear glasses, maybe until he's 6 or 7, to strengthen the eye muscle, I was shocked. My child? But he is only 10-months-old, I cry. And he has big, beautiful blue eyes. I don't want to cover those up. It was my first realization in parent la-la land that my son was not perfect. He would need to wear glasses and complete strangers would wonder why.

The day my husband and I took Evan to try on glasses was a nightmare. It was a Saturday afternoon and the shop was swamped with other parents and kids. Our name was at the bottom of the list and it was nearing my son's coveted nap time. When it was finally our turn, the nice woman helping us could barely get a pair on my child's nose before he whipped them off screaming and crying. I remember one little girl saying to her mom, "Mom, why is he crying?" The mom responded, "He doesn't understand why he needs glasses." She was right. You can't rationalize with a 10-month-old - or bribe him with a treat. He didn't understand. We quickly ordered a pair that we were able to see on him for two seconds. I figured I'd have the biggest fight on my hands getting him to wear them.

The day finally came to pick up Evan's glasses. He was in better spirits this time, and even let the optician adjust them on his face. It was a miracle! He wore them the rest of the evening. The next day, I put them on Evan's face, and he wore them all day, and the next day and the next. To date, nine months later, we have never had a problem making him wear them.

So far, the treatment is working well, too. His eyes don't cross when he wears the glasses, and he won't have to have surgery, which is a common treatment for strabismus. The most important thing is that he was caught early. And those complete strangers? Yes, he gets noticed. In fact, not a day goes by when we're out in public without someone coming up to us to tell us how cute our little boy is. Of course, we agree.

It is life experiences like this one that make me realize, once again, there is a reason for everything. I have always enjoyed my job, but now I know God had an even bigger reason for me working here. Now, all those stories I've written about Ross, Darian, Jonah, Tierney and numerous others mean a lot more to me. I know what their parents felt like, and how thankful I am someone from the Sight & Hearing Association - this time that someone being me - caught it early. Because of their stories, my child's vision was saved. Maybe my son's story will do the same for someone else.

- Julee Sylvester

Whether you deem it an annoyance or an aggravation, noise is the leading cause of hearing loss, affecting an estimated 10 million Americans and putting 30 million more at risk. To combat the problem in Minnesota, the Sight & Hearing Association is offering free hearing screenings statewide on Wednesday, April 30.

The goal of the day, proclaimed International Noise Awareness Day, is to educate the public about the dangers of noise to hearing and health.

"We're not just talking about noise in a factory or at a construction site," said Julee Sylvester, Sight & Hearing Association spokesperson. "We're talking about noise in our own homes and in the activities we do for fun. This everyday noise is a huge contributor to serious hearing damage. Yet, it's completely preventable."

For International Noise Awareness Day, the Sight & Hearing Association is sponsoring the following activities:

	Free hearing screenings - In the Twin Cities metro area and greater Minnesota, audiologists will provide free hearing screenings to the public. Call the Sight & Hearing Association at 1-800-992-0424 for specific location information.
	Dissemination of free ear plugs and information - Ear plugs, donated by 3M, and fact sheets on noise-induced hearing loss will be distributed at all screening sites.
	60-Seconds of Silence - From 2:15-2:16 p.m., the public is encouraged to experience a minute of silence.
	International Noise Awareness Day, which began in 1996, is spearheaded by the League for the Hard of Hearing in New York and is a joint effort of numerous hearing-related organizations worldwide.