One in 17 preschool children have a vision condition requiring treatment, including amblyopia, strabismus and refractive errors. Vision plays an important role in children’s physical, cognitive, and social development and much vision loss can be prevented if conditions in children are found and treated early.
The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health (NCCVEH) at Prevent Blindness targets children ages birth through 18 years, including children facing the greatest health disparities based on race, language, socio-economic status, citizenship status, geography (especially rural areas and Indian Country). As an organization fostering systems change, our systems-change work targets policy makers, medical and education professionals, public health and education state and local governmental staff, and parents and caregivers.
Join our team as an intern to assist with projects that may include:
▪ Develop and implement a survey of special education programs regarding how vision is addressed within the systems serving children with special health care needs and those with Individualized Education Plans (IEP) in school systems.
▪ Develop professional education materials for those working in the Early Intervention and special education systems about vision.
▪ Conduct program evaluation, including developing surveys, collecting data, analyzing data and creating reports. Summarize data from a national survey of state school nurse consultants about vision screening and create a paper for publication.
▪ Implement and evaluate a social media campaign targeted to parents and caregivers of minority children related to children’s vision and eye health.
▪ Create fact sheets for school nurses, educators, early childhood care providers, public health professionals and policy makers.
▪ Participate in drafting of national guidelines for vision screening of children ages 6-18 years.
▪ Develop educational materials (including presentations and posters) on children’s vision, focusing on the Small Steps for Big Vision family tool kit geared toward parents and caregivers of young children.
▪ Conduct literature reviews related to vision needs of and policies for children with special health care needs.
▪ Participate in preparation of materials for the NCCVEH Advisory Committee and its work groups.
For more information or to apply (with a resume/CV and cover letter) to Donna Fishman, MPH, Director, at dfishman@preventblindness.org. Stipend available. 10 hours per week minimum. Prevent Blindness is located in the Chicago Loop.
