Imagine training for months or years to qualify for the swimming competition of your life. All those hours, all those training sessions. You stand on the platform waiting for the starting signal while you look out into the pool and see nothing but a blur.
This scenario is a reality for some of our athletes and Special Olympics Wisconsin Provides assistance to these athletes by: Special Olympics International Lions Club Foundation Opening Eyes® Program.
Led by volunteer vision care professionals and made possible through a grant from Lions Clubs International FoundationOpening Eyes® provides vision screenings, refraction, prescription glasses, sunglasses, and sports goggles to Special Olympics Wisconsin athletes, including prescription swimming goggles when appropriate. Athletes without a prescription receive sunglasses.
At the 2022 Celebration Games Opening Eyes® event, eight athletes were provided with prescription swimming goggles. Among them was Wisconsin Special Olympian and Unified Leadership Specialist, Lexi Galarovich.
Quick Facts About Opening Eyes®
19%
of athletes have never had an eye exam
36%
Need new glasses
430,000+
Reviews around the world
260,000+
medical glasses
500+
trained clinical care managers
Lexi, who is legally blind, explained why these glasses are so important to her.
“I have poor vision, I can only see out of one eye,” Lexi explained. “I have no depth perception or peripheral vision. I’m completely night blind.”
“The best way I can describe it is if you put one hand over one of your eyes and made a very small circle with your fingers and put it over your other eye… that’s what I can see,” Lexi said.
Her vision problems are exacerbated when she is in the water.
“There’s a ‘T’ painted at the bottom of the pool at the end of the hallway that tells you when your period starts. I can’t see that. It doesn’t do anything for me.”
With her glasses, Lexi can make out the letter “T” at the bottom of the pool. Without them, a volunteer has to stand on the surface of the pool with a long stick and tap it, letting her know when her turn begins.
Lexi got prescription swimming goggles through the Opening Eyes® program and the difference has been noticeable. In addition to being able to see more while swimming in the water and at first, the goggles also help out of the water.
“Before I had my prescription glasses, I had to put my regular glasses on at the start of the race and then have them escort me to the start area and then escort me back at the end of the race,” said Lexi. “With my prescription glasses, I can put them on and make sure they fit properly and not have to rush around the pool deck to make sure they fit properly and stay in place during the race.”
For many athletes, transportation issues, access to healthcare, and the cost of corrective lenses are barriers to clear vision and performing at their best.
In fact, a significant percentage of Special Olympics athletes have unmet vision needs. Opening Eyes® data revealed that 35% of athletes tested required eyeglasses and 15% had eye disease. Many athletes had never even had an eye exam.
“The Opening Eyes® program is more than just providing eye exams and corrective eyewear to our athletes,” said Brittany Hogue, Senior Director of Health Programs at Special Olympics Wisconsin.
“The Opening Eyes® program aims to provide education to athletes, parents and coaches about the importance of regular eye care,” explained Hogg. “Our goal is to increase knowledge about the vision and eye health needs of people with intellectual disabilities through further research and to bring about lasting changes in eye care professionals’ attitudes about the vision care needs of people with intellectual disabilities.”
The partnership between Special Olympics and Lions Clubs International greatly expands the scope of efforts, including the development of Train the trainer This partnership aims to create a strong volunteer force of vision health professionals. It allows Opening Eyes to reach one of the world’s most underserved populations: people with intellectual disabilities.
The program is run entirely by volunteers, led by the program’s clinical director, Dr. Kelly Knoebel. Dr. Knoebel started the Opening Eyes® program in Wisconsin in 2001 and has been Winner of the Golisano Health Award at the 2023 Spring Games.
“It is an honor and a pleasure to offer this program to our Special Olympics Wisconsin athletes. Every year we find so many athletes who don’t even realize they have a vision problem and that we can do something about it. It is gratifying to be able to explain to them, their families and their coaches what is happening with their vision. Over the years, we have also been able to help specific athletes with unique vision conditions like Lexi. We look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones when we offer the program at the State Summer Games!”
Dr. Kelly Knobel, Clinical Director of the Program
Opening Eyes® will be screening athletes participating in the 2024 Summer Games in Whitewater on June 7 at the Williams Center from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Be sure to stop by and get screened!
