The Plusoptix is a noninvasive vision screener that can check young people's eyes for refractive errors and eye misalignment in just under a minute. If further review is necessary, the device will instruct the subject to see an eye doctor. Last year, the tool helped detect blindness in the left eye of a first-grader named Elliott Wasem. An eye doctor discovered that Elliot has optic nerve edema: a leaky blood vessel causing swelling and blindness.

"I was thinking glasses might be the worst case scenario," said Christy Wasem, Elliott's mother and a kindergarten teacher at Hellgate Elementary. "We had no idea."

Please contact SDCB if you would like assistance with vision loss or blindness. We offer several innovative programs that can help.

"Vision screenings helped spot blindness in Missoula kindergartner"