The Official Website of Johnny Can See: The Book

Description

Little Johnny has a problem. He cannot see clearly. In “Johnny Can See”, readers are taken on an experiential adventure as this young boy visits the eye doctor for the first time.

Written in a poem format using 4-line stanzas, “Johnny Can See” exposes young readers to the importance of visiting the eye doctor regularly in order to maintain optimum eye-health. It also shows them how much fun it can be if you simply use your imagination!

"Johnny’s story draws attention to the struggle many children face. His experience provides an encouraging introduction for young children to understand this common condition and explains the procedures an eye doctor takes to find a successful solution. A great opportunity to read with your child!"

- Julia Gabriel
M.Ed, Hon.G.S.M, L.G.S.M, L.L.C.M (TD)
Founder and Director of Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning,
Chiltern House Child Care Centres and
Julia Gabriel School of Education, Singapore.

"Too many children who are experiencing learning difficulty at school – or simply not doing as well as they could – have undetected visual difficulties.

This book highlights the importance of early diagnosis of visual difficulties and will help children understand what happens in an eye doctor’s clinic by illustrating the procedures they will encounter at an eye check up."

- Robin Moseley
Chief Executive Officer
Dyslexia Association of Singapore

Learn more about eye conditions

“Johnny Can See” is not only an excellent introductory book to the world of poetry, but it is also an invaluable teaching resource that explains eye conditions to children.

In the glossary, Johnny provides information on eye conditions, eye testing equipment and invaluable eye care tips. Here’s a sample of what you can expect.

Common Eye problems

Myopia:
Blurred vision resulting from the eyeball being too large or too long. Objects nearby are clear and in focus, while things further away are blurry. Also called nearsightedness because of this. Correctable by wearing minus(-) powered lenses to diverge light rays, and focus them onto the retina.

Amblyopia:
Amblyopia is a common eye problem also called lazy eye. During the first 7 years of life in every child, the eyes try to develop a good connection with the brain to see well. This depends on a child’s ability to form a clear optical image in each eye, for the image to be sent to the brain.

During these formative years, some children may have uncorrected refractive eye problems (e.g. hyperopia or astigmatism), or other problems like a squint which may prevent a clear optical image from being formed.

As a result, this can delay or prevent the part of the brain responsible for vision from developing fully, although there is nothing structurally wrong with the eye itself. If the problem is recognized and treated before the age of 7, this may allow full development of the brain and result in the cure of the lazy eye.

To treat amblyopia, it often requires the wearing of corrective glasses with eye patching of the OPPOSITE, GOOD eye to force the poorer eye and brain to exercise and grow stronger.

Eye testing equipment

Slit Lamp
A machine that the eye doctor uses to examine the front and back structures of the eye. It is actually a special microscope with a light source that can be adjusted and moved around to help the eye doctor see some of the clear structures in the eye, such as the cornea and lens.

$An image of an autorefractor$

Invaluable eye care tips

Read with adequate lighting.

Do not read in bed, because the lighting tends to be poor.

If you are doing school work or reading an interesting storybook, take a vision break of about 5 minutes after about 30 minutes of continuous reading to reduce your chances of developing myopia or nearsightedness

For more eye care tips, click here.

To learn more, buy the book here.