As educated parents, we don’t want to be “that paranoid parent.” We don’t miss our children’s regular check ups, and we like to think that that’s enough. If anything were really wrong, our wonderful pediatrician would notice, right?
The truth is alarming. According to the TED talk given by Bryan Shaw, as wonderful as pediatricians are in so many ways, they miss the diagnosis of leukocoria (the Glow) 92% of the time.
They only see your child for a few minutes every few months. You, grandparents, babysitters, etc. see them much more often, and are bound to notice when something isn’t right.
These numbers are from 2014, but they still illustrate the issue:
- There are 85 million moms in the US
- 4 million more will give birth this year!
- Yet there are only 30,000 pediatricians in the country.
Add to that the statistics that 76% of children haven’t had a comprehensive eye exam by age five – when they should have had three by this point in their lives (at six months, three years, and five years of age).
Though many pediatricians are fantastic and live up to that standard while treating our children, the unfortunate reality is that we can’t fully rely on them.
This is when a parent’s intuition manifests in the strongest way possible. We can’t find these kids without you.
We must rely on moms, grandmothers, dads, and friends … armed with their smartphones and cameras.
Worldwide, by 2020 it’s predicted there will be 6 billion smartphones, and 2 billion moms – far outnumbering pediatricians!
With those odds, we’ll bet on moms 100% of the time.
Remember, to check for The Glow, look through your photos or take new photos of your child especially where your child is looking at the camera. Make sure to take or use photos where the flash is turned on and the red eye reduction feature is turned off. Look for The Glow, a white, opaque, or yellow spot in the pupil of one or both eyes. If you see The Glow once, be alert, but if you see it twice in the same eye, be active.