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In my two summers I’ve spent interning at Special Olympics Connecticut, there has always been one program that has stood out from the crowd: Special Olympics Healthy Athletes^®. Yes, of course, the Special Olympics sports are amazing — I love seeing the athletes’ hard work pay off as they accomplish their goals in their chosen sport, and, as a former swimmer, I am especially fond of all the swimming events during the Summer Games. Healthy Athletes, however, keeps pulling me back in. I am constantly in awe of the volunteers who dedicate their time to getting crucial experience while helping those in need.

Healthy Athletes provides free health screenings in several disciplines: vision, hearing, dental, podiatry, physical therapy, nutrition, and physical exams. It supports over 14,000 athletes across the state of Connecticut. At this year’s Summer Games, I got a deep dive into Opening Eyes^®, which provides athletes with vision screenings.

The Lions Club International Foundation operates Opening Eyes, and Dr. Chris Agro, the Special Olympics Opening Eyes Clinical Director, oversees the entire program. Volunteers include Lions Club members, optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians, eye care professionals, and students in these disciplines. Opening Eyes offers a vision screening that checks distance vision, close vision, color vision, how the two eyes work together, eye pressure, and the back of the eyes.

“It’s as close to a comprehensive exam as you can get,” said Dr. Sid, one of the volunteer eye doctors.

The screening determines whether an athlete needs a pair of glasses or, if they have a pair already, whether the prescription is still effective. If an athlete is prescribed a pair of glasses, they can select frames right after their screening. The prescription glasses are then mailed to the athlete. If an athlete does not need a pair of glasses, they are offered a pair of non-prescription sunglasses.

I sat down with Joan Bennett, who oversaw the Lions Club volunteers at this year’s Summer Games. Bennett reflected upon the progression of the program since its inception almost 25 years ago with Dr. Susan Danberg. It was funny to think that Opening Eyes had a “slow start,” because the year before COVID, they had screened 350 athletes.

During the pandemic, Opening Eyes had to come to a halt because Special Olympics events could accommodate only 50 people, making it unrealistic for Opening Eyes to operate. Opening Eyes returned to Special Olympics Summer Games last year, and Bennett foresees it having a strong progression once again.

“If you have good vision, it changes everything in life,” said Bennett. “The athletes can see better, it helps them.”