Australian startup Speckles, which produces fun patches for children with amblyopia, has launched a campaign to make the language around the condition more positive and reduce the stigma of patching.
Maddy Scavone, Speckles’ founder and CEO, said “Research shows that diagnosing a child who has amblyopia and labelling it ‘lazy eye’ kicks off their journey to better vision with a defeatist mindset. Many children and their carers feel that there is something wrong with them that they have no control over. If we educate our children about the condition in more positive language we can improve their understanding, increase patching compliance and building their confidence.”
Speckles ‘Curious Eye’ campaign aims to see 'curious eye' adopted as the new term for amblyopia. “We think of the amblyopic eye as more curious than lazy, more easily distracted but developing at its own pace and learning. With the right support it will be an equal team player to its partner eye,” said Scavone.
To round-off the campaign, Speckles will be hosting a Patch and Play Zoom event on 17 September. All participants are encouraged to don their eye patches, meet other patching kids and see that they are far from alone on their journey. There will be fun activities, plus a very special guest. It’s a free event and tickets can be reserved here: https://events.humanitix.com/patch-and-play-with-speckles
