Copyrighted © Françoise Herrmann
Who could better design eyeglasses for children with special needs than a professional optometrist, who happens to be Mom to a child born with Trisomy 21 Syndrome?
Succinctly, this is the story of Specs4Us, of Maria Dellapina, founder of the company and inventor of eyewear for kids with special needs. Indeed, Dellapina has mapped the territory in optometry for kids with special needs, together with her daughter Erin, whose name eponymizes the line of frames. (Both Dellapina and daughter Erin are shown in the inserted image.)
Specs4US offers glasses specially designed for children born with Trisomy 21 Syndrome. Trisomy 21 Syndrome, formerly known as Down’s syndrome, is a condition that affects approximately 1 in 1000 live births worldwide, according to the WHO (World Health Organization). Children born with Trisomy 21 Syndrome have an extra 3rd chromosome in position No. 21. This means that every cell in the person’s body has an extra chromosome. An extra 3rd chromosome, which in turn creates a vast array of symptoms and conditions, most of which are extensively described in the literature connected to this syndrome.
Among the vast array of symptoms and conditions of this syndrome, 87% of Trisomy 21 children need glasses. A condition compounded by the fact that Trisomy 21, also affects facial features relevant to the design of eyewear. Thus, Dellapina's invention addresses the problem of conventional eye frame design, which uses a single model of facial features, termed “normal Caucasian”, to inform the design of eyewear. In response, Dellapina takes into consideration those specific features of Trisomy 21 identified, such as a low set nose, closer pupillary distance (PD), wider distance between temples, shorter distance to ears, which together prevent a Trisomy 21 child from correctly seeing through the optical center of regular lenses. The resulting informed design of Erin’s World frames enables a Trisomy 21 child to see normally through the optical center of lenses, mounted on a frame with a lowered bridge that contacts the child’s nose, including lowered and shortened arms for a perfect fit.
Incidentally, in designing primarily for children with special needs, in response to the “normal Caucasian model”, the scope of this invention actually lays claim far beyond. The invention is claimed for all children and adults, for example Asian or African, or of Asian or African descent, who might otherwise, for varying reasons, fail to fit the single model of facial features, informing the prior art of eyewear design.
The Specs4US invention is recited in US20090310080A1 titled Eyeglass frames for people with special needs.
Included below, the abstract of this invention, together with a figure drawing, extracted from the patent. The figure drawing shows some of the aspects of the invention eyewear. For example, the patent drawing shows extensions (13) to accommodate the wider temple to temple distance, pivoting nose pads (7) that sit on the user's nose to prevent the glasses from slipping, and the bridge (5) of the frame, positioned at a distance (P) on the lenses that is half the height of the lenses (B). The bridge (5) position (P) is much lower than for regular eyewear. It enables a user, with a lower set nose to see correctly through the optical center (OC) of the lenses, instead of incorrectly through the upper portion.
Eyeglass frames for people with Down syndrome, for others having facial characteristics similar to those with Down syndrome, and those with a depressed nasal bridge or a low nasal bridge, the eyeglass frames having a bridge lower than the normal higher placed bridge and in general aligmnent with the optical center of lenses mounted in the lens frames, extensions to widen the temple distance to accommodate the broader temples of people having Down syndrome or facial characteristics similar to those with Down syndrome, lower temples to maintain the general alignment of the location of the optical center with the pupils of the person wearing the eyeglass frames; and shorter temples than temples for normal caucasians to accommodate the ears as located on persons with normal facial features. [Abstract US20090310080A1]
Maria Dellapina was named Toyota Mother of Invention in 2016 for her Specs4US invention. An invention, which stands for Superior Precision Eyewear for Children who are Special.
References
Specs4Us
Toyota Mothers of Invention – Maras Dellapina
WHO – Genes and human disease: Genes and Chromosonal diseases http://www.who.int/genomics/public/geneticdiseases/en/index1.html
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