About Me

My name is Jainam Shah, and I’m a first-year optometry student at the New England College of Optometry (NECO) in Boston. I was born in India and moved to Calgary, Canada at three years old, where I have lived for the past 18 years. Pediatric optometry is the area of optometry I feel most strongly about, and this website exists simply because I want to talk about it more, learn more about it, and help others understand why it matters.

I’ve worked with children for most of my life through various volunteering and work experiences, so being around kids has always felt natural to me. What really drew me specifically to pediatric optometry, though, came from experiences tied to India, where I regularly visit family. Through a family connection, I got to know an optometrist there and began learning more about what pediatric eye care looks like in settings where it isn’t always easily accessible.

One thing I’ve noticed is that schooling and academic performance are deeply ingrained and central to traditional Indian culture back home. Performance is not just important within a household; it’s often discussed openly within the community and treated as a reflection of a child’s worth. Because of that, anything that gets in the way of academic performance is immediately seen as a personal failure rather than a possible health issue.

I heard a story from this optometrist about a child who was struggling in school and was constantly being labeled as “not trying hard enough.” The pressure didn’t just come from parents, but from the broader community as well. Over time, this became a part of the child’s identity. What no one realized was that the child simply couldn’t see the board properly. The child never complained about blurry vision because, to them, that was normal. By the time the vision problem was identified, the damage to the child’s confidence and mental well-being had already been done.

That story really stayed with me. It made me realize how easily undiagnosed vision problems can affect every part of a child’s life—academics, self-esteem, mental health, and how they see themselves. In environments where education is everything, missing something as basic as a vision screening can have consequences far beyond eyesight.

This is why pediatric optometry matters so much to me. It’s not just about glasses or eye exams—it’s about making sure children aren’t held back, mislabeled, or made to feel inadequate because of something they don’t even know is wrong. Even simple things like routine vision screenings can make a huge difference.

This website is my space to explore pediatric optometry, share stories, and spread awareness about how important early eye care really is. I’m still a student and still learning, but I’m deeply committed to this field and to the impact pediatric optometry can have on a child’s life.