CHILDRENS VISION AND SCHOOL
It's fall and the kids are back in school. So now is a good time to talk about children's vision.
Routine eye exams are essential for children to be ready to learn in school, and experts say more than 80 percent of information children receive in classrooms is presented visually.
According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), children generally should have their first eye exam at six months of age, another exam at age three and again at the start of school. Children should then continue to have their eyes examined every year or two depending on their individual risk factors of vision problems.
Vision is more than 20/20
Unfortunately, parents and educators often incorrectly assume that if a child passes a school vision screening, then there is no vision problem. However, school vision screenings often only test for visual acuity. In reality, the vision skills needed for successful reading and learning are much more complex. A child who can see 20/20 can still have a vision problem.
Vision is a complex process that involves over 20 visual abilities and more than 65% of all the pathways to the brain. One in four children has an undiagnosed vision problem which can interfere with learning and lead to academic and/or behavioral problems. However, it is important to know that these children frequently do not report symptoms because they think everyone sees the same way they do.
Often a child with a vision-based learning problem has excellent verbal skills, causing parents and educators to think the child must be lazy, have ADD/ADHD, or is learning disabled. The possible misdiagnosis can be due to similar symtoms, but the causes are not the same.
WHAT IS A COMPREHENSIVE VISION EXAM FOR CHILDREN?
The following tests should be included in a comprehensive vision exam:
- A thorough patient history, including general health and developmental history.
- A measurement of how clearly the patient can see in the distance and up close (visual acuity, e.g. 20/20)
- A measurement of the presence of any refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism)
- An assessment of eye focusing, eye teaming, and eye movement abilities (accommodation, binocular vision, ocular motility)
- An examination of the health of the eyes
Depending on the results of these evaluations, additional tests of visual development and visual perceptual abilities may be needed to effectively assess a patient's total visual status.
Any reading or learning difficulties experienced by you or your child should be brought to the attention of the doctor. Request an evaluation to detect whether learning-related vision problems are present.
Once testing is completed, the doctor should review all findings with the patient or parent and provide consultation and recommendations regarding any needed treatment.
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