It’s Important That Children Have Regular Eye Exams...
Because healthy vision enables your child to perform at their maximum while at school or play, eye examinations are crucial. Children need near vision, distance vision, binocular (two eyes) coordination, eye movement (tracking) skills, focusing skills, peripheral awareness, & eye-hand coordination in effort to set the stage for learning to occur. Appropriate vision testing at an early age is vital to insure your child has the visual skills he or she needs to perform well in school. A child who is unable to see print or view a blackboard can become easily frustrated and this can lead to poor academic performance. Some vision problems such as lazy eye are best identified early and treated as early as possible while the child's vision system is still developing.
A Mention About Eye Screenings
Remember: eye screenings are just that – screenings. They are designed to detect gross vision problems. Kids can pass an eye screening at school and still have vision problems which go undetected. Undetected vision problems can affect your child’s learning and school performance. On the other hand, a comprehensive eye exam by an optometrist can detect vision problems that screenings can miss. Also, a comprehensive vision examination includes evaluation of your child’s eye health – this is not part of a school screening.
Recommendations by the American Optometric Association (AOA)
According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), infants should have their first comprehensive eye exam at 6 months of age. Children then should have additional eye exams at age 3, and just before they enter the first grade — at about age 5 or 6, or as otherwise recommended.
For school-aged children, the AOA recommends an eye exam every two years if no vision correction is required. Children who need eyeglasses or contact lenses should be examined annually or as recommended by their eye care provider. For these reasons, some states require a mandatory eye exam for all children entering school for the first time.
For school-aged children, the AOA recommends an eye exam every two years if no vision correction is required. Children who need eyeglasses or contact lenses should be examined annually or as recommended by their eye care provider. For these reasons, some states require a mandatory eye exam for all children entering school for the first time.
Scheduling an Eye Exam for Your Child
It’s likely that your pediatrician will be the first to examine, briefly, your child’s eyes. However, it’s important that parents schedule a comprehensive examination of their child's eyes because eye doctors have specific equipment and training to assist them with spotting potential vision problems.
When scheduling an eye exam for your child, pick a time in the day when he or she usually is most alert and happy.
The way in which the eye exam is conducted by our doctor will depend on your child’s age and whether you child has any special attributes to consider. Your child’s exam will include a case history, vision testing, testing of eye alignment, binocularity, ocular motility, eye health evaluation, and determination of whether a prescription for eyewear is needed.
At intake (the start of your child’s appointment), a case history will be obtained. Our para optometric staff will ask you questions regarding your child’s health history. The staff are gathering important data for our Doctor. This will include a review of body systems, an inquiry into any history of past & present allergies and listing of current medications. Our doctor may ask whether complications occurred during the pregnancy or delivery. Be sure to tell your eye doctor if you have noticed any unusual visually-related observances with your child, such as delayed motor development, frequent eye rubbing or blinking, a failure of your child to maintain eye contact with you when your speak to him/her, an inability for your child to maintain a gaze fixation while looking at objects, or poor tracking skills. Finally, please be sure to mention if your child has failed a vision screening at school or during a visit to his or her pediatrician.
Our doctor also wants to know if your child has had previous eye problems or has received prior treatment for his/her eyes (such as surgeries, glasses or contact lens wear). Finally, please be sure to inform our doctor or the staff at intake, about any family history of eye problems requiring vision correction. Examples include: near sightedness, farsightedness, lazy eye or eye diseases. Be sure to bring in any eye appliances that are/have been used in the past for us to evaluate as well.
When scheduling an eye exam for your child, pick a time in the day when he or she usually is most alert and happy.
The way in which the eye exam is conducted by our doctor will depend on your child’s age and whether you child has any special attributes to consider. Your child’s exam will include a case history, vision testing, testing of eye alignment, binocularity, ocular motility, eye health evaluation, and determination of whether a prescription for eyewear is needed.
At intake (the start of your child’s appointment), a case history will be obtained. Our para optometric staff will ask you questions regarding your child’s health history. The staff are gathering important data for our Doctor. This will include a review of body systems, an inquiry into any history of past & present allergies and listing of current medications. Our doctor may ask whether complications occurred during the pregnancy or delivery. Be sure to tell your eye doctor if you have noticed any unusual visually-related observances with your child, such as delayed motor development, frequent eye rubbing or blinking, a failure of your child to maintain eye contact with you when your speak to him/her, an inability for your child to maintain a gaze fixation while looking at objects, or poor tracking skills. Finally, please be sure to mention if your child has failed a vision screening at school or during a visit to his or her pediatrician.
Our doctor also wants to know if your child has had previous eye problems or has received prior treatment for his/her eyes (such as surgeries, glasses or contact lens wear). Finally, please be sure to inform our doctor or the staff at intake, about any family history of eye problems requiring vision correction. Examples include: near sightedness, farsightedness, lazy eye or eye diseases. Be sure to bring in any eye appliances that are/have been used in the past for us to evaluate as well.
Eye Testing for Infants
By 6 months of age, a baby’s eyes are developed for focusing ability, color vision and depth perception. In order to determine whether your baby's eyes are developing normally, our doctor typically will do the following tests:
- Tests of pupil responses evaluate whether the eye's pupil opens and closes properly in the presence or absence of light.
- "Fixate and follow" testing determines whether your baby's eyes are able to fixate on and follow an object such as a light as it moves. Infants should be able to fixate on an object soon after birth and follow an object by the time they are 3 months old.
- Retinoscopy allows our doctor to evaluate light reflexes off the retina to determine if the child is focusing properly. Light reflexes off of the front surface of the eye can also be evaluated to diagnose strabismus (eye turn).
- Infancy is an excellent time to dilate a child's pupils. Dilated examination allows our Doctor to more thoroughly examine the inner eye.
Eye Exams for Preschool Children
Relax – your preschool-age children does not need to know their alphabet in order to undergo certain eye tests. For our youngsters, our doctor often uses Allen symbols which are easily recognizable pictures. In addition, retinoscopy (a test that involves shining a light into your child' is used to observe the reflection from the back of the eye (retina). This helps determine your child’s prescription. Random Dot Stereopsis testing uses special patterns of dots and 3-D glasses to measure how well your child's eyes work together as a team.
Focusing ability, depth perception and color vision: Our doctor will assess your child’s focusing (accommodative) ability. Depth perception or ability to gauge distances between objects also may be examined, and color blind tests may be used to assess your child's color vision.
Anterior eye and eyelid health: Our doctor will closely examine your child's eyelids to look for abnormal or infected eyelash follicles, bumps, discharge and swelling. The doctor also will examine the internal structures of the eye such as the cornea, iris, and lens to check for any irregularities.
Posterior eye health: Our doctor uses ophthalmoscopy to examine the posterior segment of your child's eye.
Focusing ability, depth perception and color vision: Our doctor will assess your child’s focusing (accommodative) ability. Depth perception or ability to gauge distances between objects also may be examined, and color blind tests may be used to assess your child's color vision.
Anterior eye and eyelid health: Our doctor will closely examine your child's eyelids to look for abnormal or infected eyelash follicles, bumps, discharge and swelling. The doctor also will examine the internal structures of the eye such as the cornea, iris, and lens to check for any irregularities.
Posterior eye health: Our doctor uses ophthalmoscopy to examine the posterior segment of your child's eye.