Kids Eyecare at Highland Eye Boutique
Our kids eyecare approach takes into account the importance of starting eyecare at an early age. 80% of what children learn is through their peepers! According to The Vision Council of America, one in every four kids has a vision problem which can interfere with learning. So it is important to have eye exams to detect these problems. Many times children need glasses and don’t even know it. If you started wearing glasses as a child, do you remember getting your first pair eyeglasses and being surprisedand excited that you could now see the individual leaves on trees?
As a parent, do you wonder if the vision screenings at school or the pediatrician’s office are enough? While these may detect some problems such as blurred distance vision, they may not be able to determine if there is an eye muscle problem or binocular vision problem. They can miss up to 60% of vision problems and typically do not look for eye diseases. Even when a child has 20/20 vision, they can have vision problems.
During your kid’s eye exam, Dr. Bennett will not only determine if you child needs glasses but also evaluate your child’s eye muscles to see if they are working together as a team, evaluate their focusing system and ability to maintaining proper focusing when reading, color vision and depth perception. When there are problems with any of these things, a child’s school performance can be impacted.
The American Optometric Association recommends that children have a complete eye exam at six months, three years and five years of age. After that your child should have a complete annual eye exam (or every two years, if no vision correction is required).
Symptoms of a child’s vision problem can include:
- Sitting close to the TV or holding a book too close
- Squinting
- Tilting their head
- Frequently rubbing their eyes
- Short attention span for the child’s age
- Turning of an eye in or out
- Sensitivity to light
- Difficulty with eye-hand-body coordination when playing ball or bike riding
- Avoiding coloring activities, puzzles and other detailed activities
