Kids and Vision: What to Know Before the School Year Starts
As September approaches, helping your child get ready for a new school year becomes a priority. Between shopping for new clothes and supplies, it’s a lot to juggle. So even though kids and vision testing aren’t a part of the back-to-school checklist, consider scheduling a comprehensive eye exam. Although schools indeed offer these assessments, they may not provide the in-depth information that can help your child.
When it comes to children’s vision, regular checkups from experts in the field are the best bet. But why are these exams so important, and what warning signs can tell you that your child may be struggling with vision problems?
Vision’s Role in Child Development
Children and vision issues can be a pairing that leads to developmental concerns. Vision is an essential component of cognitive development; yet, as many as 6.8% of children under 18 in the country have some form of eye or vision problem.
Reading and Writing
At its most basic level, vision is crucial for recognizing faces, shapes, and colors, all of which significantly impact early learning. Without being able to see letters correctly, for example, reading becomes impossible. It’s also vital for the development of the hand-eye coordination necessary for beginning to write.
Spatial Awareness
Kids need vision to develop spatial reasoning skills and to understand their surroundings. Without sufficient vision, it can become significantly more difficult for children to recognize their surroundings, gauge distances, and even engage in play. Everything from games of tag to using building blocks requires a normal level of vision.
Gross Motor Skills
When dealing with children and vision issues, it can lead to gross motor skill difficulties. This could include seeing your child struggling with balance and coordination. Not being able to learn these basic skills and start mastering them can make walking, climbing, and all other physical activities not only challenging but also dangerous.
Social Development
Children with vision problems may struggle to read facial expressions and body language. Without being able to see and interpret social cues, a child can fall behind their peers in social development. It can lead to trouble making eye contact and may complicate the development of friendships.
Building Confidence
A child with vision issues can struggle with self-confidence in social settings and learning situations. They can grow frustrated and disinterested, which could impact the rest of their school years.
Signs Your Child May Need Help
It’s not always easy to know when your child is having trouble seeing well. The younger a child is, the more difficult it can be. And yet, the sooner the problem is addressed, the better the outcome can be. That means watching for some vital signs, including:
- Squinting
- Eye rubbing
- Tilting their head
- Covering or closing one eye
- Holding objects very close
- Complaining of headaches
- Sitting too close to the television
- Having trouble concentrating at school
- Losing their place when reading
- Avoiding activities that require up-close vision
Sometimes, toddlers can also struggle with vision. The signs are less obvious, but you may notice that they might have trouble following objects with their eyes. They may also go cross-eyed.
Are Vision Screenings at School Enough?
In most instances, school vision screenings aren’t enough. With kids and vision problems, it’s not always easy to identify the actual issue. These tests are not in-depth, and school screenings typically focus on distance visual acuity. While that’s important, it’s not the only measurement to consider.
These screenings may also fail to detect more subtle vision problems. This can lead to worsening over time and negatively impact your child’s development. When a test mistakenly shows no issues, it can delay the process of identifying a problem.
School vision screenings are not diagnostic, either. At most, they will tell you that your child struggles to see, but when dealing with kids and vision issues, you need an in-depth diagnosis so that you can address the problem.
Additionally, school screenings often fail to focus on eye health. If your child has underlying eye problems that need to be resolved to improve their vision, you won’t learn of it from the school exam.
How Comprehensive Annual Eye Exams Can Help
Scheduling an annual eye exam for your child is the best way to monitor their vision. These assessments provide the opportunity to identify any issues as early as possible.
Numerous conditions, including near-sightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism, can be seen from a very young age. Because kids and vision issues grow together, catching the problem as early as possible allows for faster treatment.
Exams also monitor eye health. They check for conditions such as crossed eyes, as well as indicators of potential eye diseases that could impact your child for the rest of their life.
With a comprehensive annual eye exam, you not only get an official diagnosis, but an optometrist will also offer treatment and management assistance, such as glasses or eye exercises to strengthen weak muscles. This can provide the peace of mind you need.
Helping Your Child Begin the School Year Right
Whether you’ve noticed signs that your child may be having trouble with their vision or not, scheduling a comprehensive exam before classes start is a good idea. At Looking Glass Optical, you can receive the friendly, quality assistance that you and your child deserve.
If you want to make this school year a success, Looking Glass Optical can help. Contact us to schedule an appointment.
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