With the arrival of August, we’ll start to see yellow school buses, busy school supply aisles at the local shopping centers and frequent trips to the store for new shoes, clothes and backpacks. What about scheduling a back-to-school vision exam, too? While you are beginning to help your children plan for a new school year filled with new teachers and making new friends, isn’t it time to add a complete developmental vision exam to the calendar as well? August is also Children’s Eye Health and Safety month and there’s nothing more important than making sure your child can see what the teacher is presenting at the front of the class.
Did you know that it is estimated 80% of a child’s learning is processed visually? What happens if your child is unable to process his or her vision correctly? Studies show that this can affect his or her learning, also impacting physical and social development. Starting the year off right with a vision exam at Vision For Life helps to ensure their school year kicks-off on the right track.
Common vision problems with children may include strabismus (crossed eyes), amblyopia (lazy eye), binocular problems, ptosis (dropping of the eyelid), color deficiency (color blindness) and refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism). Fortunately, many of these conditions can be treated. The sooner your child is diagnosed, the odds are also in their favor for a more successful treatment. Here are some symptoms to look for if you think your child may have an undiagnosed vision problem:
- Closing/covering one eye
- Headaches
- Lack of focus and concentration during near work
- Squinting eyes
- Frequently rubbing eyes
- Tilting head or thrusting head forward
- Having trouble reading, reduced comprehension, or skipping words and lines
- Blinking more than usual during near work
If your family has a history of any of the vision problems listed above or if you are noticing these symptoms in your child, contact Vision For Life to schedule an appointment for a back-to-school exam. Beginning at six months of age, your child’s vision should be examined and then once again as your child turns three. When your child begins school, he or she should start to receive vision exams annually. Undiagnosed and untreated vision issues could result in permanent vision loss or even blindness. At Vision For Life, our vision therapy programs have proven to be successful and back-to-school is the ideal time to schedule an appointment.
At Vision For Life, you have a team of friendly, experienced advocates for your child’s vision and eye health all year round! Dr. Steinhauer is a developmental optometrist that will conduct a thorough examination of all areas of vision, including 17 skills necessary for near (reading) vision. At Vision For Life, we test skills that are not tested in school screenings or with the standard eye chart. We test beyond the typical “20/20 vision test”…which does not indicate how well a child can read a book. If you want to set your child up for a more successful school year, schedule an appointment for your child’s yearly vision examination today. Call us at 618-288-1489 or find us online at https://visionforlifeworks.com/.