The health of your child’s eyes is very important. Proper learning, motor development, reading, and many other skills are dependent upon not only good vision, but also the ability of your eyes to work together. We provide comprehensive exams to children age 5 and up to make sure their eyes are healthy and ready for the start of school and beyond.

As children grow, so do their eyes. Since many learning skills are dependent on the strength of visual skills such as binocular vision, accurate eye movements, the ability to see distant objects, etc., doctors recommend that children have their first eye exam even before reaching school age.

The most common eye problem with children ages 5 and up is nearsightedness (myopia). Myopia affects millions of children worldwide and 42 percent of school age children. With the increases in technology and the use of screens from an early age, there has been an increase of children with myopia. Signs and Symptoms of Myopia can include:

• Squinting when reading the board or watching TV
• Sitting at close proximity to the TV or computer screen
• Sitting at the front of the classroom to clearly see the teacher and board
• Holding books close to the eyes
• Disinterest in playing sports that require distance vision

This condition is easily fixed with glasses or contacts. Even though Myopia is the most common eye problem, there are many other visual diseases that can affect the health and vision of your child and a children’s eye exam is important to catching those problems early. Symptoms of vision problems can include:

• Short attention span
• Headaches
• Frequent blinking
• Avoiding reading
• Tilting the head to one side
• Losing their place often while reading
• Double vision
• Poor reading comprehension

Because children are growing rapidly and their eyes are constantly changing, the American Optometric Association recommends that parents schedule an annual children’s eye exam. The State of Illinois also requires that all children entering kindergarten receive an eye exam from an optometrist or ophthalmologist no later than October 15th of the year the child is first enrolled in school.

Our comprehensive children’s eye exams are very similar to an adult’s comprehensive exam.

Tests that may be included during an exam are:

• Visual Acuity: Testing to determine your ability to see at different distances
• Visual Alignment and Tracking: Evaluation that both eyes are working together properly
• Eye Focusing: Testing to make sure clear vision is present when switching from focusing on something near to far.
• Dilated Fundus Exam: Dilating the eye to help determine eye health from front to back. Also, it is used to better determine the potential glasses prescription in children.
• Refraction: Test used to determine the strength of an eye prescription if needed.

If your child has not had an exam recently, contact us to schedule their next exam.