Every parent aims to give their child the best in life that they can offer. Part of this entails that their child thrives in school and enjoys a better quality of life. One way to actualize this is often through ensuring that your child is in good health, both physically and visually. Eyesight plays a significant role in the quality of life of a child.

Healthy eyes and good eyesight play a significant role in ensuring that children develop and reach their full potential. Development entails aspects such as academic, physical, social, and psychological. Early identification of vision problems can change the life of your child.

Vision Problems

Studies show that most school-aged children have undiagnosed and untreated eye and vision problems. Parents should understand that most of these vision issues do not show symptoms during their early development stages.

How to Know Your Child Has a Vision or Eye Problem

Most eye conditions may not show early symptoms or signs. Your child may need professional attention to ensure their eyes and vision are healthy. However, below are some signs that may help you spot that your child has a sight or eye problem:

• Frequent headaches

• Sitting very close to the computer or television

• Holding objects close to their face

• Reading while covering or closing one eye

• Squinting

• Difficulty concentrating

• Rubbing their eyes frequently

• Their eye appears to drift inward or outward
   

Eye Exams

Undetected ocular or vision problems in childhood can affect a child. Unfortunately, most of them get worse with time and do not disappear. A child with vision problems can experience significant difficulties as they grow and become adults.

The American Optometrist Association recommends taking children for comprehensive eye examinations before school. Doing so will allow their eye specialist to get their prescription and view the back of their eye by dilating their pupils.

What Are In-school Screenings for Kids?

Most schools in the United States conduct vision screening for their students or pupils. The screening entails basic tests that identify if the child has reduced vision. The screenings can uncover vision problems such as nearsightedness, lazy eye, or farsightedness.

Are In-school Screenings Enough for Kids?

Relying on in-school vision screenings to ensure your kid's eye and vision health is okay may not be enough. The screenings are essential and mean well. However, they can miss the mark sometimes. They are often limited and cannot serve as a substitute for comprehensive eye exams.

Ideally, parents should not rely on in-school vision screenings entirely. They may not identify some severe eye conditions that an eye exam can. So if your child passes their in-school vision screening, it does not mean they have perfect vision or healthy eyes. Making this assumption can prevent early detection and diagnosis of severe vision conditions.

In-school vision screenings lack adequate testing equipment to get excellent results. The environment is often not suitable for testing. Apart from that, the personnel doing in-school vision screenings are not experts like those who conduct eye exams.

Schedule regular eye exams to get your child's eye and vision tested. Doing so will ensure they grow and develop well without vision-related problems.

For more about eye exams and in-school vision screenings, visit Lens Lab Express at our office in The Bronx, New York. Call (718) 329-2020 to book an appointment today.