Soon, your child may be bringing home his or her report card for the year. If the results are not what you had hoped, find if your child’s eyesight is making getting good grades harder than it needs to be. It is estimated that up to 25 percent of students have undetected eye problems. Alarmingly, only about 5 percent of students with vision problems will test poorly on vision tests administered by school nurses or other professionals.
Visual Skills Needed to Perform Well in School
There are many visual skills needed to perform well in school including:
- Ability to focus for long periods of time on a nearby object.
- Ability to see that an object is the same distance away with both eyes
- Color perception
- Concurrent focus on an object at a distance
- Depth perception
- Eye movement control that allows students to correctly line up a row of text.
- Fine-visual motor
- Gross-visual motor
- Simultaneous focus on an object that is close like a book in your child’s hands
- Visual Acuity
- Visual integration with other senses
- Visual perception
When Should Children Get Eye Exams?
Since parents are often unaware of minor visual problems, it is important that your child get an eye exam on a regular basis. Children should get their first comprehensive eye exam when they are six months old. They should get another one right after they turn three. Then, once the child starts school, they should have one every two years if no problems are found. If the child needs glasses or contacts, then they should have an annual eye exam.
What Can You Do to Help Prepare for Your Child’s Eye Exam?
There are many things that you can do to help prepare your child for their first eye exam with the eye doctor in Orlando. Try to schedule the exam when they will not be overly tired or hungry. Role play an exam at home by giving an eye exam to a favorite stuffed animal who may come to the office with you. Additionally, you may want to have the child put their head back and pretend to put drops in their eyes, so they can get used to it instead of the doctor asking them to do something that feels weird. You may also want to take a small magnifying glass and pretend to exam the child’s eye.
Working with a friendly empathetic doctor is a great way to get your child used to having eye exams. Call Eyes of Winter Park as this eye doctor in Orlando has years of experience working with children. When he is not examining eyes, he loves to sing, so do not be surprised if he starts signing a happy tune if your child gets nervous. Give them a call at (407)672-2020 to schedule your child’s appointment today. If your child needs glasses, then you and your child will love the wide selection in their optical gallery.