The?school year is starting up again soon, now is a great time to start thinking about scheduling an eye appointment for your child. Good grades and good vision go hand in hand since as much as 80 percent of learning a child does is visual, with children spending most of the school day reading, looking at whiteboards, using laptops and tablets. However, come back-to-school season, parents overlook one of the most critical learning tools – their child’s eyes.
?It may seem surprising, but kids who can’t read or even speak yet can still have a comprehensive eye exam. The connection between eyes and the brain starts early. We encourage parents to prioritize back-to-school eye exams, the same way you wouldn’t miss a dentist or pediatrician visit.? Kids don’t know what’s normal and what’s not when it comes to eye health. When vision problems aren’t identified early, kids will be at a disadvantage before they even start kindergarten.
Keep An Eye Out For Common Symptoms?Children with vision problems are unlikely to tell their teachers and parents because they don’t realize the source of the problem. It’s crucial, therefore, for us adults to watch the children in our care for symptoms such as:??
?*? Poor reading comprehension*? Slow to finish schoolwork*? Short attention span for close work*? Tendency to fidget and look away from work*? Frequent headaches*? Tendency to cover one eye*? Frequent blinking or eye-rubbing
?Routine comprehensive eye exams for grade-schoolers can easily identify whether or not a child may require glasses or contacts due to nearsightedness (the inability to see well at a distance), that often progresses as children grow. This is? important as children move into a more traditional classroom, where they’re staring at a digital devices for a significant portion of the day. This is also the case for sports as most things are happening in the distance, glasses or contacts might be needed to help young players focus on the ball or judge the distance of the object.
?At college age, the eye is growing and this can make them more nearsighted. The larger size of many college classrooms can also make it more difficult to see what it going on at the front of the class, whether it’s on a board or a screen. An annual comprehensive eye exam can easily get these students ready for their new challenges with glasses or contacts that can help them excel.?