Pediatric Eye Health

Pediatric Eye Health

There is so much more to vision than simply seeing clearly. While developing, our eyes need to not only see clearly but also function together in an efficient manner to enable proper perception of the visual world. Vision and learning are directly connected! Often, vision problems in children are painless and exist since birth, so parents can be unaware that their child is affected. Failure to detect these conditions can delay perceptual skills, reading abilities, create attention deficits and lead to difficulties performing in school. Fortunately, most of these conditions are easily treatable.

Mistakenly, most parents think that the vision screenings our children have in school will detect these issues. At North Shore Eye Health and Wellness, we recommend that children receive their first eye exam between 6-12mos of age, then again at 2-3 years of age, and receive annual eye examinations while going to school. The earlier a problem is detected the better the overall prognosis. Our Doctors are here to help! Together, we can prevent vision loss and decrease the negative impact that vision loss can have on our children for the rest of their lives.

Concerned your child may need an eye examination? Check out this symptoms checklist for a quick reference:

EYE SYMPTOMS CHECKLIST
Infants

• Do they consistently turn their head to one side?

• Do they consistently turn their head to one side when picking something up?

• Do they seem startled if you approach from one side vs. the other?

• Do they seem to consistently miss seeing something of interest?

• Were there any complications during or immediately after birth?

• Do their pupils look the same?

• Does an eye seem to wander or not be aimed in the same direction as the other?

• Do they have a family history of visual problems?

Pre-schoolers

• Do they sit close to the TV because they say they cannot see it?

• Do they complain of headaches?

• Do they tilt their head to one shoulder or to one side consistently when watching TV or reading?

• Do they have a shorter attention span than usual when doing near tasks?

• Were they slower than expected in hitting their milestones?

School-age children

• Do they have attention issues?

• Do they say they have headaches?

• Do they complain of double vision or blurred vision at distance or near?

• Do they have trouble seeing the board?

• Have their reading comprehension scores started to drop?

• Do they lose their place on the page or use their fingers to keep track of where they are on the page (after 2nd grade)?