Children’s Vision

Vision doesn’t just happen. A child’s brain learns how to use eyes to see just like it learns how to use legs to walk or a mouth to learn how to speak. Children with uncorrected vision conditions face many barriers in life. The longer a vision problem goes undiagnosed and untreated the more difficult it becomes to overcome these barriers.

As children progress through school they face increasing demands on their visual abilities. Every child needs to have the vision skills for effective reading and learning. Vision is more than visual acuity, the ability to see clearly and eye focusing, ability to quickly and accurately maintain clear vision as the distance from objects change. Other visual perceptual skills include recognition, comprehension, retention, eye tracking, eye teaming and hand eye coordination.

A child may not tell you that he or she has a vision problem because they may think the way they see in normal. Signs that may indicate a vision problem may include frequent eye rubbing or blinking, avoiding reading and other near activities, frequent headaches, covering one eye, seeing double, holding materials close to the face and tilting the head to one side.

Some children with learning difficulties exhibit specific behaviors of hyperactivity and distractibility and are often labeled as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). If a child’s visual skills are lacking they can experience short attention span, letters or words jumble together, loss of place when reading and difficulty remembering what he or she read.

Vision changes can occur without your child or you noticing them. Therefore, your child should receive an eye examination every year as recommended by your eye doctor. Early detection and treatment provide the very best opportunity to correct vision problems to make sure your child has the best possible tools to learn successfully.