Regular Eye Exams
The American Optometric Association (AOA) recommends that infants have an eye exam at six months old, followed then by an eye exam at three years old. The AOA also recommends that children receive eye exams just prior to entering school, and once every two years after that, if no vision problems are detected. Children who use corrective lenses should see an eye doctor more often because of the changing nature of perscriptions as they grow up.(1)
Although school vision screening are very important and can serve as early warnings that an eye exam may be necessary, they are not comprehensive and do not serve as a replacement for a vision exam performed by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. According to the Optometrists Network, a proper eye exam should include tests of all of the following:(2)
- Acuity of near vision
- Acuity of distance vision
- Focusing skills
- Eye tracking and fixation skills
- Binocular vision
- Stereopis (two-eyed depth perception)
- Convergence and eye-teaming skills
- Color vision
- Reversal frequency (confusing letters or words)
- Visual memory
- Visual form discrimination (the ability to determine same/different for two shapes)
- Visual motor integration
Because children's eyesight can change so rapidly due to their continual physical development, regular eye exams are very important. For example, detecting a condition like amblyopia, which can lead to irreparable vision loss if not diagnosed and treated early on, is far more likely if a child sees an eye doctor regularly because sometimes it can evade detection by even a trained pediatrician.(3) Additionally, research has shown that children can become frustrated and begin to underachieve academically if they are attending school with an untreated vision problem.(4) Regular checkups with an eye doctor can help ensure that if a child is experiencing a vision problem but has not told a teacher or parent about it, that problem can still be addressed to the child’s benefit.
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Footnotes
(1) Eye Exams for Children. All About Vision. Accessed 6/26/09 <http://www.allaboutvision.com/eye-exam/children.htm>
(2) About Pediatric (Children’s) Eye Exams or Vision Screenings. Optometrists Network. Accessed 6/26/09 <http://www.children-special-needs.org/parenting/preschool/pediatric_eye_exams.html>
(3) Cooper, J, Cooper, R. All About Amblyopia. Optometrists Network, Strabismus. 2001-2005.
(4) Orfield A. Vision problems of children in poverty in an urban school clinic. Their epidemic numbers impact on learning and approaches to remediation. JOVD. 2001;32:114-141.