Vision screening – important for early detection of problems
The importance of eye testing for children is often understated when parents and guardians take the vision abilities of kids for granted. It often happens that caretakers assume that everyone can see and focus well under all circumstances because not being able to comfortably see clearly is not an externally visible “disability”
The other reason for not noticing vision-related problems in children is because the children themselves do not really understand their own deficiency, simply because they do not know any better and are maybe too young to have the insight to compare their vision with other’s.
The GOOD NEWS is that qualified optometrists and ophthalmologists are trained to detect early signs of vision impairment or poor visual development. Early detection is the most important factor in early treatment, and often early treatment can prevent the negative impact that poor vision can have on the development of a child.
A child uses all his senses in the process of learning. It is possible that both learning and hearing are the two most important senses that should be functioning well for a child entering the learning phases of school. Development in all area of life happens through learning. When a child misses an important step in the learning process his development is negatively impacted. He may be able to hear well enough but if his eyes cannot see everything he should see his learning will be compromised.
All children should have at least one complete visual examination as soon as any possibility of vision related problems are noted by parents and/or caretakers. It is generally advised that all children entering school should have had a complete eye test before they enter learning levels at school that require their visual systems to be optimally functional.
Many optometrists are qualified to complete visual examinations for children and they are trained to detect pathological conditions that need further treatment by ophthalmologists. It is always helpful tot take your child to someone with a special interest and education in child vision care. These professional usually love working with children and have a specialized ability to work with the young ones!
“As a mother of three daughters myself, I will advise most parents to take their children for a complete eye test before they enter Grade R or Grade 1. And it also not advisable to wait for signs or symptoms of poor vision or eye strain. We live in a world of information overload and our kids are growing up in this world. Their eyes and ears are the buckets with which the capture information and they need to be able to cope with this demand on their visual systems. When our children do well in athletics we support them with equipment to support their talent. Why not help their eyes cope by making sure the can see and visualise well” (Lizelle van der Walt, Optometrist at Zinn & Loock)
Regardless of the above it is a good thing to take your child for an eye test as soon as he/she exhibits the following aligns and symptoms:
- Blurred vision at distance (TV Driving Movies etc.)
- Blurred vision at near point tasks (Reading Learning Computer Laptop Sewing Fine Work)
- Difficulty focussing from far to near or near to far
- double vision
- pain in the eyes
- headaches
- photophobia (sensitivity to light)
- watering or tearing eyes
- itchiness
- burning sensation
- Other problems in reading and learning can also be vision related and some of the following signs and symptoms should be taken seriously:
- Late language development
- Problems with spelling of words
- Sequence problems (e.g. dream vs dearm)
- Omission of capital letters
- Omission of punctuation
- Inversion of letters
- Inversion of words
- inversion of syllables
- Poor sentence construction (wrt age level)
- Errors of grammar (poor plurals or poor diminutives)
- Untidy handwriting
- Illegible handwriting
- Cannot remember letters correctly
- Cannot remember numbers correctly
- Invert letters or numbers when reading
- Loses place when reading
- Poor comprehension of paragraph or story
- with reading aloud
- with reading silently
- with listening to stories
- Confuses words that can be read either way (ex pat vs tap)
- Avoids reading activities
- Restricted vocabulary
- Words expressed incorrectly (especially names and long words)
- Poor interest in reading
- Poor motivation to read
- Battles to learn schoolwork
- Does not learn actively – still needs a lot of guidance and help
- Reduced attention span and concentration ability
- problems with balance
- Hyperactive
- Hypo-active
- Excessive day-dreaming
Zinn & Loock Optometrists are able to provide comprehensive visual examinations and assist with solutions to your child’s vision problems. Call them on 021 870 1863 or visit their website.
Article written by Lizelle van der Walt, Optometrist at Zinn & Loock