| “I Can’t See the Blackboard!”: Monitoring Your Child’s Vision |
By: Tina Boscha, Columnist, “Kids and Health”
On 1/29/06
I didn’t know it was coming. I was sitting in my first grade classroom one morning, and the next thing I knew our class was ushered to the school kitchen, where a makeshift vision screening was in process. A nurse who I had never seen was there, standing next to a chart depicting letters of diminishing size.
| " A screening can test for potential vision problems – in most cases, refractive errors (nearsightedness, astigmatism, etc.) – " |
Each of us had to sit in a chair far away from the chart (20 feet to be exact) and read the letters on the chart. I did what I could, reading the first few rows, but I struggled once I got near the end. And that was it. I didn’t think anything more of it…until I got home, that is. My parents had received a call recommending that I see an eye doctor. Apparently I was nearsighted and needed glasses.
The scene I just described is a common occurrence in public American elementary schools. Each year a vision screening is held, where your child’s ability to see over distance is assessed. Often, this is the first vision screening the child has ever had, aside from standard tests performed when the child was an infant.
While the school vision screening is certainly a good thing, it is not as thorough as a full eye exam performed by an optometrist. In fact, a screening and an eye exam are two very different things. A screening can test for potential vision problems – in most cases, refractive errors (nearsightedness, astigmatism, etc.) – but only a full eye exam can detect eye diseases or conditions, such as amblyopia (“lazy eye”) and strabismus (crossed eyes). If these conditions are caught early, treatment can be prescribed by an ophthalmologist, an eye doctor specializing in the treatment of eye diseases, and it’s usually quite successful. However, the more time passes, the more likely damage will be permanent.
Unfortunately, while the American Optometric Association recommends that all kids undergo a complete eye exam at six months of age, most children don’t have their eyes examined until after they’ve begun school. And while an exam at six months of age might prompt you to think, “But they can’t read an eye chart!” doctors can assess the developing eyes of your child and perform several simple tests. In most cases, these tests include the penlight test, which checks the eye’s response to light, and the red reflex test, which examines the retina. In general, these tests make sure that the eye is functioning and developing well, and that your child can fix onto an object and follow it. In many cases, these eye function tests can be performed by your regular pediatrician.
The American Optometric Association also recommends a follow-up exam when your child is between two and three years old. Your child’s eyes are developing rapidly at this age, and potential conditions, diseases, and vision problems can be detected and treated.
Eye exams do not often rise up on the health radar like updating shots and dental check-ups, because vision may not be covered by employee-sponsored health insurance. For those of you with school-aged children, it’s a good idea to bring your child in for a comprehensive eye exam. Just like any part of our body, eyes should have a periodic examination and check-up.
In fact, school-age children need an eye exam more than adults, since they use their eyes for more activities and for longer periods of time. Think about it – when they aren’t watching their teacher or looking at the blackboard, they are usually focusing on activities such as reading, writing, and crafts, all activities that require acute visual attention.
Additionally, if your child is having difficulty in school or has been diagnosed with a learning disorder, an eye exam can reveal if vision is a factor. Children who have a hard time deciphering math problems and spelling words on the blackboard, or can’t focus on words on the page right in front of them, can’t necessarily tell you that their eyesight is poor. When I found out I was nearsighted, I had no idea – it only made sense once it was pointed out to me that squinting to make out detail wasn't normal.
Two weeks later after my vision screening, I arrived at school with a brand new pair of glasses. Fellow students garnered me with attention, perhaps even a few called me “four eyes,” but when it came time to copying spelling words off the blackboard, I got over it. I kept my eyes wide open and I got every word right.
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