There’s more to school than book bags and lunch boxes. It’s also the perfect time for your child’s eyes to be checked by an optometrist. Just when you think your child is seeing well, there could very well be a problem. And vision problems are responsible for a staggering number of learning challenges due to the fact that 80% of classroom learning is done through the eyes.
Do you know how well your child can see? It isn’t always obvious to a child or a parent. Children assume everyone sees the world exactly as they do and rarely complain. As parents, the signs of vision problems are not easily detectable.
Here’s a big statistic: 1 in 6 children have some form of vision problems.
Tell-tale signs your child could have a vision or eye-related problem:
Pre-schoolers
Tend to bump into objects
Have red eyes or lids
Have excessive tearing
Avoid colouring, puzzles or detailed activity
Has difficulty with eye-hand-body co-ordination
Rub eyes frequently
Have encrusted eyelids
School-age children
Lose place while reading
Has headaches and tends to rub eyes frequently
Make frequent reversals when reading or writing
Avoid close work
Has poor handwriting
Hold reading material close
Red, sore or irritated eyes
Good vision is vital to developing skills such as reading, copying and hand eye coordination. So before your children hits the books again this fall book them in for an eye exam with an eye-bar optometrist.
Eye exams are covered under provincial health insurance when you show your child’s health card. This means that there is no out-of-pocket cost for the eye exam.
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