Start The School Year Right: Eye Exams for Children

School is just around the corner! Before it begins, there are many ways to help your children be successful during the academic year, starting with assessing their vision care needs at Better Vision New Jersey.

Exploring the Correlation Between Poor Vision and Academic Performance

With poor vision comes several difficulties for your child. Since learning is focused on what you hear, see, and write, poor vision can lead to troubles in your children’s comprehension abilities and overall success in school.

You or your child’s teachers may notice these signs that indicate poor vision and the need for an eye exam:

• Trouble reading: Difficulties with reading at a distance and up close, as well as poor reading comprehension, can be a sign that your child isn’t seeing as well as they could be. Squinting and complaints of discomfort, like headaches, are signs that your child is experiencing eye strain when they try to read or see up close and at a distance.
• Poor writing ability: Not being able to see the page and one’s own words clearly can cause struggles with handwriting and overall writing ability.

• Difficulty with test taking and low test scores: Children who struggle with reading and writing due to poor vision may also experience difficulty comprehending and understanding information, which can lead to lower test scores.

Children with good vision have an increased ability to succeed in these areas, making for a more pleasant and less challenging time in school. Ensuring that everything is on track for the upcoming school year is one of the many reasons why you should start the semester out with an eye exam.

Conditions Caught in Early Childhood

Annual eye exams are a great way to catch any eye issues that relate to poor vision and other eye health problems before they progress.

Some conditions that we assess pediatric patients for include:

• Amblyopia (lazy eye): Occurs when nerve pathways between one eye and the brain aren’t properly functioning, the brain doesn’t recognize what the eye sees so it relies on the other. Over time, one eye gets stronger and one gets weaker.
• Strabismus (crossed eyes): Nerve dysfunction leading to the eyes not looking in the same direction.
• Myopia (nearsightedness): Objects at a distance appear blurry. This condition can be genetic or can develop over time.
• Hyperopia (farsightedness): Nearby objects appear blurry. This condition often develops over time and can be seen in adults as well as children.
• Astigmatism: When the curvature of the cornea is mismatched with the lens inside the eye causing blurred distant and near vision.

These conditions are treatable, but are common in children and should be addressed as soon as possible. Children need to have regular eye exams to help find these issues early on before they worsen and cause more discomfort than they already have in your child’s day-to-day life. In particular, myopia management plays a major role in decreasing the visual difficulties of children with high myopia. At BVNJ, our doctors are ready to help your child address any visual challenges and achieve healthy vision for years to come.

What to Look Out for as a Parent

As a parent, you can look out for some signs that may be indicators of these issues or poor vision in general:

• Squinting
• Complaints of headaches
• Eye rubbing
• Frequent head tilting
• Covering of one eye
• Sitting too close to the TV or computers

The Importance of Regular Eye Exams For Children

By bringing your child in for annual eye exams, you can help to stop the progression of any problems, catch irregularities or signs of larger issues, and give them the tools needed to improve their vision. School can be challenging enough for children as they grow and develop and with extra hurdles, such as poor vision and eye issues, these challenges can be more difficult to overcome. Scheduling regular eye exams gives your child the ability to overcome some of these school related challenges and have a great school year.

Book Your Appointment Today!

Children’s eyesight is always changing and it’s important to support their eye care in the healthiest way possible! It’s recommended that children have a comprehensive eye exam at least once a year, helping to maintain healthy vision and a positive experience in and out of school. Call (908) 276-3030 to make an appointment for your child at Better Vision New Jersey today!