Children always need basic visual skills for good learning, such as near vision, distance vision, binocular coordination, eye movement skills, focusing skills, peripheral skills and eye coordination. It is estimated that 5% of pre-schoolers and 25% of school-aged children suffer from various vision problems. The American Optometric Association recommends that children should receive comprehensive eye exams at six months of age, three years of age and six years of age. After they entering school, eye exams should be taken every two years for any vision problems and needs for eyewear. Early detection and treatment of vision problems are crucial for children.
Most of the children may receive their first eye exam from a family doctor or pediatrician. Once suspected problems are found, parents should take their children to professional ophthalmologist or optometrist for further examination with specific instruments. Items of children’s eye exams include vision testing, eyeglasses determination, eye alignment testing and probably, a parent education. Parents should fill in a case history form about their children after making an appointment with the doctor. The form may ask for children’s birth weight, full-term issue, pregnancy or delivery complications, current medications and present allergies. Parents should feel free to tell the doctor all of their children’s eye conditions, such as frequent eye rubbing, excessive blinks, eye contact failure, poor eye tracking skills, as well as previous ocular diagnosis and treatments, family eye problems history etc…
Infants at three or four months old should receive several eye tests to assess whether they have developed required focusing skills, color vision and depth perception. Pupil response tests can show that whether the children’s eye pupil opens and closes properly in the presence or absence of light. Children may also be tested that whether they can focus and follow moving objectives. Blank and stripe cards can be used to evaluate infants’ preferential looking skills.
Eye tests for pre-school children involve some non-verbal symbols. The first type is LEA symbols, including apples, houses, squares and circles. Retinoscopy is used to test the eye’s response to light, and random dot stereopis is used to test the two eyes’ relation. The assessment of amblyopia for children requires some skills since there is no detectable anatomic damage. Amblyopia can be corrected using eye patching, which may strengthen the weaker eye. Also called strabismus, misalignment eyes may be caused by disabled muscle control in the affected eye or eyes. Some other testing items including correct focusing, depth perception, distance gauge ability and color vision are also important. Furthermore, children’s eyelids and lid margins may be examined to find potential abnormal eyelash follicles, bumps, discharge and swelling. And cornea, iris and lens examinations may discover cloudiness or other irregularities.
Eye problems on children such as lazy eye must be detected and treated as early as possible, since good vision is critical for school performance.