What We do Not Know
There is excitement in the air. It’s the first day of school and your kids are ready to go. You have done all the prep work, got all the required supplies, new clothes, and have already met their teachers and visited their classrooms. It’s a brand-new year and the possibilities are endless!
Fast forward 3 months and you get an email from your youngest child’s teacher, they want to have a meeting. It seems your he is struggling with reading, he loses his spot often when reading aloud, and at times he is borderline disruptive in class.
How could this be? The other two children are top of their class. You have done the same things with him as you did with his siblings. What can you do? Where do you start? Believe it or not the eye doctor is a great starting point. Vision related problems are very common. The struggles listed above may simply be a result of poor vision and the inability to see. A simple pair of glasses or contacts can improve poor academic performance and disruptive classroom behavior. Until you get an actual eye exam (very different from vision screenings at school or well child visits) you do not really know what you children are seeing.
Critical Period of Development
The most basic aspect of a child’s ability to learn is if they can see what they are looking at. 80% of learning is visual and the visual system has a critical period of development which runs last about the first 7-8 years of their lives. After the critical period any lack of development may become permanent. The good news is most vision related problems are easily treated and cured with routine eye exam.
Warning Signs
To ensure your child reaches their full potential, be on the look out for the following signs or symptoms. Complaints of blurred vision, excessive eye rubbing, or squinting are common signs of vision problems. Furthermore, a recurring complaint of headaches is often vision related. Lastly, a condition called HYPEROPIA allows kids to pass vision tests, but causes vision problems when working on screens, tablets, or computers and may result in the inability to keep words clear.
Non-Traditional Symptoms
In addition, not all vision related problems are so easy to spot. These may manifest as an avoidance of reading or homework. These children often lose their place when reading and have poor reading comprehension and may have quite poor penmanship. Kids that cannot see clearly can be mislabeled as having ADHD and behavior problems. Also, be on the lookout for a wandering (lazy) eye or abnormal head tilts when looking at objects.
What can you do?
The best news is that a routine eye exam with Dr. Lillie tests for all the above issues. Most of the time, any concerns are easily corrected with glasses or eye exercises. Considering the importance of early intervention, a child should have a comprehensive exam before their second birthday, and yearly exams once they start school. We only get one set of eyes, lets make sure we take care of them for the long haul!
