September heralds the changing of the seasons as Summer slowly fades into Autumn. As schools return after fun filled Summer holidays, we wanted to draw our reader’s attention to the importance of eye tests for children in our latest blog.
With many parents busily preparing their children for their return to school it can be easy to overlook the importance of an eye examination for your child. Early eye examinations are important to ensure that children have normal, healthy vision and that any potential issues are detected early and afforded the right corrective treatment. Early detection and regular eye examinations for children are important as undetected eyesight problems can lead to a worse performance at school through no fault of the child.
Eye examinations help to ensure that your child has the basic following skills that are related to learning and having a rewarding school experience:
- Near vision
- Distance vision
- Binocular (two eyes) coordination
- Eye movement skills
- Focusing skills
- Peripheral awareness
- Hand-eye coordination
As a parent it is important to monitor your child for any indication which may point to underlying eyesight problems. A difficulty in recognising colours, shapes letters can numbers can occur if there are undetected eyesight issues. What's more, children sometimes struggle to voice their complaints and parents ought to look out for signs that can suggest a vision problem such as:
- Sitting close to the TV or holding a book too close
- Squinting
- Tilting their head
- Constant eye rubbing
- Extreme light sensitivity
- Poor focusing
- Poor visual tracking (following an object)
- Abnormal alignment or movement of the eyes (after 6 months of age)
- Chronic redness of the eyes
- Chronic tearing of the eyes
At Roger Pope and Partners, we have a dedicated children’s dispensing area where our friendly and experienced team will welcome you and your child from ages 9 years and up. Our thorough eye examinations for children can assist in detecting any potential vision problems and offer the correct solution. We are proud to stock a specialist range of eyewear for children that has been designed to withstand the rigors of childhood.
For more information about our children’s eye examinations, contact our London practice via via ncs@rogerpope.co.uk or on 0207 935 2124.