This is the week that kids all over the country are heading back to school. Along with the new backpacks and first-day outfits—make sure you schedule back to school eye exams for the whole family.
Did you know that one in four children have a vision-related learning difficulty?1 Neglecting regular eye exams can hurt your child academically and socially. A child’s vision is constantly changing and usually does not stabilize until about 20 years old, making yearly eye exams extremely important.
In addition, don’t assume that your child has good vision because they passed a school vision screening. A 20/20 score only means that they can see at 20 feet what they should be able to see at that distance. It doesn’t measure any of the other vision skills needed for learning.
Good vision requires many different skills working together to enable your child to see clearly and understand what they see. For example:
- Near Vision: The ability to see comfortably at 13-16 inches.
- Distance Vision: The ability to see clearly and comfortably at 10 feet (or more).
- Binocular Coordination: The ability to use two eyes together
- Eye Movement Skills: The ability to aim the eyes accurately and move them smoothly across a page quickly and accurately from one object to another
- Peripheral Awareness: The ability to be aware of things to the side while looking straight ahead.
- Eye and Hand Coordination: The ability to use the eyes and hands together.
If any of the above skills are lacking or not functioning properly, your child’s eyes will have to work harder which can lead to blurred vision, headaches, fatigue and other eyestrain symptoms.
A thorough back to school eye exam should include the following:
- Review of your child’s health and vision history.
- Tests for nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, colour perception, lazy eye, crossed-eye coordination, depth perception and focusing ability.
- Complete eye health examination.
To help your children be the best they can be—make sure you schedule back to school eye exams for the whole family.
Hakim Optical offers comprehensive eye exams through our Eye Exam Centres,
available throughout Canada at many of our locations.
Contact your local Hakim Optical to schedule an appointment or book online today.
1 CAO Recommend Eye Exams in Parent’ Back to School Routines