---- “10 Signs Your Child May Have a Vision Problem”.---- Pediatric vision exams are crucial for preventing future scholastic and functional problems. Unfortunately, this necessity is often overlooked, as parents have many responsibilities with young children. As student clinicians, we can help foster awareness of the importance of eye exams in this special population and educate parents about vision development in their children. Included is a brochure outlining specific signs and symptoms of visual dysfunction as well as an informative summary of research. 1. HEAD TILT If your child has a problem with their ocular muscles or nerves they will attempt to compensate by tilting their head. 2. SITTING TOO CLOSE TO THE T.V. If your child is nearsighted, they will attempt to compensate for this by moving closer to the T.V or other reading materials. 3. AVOIDANCE OF READING If your child has poor visual skills and eye teaming skills they will compensate for this by avoiding reading. Reading uses many complex eye movements and poor visual skills may cause your child to become frustrated easily. 4. FREQUENT HEADACHES Headaches may result when your child is over strained using all of their energy to align, focus and use their eyes. 5. LATERALITY PROBLEM If your child has poor directional skills and often confuses left and right it could be due to poor vision. Proper oculocentric location is dependent on vision and laterality depends, in part, upon oculocentric location. 6. FINGER POINTING If your child has poor vision tracking skills they may use their finger to compensate for their poor tracking ability. 7. CAN’T COPY FROM THE BOARD Your child may have difficulty with accommodation, the ability to change focus between far and near. This is essential for success in school. 8. SQUINTING - Squinting is used to narrow a bundle of light entering the eye which allows for sharper vision. Your child may be squinting because this act compensates for blurry vision. 9. POOR HAND/EYE COORDINATION This skill is required for everything from writing notes in class to playing ball with friends. Clear vision and adequate visual skills is required to create a accurate link between vision and other body movements. 10. EYE RUBBING / SQUINTING Rubbing one’s eyes is a basic response to ocular discomfort. It typically occurs when one’s eyes are strained or have been working much too hard to complete a task. Squinting is used to narrow a bundle of light entering the eye which allows for sharper vision. Your child may be squinting because this act compensates for blurry vision. Guidelines for Pediatric Eye Exams 1) First eye exam at 6 months old 2) Next eye exam at 3 years old 3) An additional eye exam right before school VISION PROBLEMS = LIFE PROBLEMS 1) Study shows 40% of all students suffer from undiagnosed vision problems. Among juvenile offenders, it is estimated that 70% have undiagnosed vision problems. 2) Study shows that serious visual conditions exist in 98% of juvenile delinquents.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 11:10:51 +0000
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