What are eye exams for kids?

Children don’t easily express to their parents when they have vision problems, which is why it is essential to have regular vision screenings for your children. Ocular and systemic issues are checked, which include assessment of cataracts, strabismus, amblyopia, retinoblastoma, and glaucoma. The child can sit with his or her parent during the exam.

If your child is less than two years old, the focus of the exam is visual behavior rather than visual acuity. By the age of 3 or 4, visual acuity will become the primary focus of the exam. Visual history will also be taken by asking questions.

It is essential to get a history because it gives the clinician a snapshot of the potential ocular health of your child. Past medical history that may seem unrelated to vision may also be assessed as many underlying systemic diseases can present with ocular symptoms. Visiting the eye doctor covers more than just vision health because other conditions can be screened at the same time.

Why are kids eye exams important?

A kids eye exam is essential for the health, social, and educational well being of your child. The most common consequence of poor eyesight is poor performance in school. The prevalence of preschool children with poor vision ranges from 5 to 10%. If a child doesn’t have regular eye exams for many months and a simple fix can waste even years of a child’s education.

Other eye abnormalities that are important to healthy eye development is also essential to catch early.

Amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, can be improved if detected and treated early. Delay in diagnosis offers a poor prognosis for the child’s eye development. Pediatric eye exams include the detection of many common eye disease that can be treated if detected early.

Children born prematurely are also at a higher risk of developing vision problems. During your child’s visit family history of cataracts, retinoblastoma, and genetic or metabolic disease can be screened to put your child’s health in greatest protection. Parents can also ask questions about their family medical history to clear up any confusion or worry. The American Optometric Association (AOA), American Academy of Optometry (AAO) and American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) all recommend children have their first eye examination between 6 and 18 months of age.”

What should you expect with your child’s eye exam

Kids eye exams are low stress and minimally invasive. The exam typically starts with health history taking. Depending on the age of the child, questions may be directed to the caregiver and child in the room. If the patient is 2 years old or younger visual behavior will be assessed. Older children will have their visual acuity checked with a letter chart.

An ophthalmoscope may be used to see the back of the eye. For younger children, this may be a more uncomfortable exam because of the bright light that is used so depending on the child’s compliance, this exam may be saved for a later age. The ophthalmoscope will be able to check for the blood vessels, optic disk, and other vital structures of the eye. The rest of the eye exam will depend on the reasons for coming to the office.

If eye health is normal, the exam is concluded. If other concerning vision issues are present more screening tests are done. These tests include instrument-based screening, near vision testing, color vision testing, and nystagmus screening. Instrument-based screening is used to identify ocular health risk factors that can lead to early vision loss. Instrument-based testing goes above the scope of the visual acuity exam to check for underlying markers of disease.

Photoscreening and Autorefractors are used to detect potential disease with minimal cooperation from the child. This allows for children as young as 12 months to be screened. Near vision, testing can be used if the child has had a decline in school performance, difficulty reading, eye strain, and headaches. Color vision testing is tested in many ways depending on the age and cooperation of the child.

Mt View EyeCare Promise

Parents often have insight into their child’s health that may not be very apparent to a clinician. It is essential to talk with your doctor and express any questions or concerns that you have. Excellent communication improves health outcomes in patients. Mt View EyeCare is a family operated vision clinic that is dedicated to delivering the best possible eye care to your child and family. The culture of the clinic believes in team-based healthcare, which includes the input of the patient and caregivers. Giving the best healthcare requires the devotion of the patient-physician relationship, which is of utmost importance to Mt View EyeCare.

Dr. Nick sees patients of all ages! The youngest patient he has ever examined was 3 months old. Typically our recommended eye examination schedule for children is 6-12 months of age for the first eye examination, 2-3 years of age for the second, and prior to starting school for the third.

From there on, we recommend annual eye examinations to find and treat eye conditions early! Remember, children often don’t voice they have any problems seeing, since they assume ‘everybody sees this way’. Early detection of visual problems enables your child to perform their best at school and at home.

• Health Net of Oregon (Medical)

• EyeMed (Vision)*

• Spectera (Vision)*

• Davis or BlueView Vision (Vision)*

• Superior (Vision)*