Children's Vision

Did You Know?

Approximately 25% of school-aged children have vision problems that may affect learning.
In the first 12 years, 80% of all learning takes place visually.
Vision problems can affect comprehension, performance in reading, writing and concentration.
Visual impairment can significantly handicap a child's intellectual and emotional growth, as well as social development.
Vision problems may inhibit children's ability to learn and ultimately affect the rest of their lives.
Treatment for visual development or eye health problems is most effective when introduced at the earliest stages.
Children themselves may not be aware that they cannot see as well as others, or may not be able to articulate their vision difficulties.
A child with undetected vision problems may get frustrated and sometimes act out in school.
According to one study, approximately 60% of students identified as problem learners have undetected vision problems.
Many children with vision problems have been misdiagnosed as having a learning disorder or behavior problems.

When should kids have their eyes examined?

According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), infants should have their first comprehensive eye exam at 6 months of age. Children then should receive additional eye exams at 3 years of age, and just before they enter kindergarten or the first grade at about age 5 or 6. We recommend eye exams every two years if no correction is required. Children who need eyeglasses should be examined annually.

Are vision screenings the same as eye examinations?

No. Simple screenings identify only a small portion of the vision problems and may give parents a false sense of security. When the vision screening report indicates that a child sees 20/20, parents often assume that "all is well" an no further testing is needed. Comprehensive eye examinations are critical for diagnosing and treating eye and vision problems that can lead to poor classroom performance and even vision loss.

Common eye and vision problems that affect children:

Refractive errors (nearfarsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism): Farsightedness is especially common in young children and often contributes to eyestrain and headaches when doing near work. Often, those with significant amounts of farsightedness simply avoid close work.

Amblyopia: Also commonly called "lazy eye," this is decreased vision in one or both eyes despite the absence of any eye health problem or damage.

Strabismus: This is misalignment of the eyes. Left untreated, strabismus can cause amblyopia (even potential blindness) in the misaligned eye.

Convergence insufficiency: This is the inability to keep the eye comfortably aligned for reading and other near tasks.

Focusing Problems: Children with focusing problems may have trouble changing focus from distance to near and back again or have problems maintaining adequate focus for reading.

Eye teaming problems: Deficiencies in eye teaming skills can cause problems with depth perception and coordination.