Back to School

Put your child’s eye exam on your back to school list!

Visit us at Pink Sidhu and associates.

It’s vital that the back to school checklist includes an eye examination. One in four school-aged children has a vision problem. Yet more than 80% have begun school without a proper eye exam. Many times a child is screened at school by layman folks for a vision screening. The “Passed “ mistakingly gives the false sense of security that the child’s vision and health are normal.

At times, we hear that the pediatrician or physical at a doctors office “ tested” the child’s eyes and indicated that the eyes and vision are healthy. However, you must recognize that this screening is not a comprehensive eye examination. Making it even more difficult is that children most often don’t complain about vision symptoms, even though there might be a serious problem such as a lazy eye. The reason for this is because children haven’t developed the awareness to identify what normal vision is and what it looks like.

Unfortunately, parents, with their busy lives, rely on their child to reach out to them about symptoms and problems and then follow up accordingly. It’s important to not fall into this trap. Children are incredibly adaptable and can mask their problems and not even be aware of it. Humans are built to adapt. Early childhood is a sensitive and critical time period for visual development. Missed, or overlooking eye conditions can have detrimental effects ok your child’s vision and visual functioning. A very common scenario is a lazy eye or refractive amblyopia in one of the two eyes. A child easily compensates with the good eye and picks up the slack for what the “bad eye “ isn’t doing. As a result, he/she carries on with his/ her daily activities without any symptoms or suggestions of any eye problems.

The on-looker/ ( often parents or teachers) won’t recognize an issue because at school that child’s performance or mobility in sports etc isn’t hindered. When enough time passes without intervention, the brain prefers one eye and binocular vision and other vision function skills never build up to their best potential. At times, it’s a permanent “ bad or blind eye “.The only way to know with certainty if your child has healthy vision is to have a comprehensive eye exam by an Optometrist. At Pink Sidhu and associates, we are welcoming your family and children for all your eye care needs.