We're about to lay some education on the parents of school-age children. Those annual school-provided vision screenings that you rely on to tell you all about your child's eye health? They're simply not good enough. Not if you need them to tell you everything you need to know about potential eye problems and vision issues. Which is why the start of every school year is a great reminder to schedule a more comprehensive eye exam with your local eye doctor.
Basically, during a school vision test, the main objective is to check your child's distance vision. With a chart set at about 20 feet away, each child will be asked to read certain lines on the chart. But that's pretty much it. More comprehensive tests may include color vision in younger children but near vision is rarely tested.
Unfortunately, these basic tests overlook a variety of other health health components too. It is estimated by many experts that as many as 20 percent of school-age children suffer from vision problems that aren't going to be discovered by a school screening. Though they may pass the 20/20 test, they may not be able to read a book at close range. School vision tests will miss those problems entirely.
Another fairly common eye disorder that is missed by these screenings is "binocular vision dysfunction". This disorder is commonly referred to as clumsy eye and causes problems with eye coordination. Lazy eye has also been invariably overlooked during annual eye tests performed at school.
Annual eye exams performed by your local eye doctor is a must as children's eyes and vision change quickly and developing issues can cause a variety of learning problems. So, take a lesson and schedule each of your children a comprehensive eye exam to see the next year in the best light possible.