Sharpen Visual Skills to Get Ready for the New School Year
As you make a list of all that you need to do to prepare your child for the upcoming school year, remember to add “eye exams”! Without excellent visual skills, your child will not be able to manage the hours of intense close-up work needed for classroom work. As a result, your child may fall behind in school. Why wait for this to happen? Book a back-to-school eye exam before your kid needs to hit the books!
Our Copperas Cove eye doctor, Dr. Micheline Young, encourages all parents to recognize the essential role visual skills play in learning. We are located conveniently to serve Killeen, TX, and all surrounding neighborhoods and invite you to beat the back-to-school rush – call to schedule a pediatric eye exam before the end of summer vacation.
Is school vision testing enough to ensure that my child has sharp vision?
Parents often ask us why they need to visit our Copperas Cove eye care center for a comprehensive eye exam when the school nurse performs vision screening every year. The answer is as basic as the ABC’s – common school vision testing does not detect the full range of vision problems that interfere with reading and writing.
In general, visual acuity testing done in elementary school focuses on diagnosing myopia (nearsightedness), which is the most common vision condition in kids. Your child will be asked to read a standard eye chart posted at a specific distance away, one eye at a time. As long as the student has 20/20 (or close to it) distance vision, he or she will pass this test. However, there could still be a functional vision problem, such as with focusing, convergence, tracking, or visual processing. When we perform a thorough back-to-school eye exam in our advanced Copperas Cove clinic, we inspect for all of these conditions.
What are the warning signs of a vision-related learning problem?
A variety of visual skills is necessary for kids to master reading, writing, math, and coordinated performance on the sports field. Often, a child who is struggling with schoolwork or classroom behavior is misdiagnosed with a learning disorder, when really vision is to blame. How can you tell if your child has a vision-related learning problem? All of the following behaviors are possible red flags:
- Inability to recall what was just read
- Skipping or re-reading lines
- Taking excessive amounts of time to do homework
- Headaches in school
- Eye rubbing
- Reversing letters or words, or substituting words with similar words
- Avoidance of reading
- Disruptive behavior in the classroom
How does a kids’ eye doctor treat these vision conditions?
When eyeglasses or contact lenses cannot effectively resolve a pediatric vision condition, our Copperas Cove eye doctor may recommend vision therapy. Vision therapy involves working with your child by implementing a series of custom-designed exercises to strengthen visual skills.
If your child has a lazy eye, we may also prescribe an eye patch or specialized eyeglasses to reinforce the weaker eye. Vision therapy is highly successful at helping kids of all ages to overcome many different ocular obstacles that interfere with learning. Note that the sooner treatment begins, the more efficient it is – which highlights the need for back-to-school eye exams.
Don’t wait for the school bell to ring! Beat the end of summer rush and call now to reserve an appointment in Copperas Cove; we are pleased to serve families from Killeen and all surrounding communities.
