Children's Eye Exams

Early detection of various eye conditions is crucial to the development of normal vision. It is important to know if there is any history of pre-maturity, delayed motor development, frequent blinking or rubbing of the eyes, any eye turn, family history of eye disease, inability to track objects or maintain eye contact, or any other abnormalities.

According to American Optometric Association (AOA) guidelines, vision exams are recommended at 6 months old, 3 years old, then subsequently every year 1-2 years while the child is school aged. A child’s examination is similar to that of an adult, yet will emphasize various developmental skills such as eye teaming, eye focusing, and eye tracking. A cycloplegic dilated eye exam will be performed to gather the appropriate data needed to finalize a prescription, and check the health of the eye.

Common Eye Conditions Related to Children:

• Refractive Error: Near sighted (myopia), Far sighted (hyperopia), Astigmatism – corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

• Amblyopia: (‘lazy eye’ – decreased vision in one eye): Most commonly secondary to an eye turn, or uncorrected refractive error. Corrected by treating the underlying cause, and may include eye patching and vision therapy exercises to strengthen the weaker eye.

• Strabismus (eye turn) – Esotropia (eye turned in), Exotropia (eye turned out) – may be corrected by using glasses and/or patching of the eye with therapy and/or surgery.

• Binocular Problems – Accommodative Insufficiency or Excess or Accommodative Spasm (focusing problems) , Convergence Insuffiency or Excess (eye crossing problems), Binocular Instability or Oculomotor Dysfunction (eye teaming problems)– may be corrected by a careful glasses prescription and/or vision therapy