With An Eye Test For Chilren Some Of The Later Learning Difficulties Can Be Avoided

And yes, children are amazingly adaptable. This, of course, has great benefits for them (and for you), but it sometimes makes it more difficult to identify any vision-related problems they might have. Children do not notice when their vision is slightly impaired, and they do not expect that others will see differently from what they do. They accept the world they see as they experience it, so not even clever, communicative children should be expected to identify their vision-related problems.

It is usually the case that the earlier a vision-related problem is detected, the more quickly and more effectively it can be treated. In young age the vision system is still flexible, learns easily, and therefore almost any problem identified at this early stage can be properly treated.

The first eye test should take place before the child is one year old, and should be repeated around the age of 3. In this way any serious problems can be identified and treated at the earliest opportunity. Squint can be corrected at a young age, as can dim vision – the latter arises most often from an untreated squint, but sometimes from an error of refraction. This also can be prevented. If treatment begins after beginning school, then treatment can be expected to bring somewhat lower results, since, by that stage, any required treatment will have to deal with well-ingrained visual habits. As in the case of dim vision, the eye has in fact never learnt to see properly, and so the brain cannot be easily taught to correctly use the problem-eye at a later stage. In this case visual perception may indeed remain weak throughout a person's entire life and neither will the wearing of glasses improve this dim state of vision. .

At the end of the summer, before starting school or beginning a new school year, it is advisable to have an general eye test: if there is a refraction error that can be detected and the child receives the proper glasses, then it will have an equal chance to start schooling with other children. Pediatric and school doctors might assess the children by making them read Snell charts to check acuity of vision. But this does not replace a general eye examination.

Having good vision does not only mean visual acuity at whatever range is required. It is also important to possess an ability to focus at close range and this requires the cooperation from both eyes, correct operation of the eye muscle and coordination of eye-hand movements. It is well worth the effort to have these mechanisms tested by an eye specialist or pediatric ophthalmologist in order to have any evident problems corrected before starting school.

Possible signs of vision related problems at young age
• the eyes are not properly aligned with each other, the child is cross-eyed
• red or constantly teary eyes; red, swelling and peeling eyelids
• the child is often rubbing the eyes
• the child closes or covers one eye, or the child keeps the head turned/tilted when looking directly at things
• showing difficulty with executing tasks requiring close focusing or doing so in an insecure way, the child is "clumsy"
• holding objects very close to the eye to inspect them or avoiding activities requiring close focusing
• frequent eye blinking, twinkling or looking with crossed eyes, raising an eyebrow
• kids might eventually report vision problems, such as blurred vision or having an indistinct focus of things (however this is very rare at school age!)
• feeling tired and dizzy, having headache or nausea after executing tasks requiring work at close range
• a child who is already well-acquainted with letters encounters difficulty in reading, misses the line or mixes up letters
• school results start to decline without any other apparent reason.

In the case of an ophthalmologist prescribing glasses for the child, it is the task of parents to ensure that the child wears them. Children at school age who have never been wearing glasses before might, at first, consider their eye-glasses ugly and be reluctant to wear them. If possible, child should be allowed to have some chance to choose a the frame for the glasses, and this might help overcome their reluctance. It is also a good to alert children to all the other people in their environment who wear glasses, such as relatives, friends, classmates or even fairy tale heroes!

Attention needs to be given to ensure that the child actually wears the prescribed glasses! Contact lenses for kids are prescribed by the ophthalmologist only in very particular circumstances. Usually children under 18 years have not yet developed adequate responsibility for maintaining the indispensable hygiene rules that preventing serious, even threatening, infections of the eye.

Children with negative vision test results should also be sent for a control examination after every 2 or 3 years. Children wearing glasses, and those with other detected eye problems, should visit the ophthalmologist on advice from the eye specialist, but at least on a yearly basis.

Already at kindergarten, children love to look at children’s books, and they might even become friends with the characters. All will learn to read in the first year of the primary school. Most reading difficulties are not caused by vision related problems - such cases could also be due to dyslexia, attention disorder or other learning difficulties. When children who progress slowly in their efforts to read, or who mix up letters, may be experiencing sight problem. We need to be conscious of these possibilities and ensure that these children have access to a thorough eye-examination.

The article has been tranlated by dr. József Hruby, founder and co-owner of SUPERFECT COMMUNICATIONS - a Budapest-based company specialised in translation, interpreting and language teaching. SUPERFECT has been providing language services to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the past 9 years.