Many parents think it’s not necessary to take their children to the eye doctor because “school takes care of that” or “he/she isn’t complaining of any problems seeing”.  Unfortunately, that is not always true.  School screenings are just that… a quick way to at least make sure the distance vision is at an acceptable level.  This doesn’t, however, fully evaluate the way our eyes work together and focus on reading material.  To make things tougher, children simply do not know how to communicate when something isn’t perfect… either because they don’t know the difference, or because they don’t know how to explain it.

Sadly, 1 in 4 children in the United States have an undetected vision problem that can interfere with learning, some of which can even lead to behavioral problems.  During a comprehensive eye exam, the overall health and function of your child’s eyes will be thoroughly evaluated.  Fortunately, many issues can be easily corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, and/or vision therapy.  Remember vision problems can affect sports performance too, like eye-hand coordination, depth perception, and tracking abilities.

So, in addition to clothes shopping, immunizations and physicals, and stocking up on supplies, put a trip to the eye doctor at the top of the “to-do list”.  We can ensure their vision and eye health is in tip-top shape every year!