Gear Up for Success: Back-to-School Eye Exams at City Eyecare
The Importance of Back-to-School Eye Exams
As summer draws to a close and the back-to-school season approaches, parents are busy preparing their children for the upcoming academic year. From purchasing school supplies to updating wardrobes, there's a lot to get done. However, one crucial item that often gets overlooked is scheduling an eye exam. According to the American Optometric Association, 1 in 4 children have a vision problem that affects their ability to learn. Ensuring your child has a comprehensive eye exam can make a significant difference in their educational journey and overall development.
Why Back-to-School Eye Exams are Crucial
Healthy vision is strongly correlated with success in the classroom and beyond. Vision issues can affect nearly every aspect of a child’s life, from academics and athletics to social interactions and self-esteem. Unfortunately, many vision disorders go undetected without a comprehensive eye exam from an optometrist. Misdiagnosed vision problems can be mistaken for ADHD, dyslexia, learning disabilities, or behavioral issues, leading to long-term consequences in education, employment, and social interactions.
Essential Vision Skills for School Success
Vision is not just about seeing clearly; it encompasses several skills necessary for effective learning:
Visual acuity: Clear vision at various distances for reading, writing, and using a computer.
Eye focusing: Maintaining clear vision as the distance from objects changes.
Eye tracking: Keeping the eyes on target when moving from one object to another.
Eye teaming: Coordinating both eyes to judge distances and see depth.
Eye-hand coordination: Using visual information to guide hand movements.
Visual perception: Organizing images into letters, words, and ideas and understanding what is read.
If any of these skills are lacking, a child may struggle academically and socially, experiencing headaches, eyestrain, and fatigue. Signs of vision problems include frequent eye rubbing, short attention spans, avoiding close activities, frequent headaches, covering one eye, and difficulty remembering what they read.
Schedule an Eye Exam Today
Vision changes frequently during school years, so children should receive an eye exam annually or as recommended by an optometrist. School screenings are not comprehensive and may miss significant issues. A thorough eye exam can detect problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and more complex vision skills essential for learning.
Ensure your child starts the school year with the best possible vision. Schedule an in-person, comprehensive eye exam with City Eyecare as part of your back-to-school routine.
