Time for an eye test

Books? Check. Uniform? Check. Eye test? Booking your child for an eye test at the start of the scholastic year may mean a lot to your child and his or her personal development. An estimated one in five kids have some sort of visual issue – however, in many instances, they do not readily complain about it but learn to adapt instead.

Many people would agree that sight is one of our most prized senses. We therefore need to give it the importance it deserves by devoting not more than 30 minutes to a thorough eye test. The start of school means our attention is focused on those children and teenagers who are going to be spending many hours reading books and text off white boards.

Considering that most of what is learnt at school is presented to the pupils visually, then it should be our responsibility to make sure that their eyesight is not affecting their academic performance.

What an eye care professional also makes sure of is whether your child’s eyes are in their normal stage of development, and whether both eyes are developing at the same rate. If, for a multitude of conditions, one eye is not working as hard as the other, the brain may start to ignore it and give preference to the harder working eye – hence a lazy eye develops. This condition is known as amblyopia and may have an effect on career choices in the future – this is why early detection of this condition means that treatment is more likely to be successful. A child with a sibling or parent that has a lazy eye or squint is slightly more at risk of needing spectacles – hence this also warrants an eye test.

During an eye test, your child is not only examined for specs but a health assessment is carried out as well, to see whether certain tissues such as the retina are in good trim.

It is recommended that your child’s eyes are screened at regular intervals.

Signs that may confirm your child needs an eye test

• Sitting too close to TV

• Regularly screwing eyes to bring image in focus

• Struggling to see the white board at school or sitting in the front row of the class just for this reason

• Regular headaches, especially when reading

• Reading a bookby keeping it very close to the eyes

• Complaints about blurry or fuzzy vision

Information provided by Jerome Gabarretta BSc MC Optom (Hons) (Bradford), resident optometrist at Optika Sun & See, St Julians and Specs, Saqqajja Hill, Rabat.