End of Year School Eye Exams

Do you hate crowds?  If so, you may want to handle as many before school duties at the end of the school year, instead of the beginning. One task to clear up is your child’s annual eye exam.

Nearly 8 percent of what your children learn at school is acquired visually.  Hence, if your child has a problem seeing it could negatively effect their ability to learn. Additionally, eye exams help doctors to identify a number of health conditions before they become serious. It is always recommended that children undergo an eye exam every year.

Has your child had their eyes checked this year? If not, be sure to schedule an appointment. At Plaza Vision Optometry, we offer comprehensive eye exams for children and teens. Please be aware that there are considerable differences between basic eye screening (typically performed at schools) and eye exams conducted by a trained eye doctor (optometrist). Read below to see the difference.

Eye Exams vs. Vision Screenings

Many schools offer a vision screening test for their students. So why do eye doctors insist that you bring your children to them? The main reason is related to the limitations of vision screenings.  Vision screenings only test how clearly one can see from a standard distance. While this is important, other vital information is not covered by this screening. For instance, information such as how the eyes work in unison, how healthy are the eyes and the accuracy of depth perception.  Put simply, the vision screening test and the individuals conducting the screening do not have the equipment, experience, or knowledge to perform a detailed eye exam (we’ll discuss the ramifications of this in a later blog post).

Conversely, optometrist eye exams are specifically designed to acquire a fuller picture of how your children’s eyes are working.  These exams can furnish results about:

• Color vision accuracy
• Eye health
• Astigmatisms, farsightedness, and nearsightedness
• Eye focusing, peripheral vision, and eye teaming

In short, professional eye exams effectively identify vision problems that can directly correlate to your child’s learning experience.