Children's Optometrists, Eye Care for children and babies
Optometrists for children
Eye care in children and babies
From the moment your child is born he is learning and developing rapidly. Much of the information about his new world is received through his eyes, so eye health is of paramount importance from the earliest age.
Welsh Assembly Guidelines:
“To ensure that your child’s visual system develops properly, take them to an optometrist for a full vision check when they are 3 years old or before they start nursery. Regular eye examinations from the age of 3 years will ensure that many problems can be detected and corrected at the earliest possible time and help your child’s vision develop properly.”
But vision screening in children is not enough
Your health visitor will carry out a simple vision check and squint test at six weeks and eight months. However, this valuable service will only detect the more obvious problems. School vision screening, where it is still available, is also a simple screening procedure, designed to detect only gross abnormalities, such as large differences in vision in each eye, obvious squints or reduced vision.
Whilst these services detect and refer a large number of children for further tests, many will pass these checks but still be at risk of poor vision, squints or visual disabilities which can have a devastating effect on learning ability. This sounds a little melodramatic but it must be understood that the eye is a very complex organ, and good vision is not limited to the focusing of a clear picture on the retina situated at the back of the eye. Distance sight alone is not, therefore, an adequate measure of overall visual performance and all children should have regular eye examinations throughout their life.
or click to read about how Behavioural Optometry can help with vision problems.
For teachers and parents - download a free factsheet on how Bahevioural Optometry can help with vision.
The Eye Examination
Although a baby cannot speak it is possible to measure their vision by watching their eye movements in response to patterns of light. From six months old it is possible to test their vision, stereo acuity or depth perception, convergence ability, ease of eye movement, presence of squint, of prescription, pupil responses to light and the health of the eye. From 18 months picture recognition cards are used to measure vision and a more refined examination is possible. From two and a half years shape recognition and matching gives a vision assessment that more closely resembles adult tests, and by three and a half years many children can copy letters from the adult charts. As speech and understanding increase the tests become more refined and further information is obtained about the competence of their visual performance. Regular eye examinations are essential as many eye problems are not present at birth but develop latter with growth and increasing workload on the eyes. Never be afraid to mention anything that is worrying you about your child’s eyes or to ask your optician to explain what they are testing for.
Free under the National Health Service NHS
The eye examination is free under the National Health Service for every child aged 16 and under, or under 19 and still in full time education. Usually it will show that your child’s eyes are healthy and normal and your optician will send you regular yearly reminders for future eye examinations. Should your child require glasses, they would be entitled to a National Health Service voucher towards the cost.
NHS vouchers also help towards the cost of repair or replacement due to breakage or scratched lenses.
Formerly known as “Children's opticians" this is one of the first opticians' practices in the country designed specifically with children in mind. We have a large playroom and videos, mother and baby room and a particularly large selection of children’s frames to fit all pockets. Our aim is to encourage parents to bring their babies and children for regular eye examinations by providing a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere for all the family.