Children rarely complain to adults about difficulties with their vision, so routine checks are important. Ideally, the first check should be in kindergarten. At Ashburton Eyecare, we explore what matters to your child.
- Clear vision – achieving good focus
- Myopia control – making children less short-sighted
- Reliable vision – visual efficiency
- Visual processing – making sense of the data
- Vision training – strengthening eye co-ordination
- Learning to read & write
Eye Tests For Children
Reliable vision is of paramount importance to children. Regular eye exams will make sure your children are seeing clearly. They will also allow us to identify signs of early disease.
Book a children’s eye test at Ashburton Eyecare today.
Your child deserves clear vision. It’s basic to how a child operates in order to learn at school and in life. Often, it’s as simple as providing glasses or contact lenses to remedy blurry vision.
There are many proven methods to reduce the rate of progression of myopia in children. At Ashburton Eyecare, we typically recommend Atropine low dose pharmaceutically prepared compounded topical eye drops.
This is a revolutionary new treatment that can literally reduce myopia progression in a child by more than half. In our experience, it’s the most convenient, effective and the least expensive method.
Other methods include:
- Multifocal soft contact lenses
- Multifocal glasses
- Ortho-keratology
- Peripheral defocus glasses
- Executive Bifocals
Many school-age children have a reduction in visual efficiency – the ability to maintain clear, stable and comfortable vision. This affects their schooling and can lead to disengagement if not detected in time.
Typical symptoms a child may express could be:
- Headaches
- Tired eyes
- Inability to concentrate
- Excessive blinking
- Variable vision
- Watery or sore eyes
At Ashburton Eyecare, we deliver full binocular vision workups where appropriate to detect any anomalies that may interfere with reliable, sustainable vision. These consultations will typically be in addition to the standard eye examination.
It is possible for a child to have clear vision and good eye co-ordination, but not be able to use the visual data effectively in school or other tasks.
Visual Information Processing (VIP) is a measure of how effectively visual data is processed in the child’s brain. Accurate information interpretation is the final step a child needs to get the best out of their sight.
At Ashburton Eyecare, we provide comprehensive VIP examinations, or screening if appropriate. If an issue is found, appropriate help can be provided. Where needed, we can provide reports to aid teachers or other health professionals who may be involved in the care of your child.
If your child has reduced visual efficiency or eye co-ordination, it is often possible to strengthen eye muscles using very specific exercises which allow your child to train themselves out of the problem. Exercises are recommended based on their value for each different condition.
Ashburton Eyecare can recommend different binocular eye training packages tailored to the needs of your child. Many parents prefer vision training as an adjunct to glasses.
Most children will spend the early years of primary school learning to read and write. They will then spend the rest of their school and working lives using those skills to learn about the world around them.
First we learn to read, then we read to learn.
To make this basic transition, your child needs their visual system to be working in top shape. Reading is a complex endeavour and requires many things to work together: clear vision, good visual efficiency and good visual information processing.
