The Life-Long Value of Pediatric Eye Exams

Unlike conventional school eye checkups, a pediatric eye exam is quite comprehensive. It involves an expert assessment of your little one’s vision and overall eye health by a pediatric ophthalmologist or optometrist. These eye experts have specialized equipment and advanced training to examine your child’s eyes and vision.

Importance of Pediatric Eye Exams

Your child always needs to use their eyes during playtime or in the classroom. They need to read, write, use a computer, and chalkboard work, among other visual tasks. If your child’s vision has issues, their education and sports participation suffer.

Life-Long Value to Their Education

Your child faces increasing demands in their visual abilities as they progress through their education. As they advance at school, the textbook prints become smaller. Also, the time spent reading increases. 

This gradual upsurge in their workload at school and home places a substantial demand on their eyes and vision. If at this early age their vision is restrictive to their educational demands, their grades might suffer, compromising their future.

Prevention of Permanent Vision Loss

According to eye specialists, your little one should have a comprehensive pediatric eye exam once every year. This is because it is possible to treat and manage eye issues caught at an early stage. Not only can untreated eye issues negatively affect your child’s performance at school, but they can also lead to permanent vision loss in more severe cases.

Effects on Their Long-term Behavioral Traits

At a distance, your child’s behavioral issues may seem to have nothing much to do with their vision. Yet, upon deeper review, experts report that vision occurs in the brain and not the eyes. It is in the brain that vision interacts with emotional and social outcomes. 

Therefore, vision greatly influences learning and behavioral issues. The most common of them are distractibility and hyperactivity. For this reason, you should take your child for an eye exam.

For instance, if you feel that your child has been identified as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by mistake, a pediatric eye exam might prove you right. Untreated or undetected vision issues can result in symptoms like those of ADHD. Early detection and treatment of some vision problems may halt the progression of these mislabeled behavioral problems.

Enhanced Quality of Life

Frequent pediatric eye exams for your little one enhance their quality of life. Healthy eyes and vision ensure that there are no compromises on your child’s school performance, social life, and safety. Pediatric eye exams give your child essential visual skills that will be valuable in their future endeavors. Such skills include:
 

• Accurate eye teaming skills.
   

• Improved ability to learn.
   

• Perfect acuity at all distances.
   

• Precise eye movement skills.

A comprehensive pediatric eye exam is important not only for your child’s vision but also for their overall quality of life. 

For more on pediatric eye exams, visit Electric City Eye Care at our office in Anderson, South Carolina. You can call (864) 224-2088 today to schedule an appointment.