As a parent, you need to remember that your child‘s visual development affects development and growth in other areas. With such importance on children‘s eye care, all of our optometrists are experienced in the testing of children and understand the issues surrounding a child who first requires glasses or contact lenses.
Children can be tested at any age and an eye test is lots of fun. It is recommended that a child has a full eye examination before they start school and start learning to read. Often, vision problems can be the reason a child does not perform well at school, for example because they cannot see the board. The earlier a problem is detected the more chance there is of successful treatment. Children‘s eyes are fully developed by the time they are 8 years old so it is very important to have any problems detected before this.
1 in 5 children have an undetected eye problem, which can be easily found by us during an eye test. This is equivalent to 1 million children going back to school with an undiagnosed eye problem.
Regular Free Eye tests
Only a few schools will provide eye tests for children, and even these checks will not be a full eye examination. Distance vision is normally checked but this will not detect all levels of long-sight. Short sight and large squints may be detected, but the school checks are not usually carried out by an eye care professional or fully qualified optician.
For a full eye examination you should bring your child to the specialist opticians at Specs of Kensington. If left undetected for too long, some sight defects cannot be corrected, but if detected early enough Specs of Kensington’s advanced optometry team can ensure children‘s eye problems have a minimum impact on their lives.
Regular eye tests are very important for children‘s eye care and development; the good news is that for children under the age of 16 or under 19 and in full time education it is totally free through the NHS.
For more on children‘s Vision and Learning click here