Kid-Friendly Eyecare
At Tarr Eye & Vision Center, our children’s eye examinations have been customized to make them kid-friendly and less like a doctor visit. A visit to the eye doctor should be fun, not scary. Dr. Blake Tarr has young kids and understands that children can be a little apprehensive about visiting a doctor’s office. He is comfortable with kids’ short attention spans and can get a lot of information in a short amount of time.
As parents, we can easily see our child’s physical appearance change as they grow, but we don’t always recognize their eyes are changing as well. Kids grow quickly and healthy vision is crucial to both school and sports performance. In fact, 80% of what a child learns is through their eyes. That’s true whether they are in Pre-school, Elementary, Middle, or High School, and even College.
How to know if your child has a vision issue?
Even though we, as parents, would do anything to help support our child’s vision and eye health, some kids may not be aware they are dealing with a vision issue. You ask them if they are having trouble seeing, and they don’t realize it’s a problem.
If your child is dealing with vision problems, they might show the following indicators:
- Underachieving in school
- Tilting their head while reading
- Squinting while reading
- Covering an eye while reading
- Regularly losing their place while reading
- Poor athletic performance
- Short attention span or hyperactive
- Frequent blinking or eye-rubbing
- Sitting close to the television
- Frequent headaches
- Holding objects or books close to their face
Are school vision screenings enough to detect vision problems?
Don’t assume your child has good vision because they passed a school vision screening. A 20/20 score does not measure any of the other binocular vision skills needed for learning. If any of these or other vision skills are lacking or not functioning properly, your child’s eyes have to work harder and they may fall behind in school.
The American Optometric Association recommends that you bring your baby to an Eye Doctor for their first eye examination at 6 months of age. Dr. Tarr provides thorough eye examinations partnering with local healthcare providers to ensure your child’s eyes are healthy and developing normally.
