Thank you again to our friends at the OAO Eye See…Eye Learn® program for another helpful article on children’s vision.
By Lisa W. Christian, OD, FCOVD, FAAO
Vision and learning are strongly linked. One in four children has a vision problem and with 80% of early learning being visual, poor vision will impact school performance and healthy development. However, in spite of these facts, statistics show that tens of thousands of children do not have a full eye exam before starting school.
Many children who have a problem seeing don’t always complain to their parents or teachers. Young children don’t know what normal vision is supposed to look like. They don’t have any form of comparison. Often a child will not display any visible signs of a problem that would alert the parent.
For this reason, school boards across Ontario have joined the Eye See…Eye Learn® program to ensure children have the best start in school. Eye See…Eye Learn provides comprehensive eye exams by local Doctors of Optometry to junior kindergarten students. There are no out of pocket costs to participate. The eye exams are covered under OHIP and will identify any eye health or vision problems that your child may have – distance or near focusing abilities, eye coordination problems, colour vision difficulties, and eye disease and disorders. As part of the program, if your child is found to require a pair of glasses, they will receive one complimentary pair.
We encourage all parents to book an eye exam with a Doctor of Optometry, whether or not they think that their child has a vision problem. As always, early detection provides the best chance for effective treatment!
To find participating optometrist, please go to: www.EyeSeeEyeLearn.ca or call 1-888-424-ESEL.
Lisa W. Christian, OD, FCOVD, FAAO
Associate Clinical Professor, University of Waterloo, School of Optometry and Vision Science
OAO Children’s Vision Committee
Check out all of our previous articles from our friends at the OAO: