Children’s Eye Test
Children’s Eye Test
Taking care of your child’s eyesight is as important as anything else. And although serious vision problems in childhood are rare, routine eye checks won’t hurt anyone and definitely will help identify any problem early enough to treat it.
Eye checks are important because the sooner any problem is detected, the sooner you and your child will be able to get any treatment and support needed. Also, children are too young to know by themselves if they have, indeed, a vision problem so, without routine tests, there’s a risk a problem may not be spotted and consequently not treated. Which may cause a negative impact on their development and education later.
CHILDREN’S EYE TEST: APPOINTMENTS
Once your child is 4 or 5 years old, he or she should have a children’s eye test check. This will happen soon after they start school and it’s called “vision screening”. This means they will have a check for reduced vision in one or both eyes. The aim is to detect any problems early so that treatment can be given if needed.
The vision screening is usually carried out in your child’s school. However, this doesn’t happen in all areas and if your child’s vision is not checked at school, you should take them to your local opticians for an eye examination.
After that, school-aged children should have an eye exam at least every two years if no vision correction is required. Children who need eyeglasses or contact lenses should be examined annually or as recommended by their eye doctor.
When you’re at the children’s eye test appointment, don’t forget to mention if your child has:
A history of prematurity,
Delayed motor development,
Frequent eye rubbing,
Excessive blinking,
Failure to maintain eye contact,
Poor eye tracking skills,
Failed a vision screening at school or at a visit to his or her paediatrician,
Previous eye problems and treatments.
CHILDREN’S EYE TEST TYPES
Some common children’s eye tests used specifically for young children who can’t read yet include:
Children’s eye test: LEA symbols for young children are similar to regular eye tests using charts with letters, except that special symbols in these tests include an apple, house, square and circle.
Children’s eye test: Retinoscopy is a test that involves shining a light into the to observe the reflection from the back of the eye (retina). This test helps determine if your child has any clouding of the lens of the eye (congenital cataract) or significant refractive error.
Children’s eye test: Random dot stereopsis testing uses special patterns of dots and 3-D glasses to measure how well your child's eyes work together as a team.
In general, the children’s eye test is carried out by:
Children’s eye test: Snellen and LogMAR charts
When your child can recognise or match letters, their vision is tested using charts that have rows of letters and numbers of decreasing sizes. Your child will be asked to read out or match the letters they can see from a specific distance. These charts are called Snellen or LogMAR charts.
Children’s eye test: Range of movement tests
To test the range of movement of each eye, a child's attention will be drawn to an interesting object, which is then moved to 8 different positions: up, down, left, right, and halfway between each of these points. This tests how well the eye muscles work.
Children’s eye test: Refraction test
A refraction test is carried out by an optometrist at a high-street optician and is used to check if your child needs glasses and, if so, what prescription they need. Before the test, your child may be given special eye drops that widen their pupils so the back of their eyes can be examined more clearly. Your child will be asked to look at a light, or read letters on a chart if they're old enough, while different lenses are placed in front of their eyes.
Colour vision deficiency test
Colour vision deficiency tests, also known as colour blindness tests, are usually carried out in older children if a problem is suspected. One of the tests used to check for colour blindness is the Ishihara test. This involves looking at images made up of dots in 2 different colours. If a child's colour vision is normal, they'll be able to recognise a letter or number within the image. A child who can't tell the difference between 2 colours won't be able to see the number or letter, which means they may have a colour vision problem.
HOW TO SPOT SIGNS OF AN EYE PROBLEM
The eyes not pointing in the same direction,
Complaining of headaches or eye strain,
Problems reading, for example, they may need to hold books close to their face and they may lose their place regularly,
Problems with hand-eye coordination, for example, they may struggle to play ball games,
Being unusually clumsy,
Regularly rubbing their eyes,
Sitting too close to the TV.
CAUSES OF EYE PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN
There are several different eye problems that can be detected during eye tests, including:
Childhood cataracts – cloudy patches in the lens of the eye that are present from birth,
Lazy eye (amblyopia) – where the vision in one eye does not develop properly. In other words, a lazy eye means a decreased vision in one or both eyes without detectable anatomic damage. Unfortunately, amblyopia is not always correctable with eyeglasses or contact lenses and may require eye patching to strengthen the weaker eye.
Misalignment of eyes (strabismus) – where the eyes look in different directions. Strabismus can have different causes, such as problems with muscle control in the affected eye or eyes. Strabismus is a common cause of amblyopia and should be treated early in childhood so vision and eye teaming skills can develop normally.
Short-sightedness (myopia) – where distant objects appear blurred, while close objects can be seen clearly.
Long-sightedness (hyperopia) – where you can see distant objects clearly, but nearby objects are out of focus.
Astigmatism – where the transparent layer at the front of the eye (cornea) is not perfectly curved.
Colour Vision Deficiency (colour blindness) – difficulty seeing colours or distinguishing between different colours; this is more common in boys than girls.
