Pre-schoolers' Vision
School-age Children's Vision

Infants' Vision
Your baby has a whole lifetime to see and learn. But, did you know your baby also has to learn to see? As a parent, there are many things that you can do to help your baby's vision develop. First, proper prenatal care and nutrition can help your baby's eyes develop even before birth. At birth, your baby's eyes should be examined for signs of congenital eye problems. These are rare, but early diagnosis and treatment are important to your child's development.

At about age six months, you should take your baby to your doctor of optometry for his or her first thorough eye examination. Things that the optometrist will test for include excessive or unequal amounts of nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism and eye movement ability as well as eye health problems. These problems are not common, but it is important to identify children who have them at this stage. Vision development and eye health problems can be more easily corrected if treatment is begun early.

Unless you notice a need, or your doctor of optometry advises you otherwise, your child's next examination should be around age three, and then again before he or she enters school.

Between birth and age three, when many of your baby's vision skills will develop, there are ways that you can help.

During the first four months of life, your baby should begin to follow moving objects with the eyes and reach for things, first by chance and later more accurately, as hand-eye coordination and depth perception begin to develop.

To help, use a nightlight or other dim lamp in your baby's room; change the crib's position frequently and your child's position in it; keep reach-and-touch toys within your baby's focus, about eight to twelve inches; talk to your baby as you walk around the room; alternate right and left sides with each feeding; hang a mobile above and outside the crib.

Between four and eight months, your baby should begin to turn from side to side and use his or her arms and legs. Eye movement and eye/body coordination skills should develop further and both eyes should focus equally.

You should enable your baby to explore different shapes and textures with his or her fingers; give your baby the freedom to crawl and explore; hang objects across the crib; play "patty cake" and "peek-a-boo" with your baby.

From eight to twelve months, your baby should be mobile now, crawling and pulling himself or herself up. He or she will begin to use both eyes together and judge distances and grasp and throw objects with greater precision. To support development don't encourage early walking - crawling is important in developing eye/hand/foot/body coordination; give your baby stacking and take-apart toys; and provide objects your baby can touch, hold and see at the same time.

From one to two years, your child's eye/hand coordination and depth perception will continue to develop and he or she will begin to understand abstract terms. Things you can do are encourage walking; provide building blocks, simple puzzles and balls; provide opportunities to climb and explore indoors and out.

There are many other affectionate and loving ways in which you can aid your baby's vision development. Use your creativity and imagination. Ask your doctor of optometry to suggest other specific activities.
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Pre-schoolers' Vision
During the infant and toddler years, your child has been developing many vision skills and has been learning how to see. In the preschool years, this process continues, as your child develops visually guided eye/hand/body coordination, fine motor skills and the visual motor skills necessary to learn to read.

As a parent, you should watch for signs that may indicate a vision development problem, including a short attention span for the child's age; difficulty with eye/hand/body coordination in ball play and bike riding; avoidance of coloring and puzzles and other detailed activities.

There are everyday things that you can do at home to help your preschooler's vision develop as it should. Read aloud to your child and let him or her see what you're reading; provide a chalkboard, finger paints and different shaped blocks and show your child how to use them in imaginative play; provide safe opportunities to use playground equipment like a jungle gym and balance beam; allow time for interacting with other children and for playing independently.

By age three, your child should have a thorough optometric eye examination to make sure your preschooler's vision is developing properly and there is no evidence of eye disease. If needed, your doctor can prescribe treatment including glasses and/or vision therapy to correct a vision development problem.

Here are several tips to make your child's optometric examination a positive experience: 1) Make an appointment early in the day. Allow about one hour. 2) Talk about the examination in advance and encourage your child's questions. 3) Explain the examination in your child's terms, comparing the E chart to a puzzle and the instruments to tiny flashlights and a kaleidoscope.

Unless your doctor of optometry advises otherwise, your child's next eye examination should be at age five. By comparing test results of the two examinations, your optometrist can tell how well your child's vision is developing.
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School-age Children's Vision
A good education for your child means good schools, good teachers and good vision. Your child's eyes are constantly in use in the classroom and at play. So when his or her vision is not functioning properly, learning and participation in recreational activities will suffer.

The basic vision skills needed for school use are:

Near vision: Ability to see clearly and comfortably at 10 to 13 inches

Distance vision: Ability to see clearly and comfortably beyond arm's reach

Binocular coordination: Ability to use both eyes together

Eye movement skills: Ability to aim the eyes accurately, move them smoothly across a page and shift them quickly and accurately from one object to another

Focusing skills: Ability to keep both eyes accurately focused at the proper distance to see clearly and to change focus quickly

Peripheral awareness: Ability to be aware of things located to the side while looking straight ahead

Hand/eye coordination: Ability to use the eyes and hands together.

If any of these or other vision skills is lacking or not functioning properly, your child will have to work harder. This can lead to headaches, fatigue and other eyestrain problems. As a parent, be alert for symptoms that may indicate your child has a vision or visual processing problem.

Tell your optometrist if your child frequently:
• Loses their place while reading
• Avoids close work
• Holds reading material closer than normal
• Tends to rub their eyes
• Has headaches
• Turns or tilts head to use one eye only
• Makes frequent reversals when reading or writing
• Uses finger to maintain place when reading
• Omits or confuses small words when reading
• Consistently performs below potential