At Eyecare Plus Corrimal, we provide detailed eye tests to rule out conditions that may affect your child’s reading and academic performance. Below is a list of conditions that we routinely watch out for with every eye exam for kids:
Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)
When visual development stops in one eye due to blur or an eye turn. This can force the good eye to work extra hard and cause permanent visual problems. Amblyopia can rarely affect both eyes.
Short-sightedness (Myopia)
Blurry distance vision, making it hard to see the smartboard.
Long-sightedness (Hyperopia)
Mild or moderate cases can cause difficulties concentrating with reading. Severe cases can cause blurry vision up close.
Convergence Insufficiency
When both eyes fail to pull in enough to read without eyestrain.
Other Issues
Many other vision problems can affect the eyesight of children. These include binocular vision issues such as accommodative insufficiency, and other eye conditions such as keratoconus.
Note on children with ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Learning/Behavioural Disorders
Children with learning and behavioural disorders are at a higher risk of also having vision problems [1] – for example, patients with attention-deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) are 3x more likely to have convergence insufficiency than the general population [2].
Therefore a full eye exam is highly recommended to rule out any visual problems that can worsen the symptoms that these children suffer.
References:
[1] Rafique SA, Northway N. Relationship of ocular accommodation and motor skills performance in developmental coordination disorder. Human movement science. 2015 Aug 31;42:1-4.
[2] Granet DB, Gomi CF, Ventura R, Miller-Scholte A. The relationship between convergence insufficiency and ADHD. Strabismus. 2005 Jan 1;13(4):163-8.