Pediatric Optometry

Pediatric optometry — what is it, and does your child need it for proper vision and eye development? First of all, why pediatric optometry? Aren't all optometrists qualified to care for the eyes of both children and adults?

In fact, working with children to ascertain vision problems and, later, to correct them requires a special skill set. You would take your child to a pediatric or “family” medical doctor for similar reasons.

 

Simply put, children can’t communicate the way that adults can. Some may not even be able to speak at the time of their first optometry appointment. Nor do they have the vast experience that adults have compiled over a lifetime of observation and discussion.

 

As far as you child knows, everyone sees the world the way he or she does. Your child has grown up compensating for any vision differences.

 

Often, children with vision problems, upon entering school, are labeled as lazy, learning-disabled, or as possessing ADD-HD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). However, it is simply very difficult to focus on reading when all the words on the page blur together.

 

A pediatric optometrist is familiar with the kinds of issues that can arise from vision problems in the young, and can help you to ensure that your child gets the care he or she needs. The optometrist has experience in working with you to obtain children’s compliance during exams, and in finding problems that your child is too young to express. These are just a few of the reasons that it’s important to find an experienced pediatric optometrist with whom to entrust your child’s eyesight.

 

A optometrist attends graduate school in order to study optics and vision. Their studies make them uniquely qualified to diagnose vision problems and eye disease, as well as to prescribe glasses or, in some cases, perform visual therapy.

 

An optometrist is not the same as an ophthalmologist. Ophthalmologists’ studies focus upon surgery, in place of optics.

 

An optometrist can test color vision and depth perception, as well as visual acuity. They can also diagnose problems such as glaucoma and cataracts (which can be found in the pediatric population, unfortunately), and provide pre- and post- surgical care.

 

Strabismus, also called “crossed” or “wandering” eye, is a common problem in young children in which the eyes move independently of each other. A child with this problem cannot experience three-dimensional vision until the problem is resolved.

 

With two separate images being sent to the brain, the brain, in essence, turns off one of the eyes, so that the child will only see out of one eye. If left untreated, strabismus can progress to amblyopia, or lazy eye, in which the child can’t see as well out of one eye as in the other.

 

Pediatric optometry specializes in solving this type of problem.

 

Remember, your child may not know that her vision is different from everyone else’s, and she may not yet be able to communicate any problems that she may be experiencing. At school, the vision-impaired may be mislabeled as dyslexic or learning disabled. So, be aware.