When most of us think of vision issues, we think of the obvious: clear difficulty seeing either near or far objects. However, there is no shortage of vision issues that are much less obvious, and which can be present even if your child passes their in-school vision test and has 20/20 vision.
For this reason, it is important for your child to have regular comprehensive eye exams. It is also important to know the signs of potential issues. While they might be more difficult to spot, if you know what to look for, you are likely to pick up on them
Frequent Headaches
If your child experiences regular headaches, there is a chance it is due to eye strain as they struggle to focus on either near or far objects. This is often accompanied by squinting, which can provide a little help focusing.
Head Tilting
If your child frequently tilts their head to the side, it can signify an eye alignment issue. The tilting of the head can somewhat correct this issue, and allow them to see better. This symptom can be a sign of strabismus (lazy eye). In addition to this vision issue making it more difficult to see, it can harm their self-esteem in the classroom, if other students find their head tilting strange.
Poor Attention Span
If you notice your child quickly loses interest in activities, schoolwork, or sports (all things which require heavy eye usage for extended periods of time), it can be a sign of an underlying vision issue. This symptom can be a tricky one, as poor attention span is also a symptom of developmental disorders like ADHD. A comprehensive eye exam can conclusively tell you whether your child’s attention span issue is vision-related.
If undetected, vision issues can become more of a hindrance to your child over time, and it can also lead to them being mistakenly thought to have a condition such as ADHD. Being aware of these signs of potential vision problems, and catching them early, can be a huge help to a child presumably already having a more difficult time than most in school, sports, and other activities.
Vision therapy is extremely effective at treating these vision issues and enabling your child to both perform well in, and enjoy, their time in school. If you suspect your child may have a vision issue, be sure to schedule a comprehensive vision exam.
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