Vision
is arguably the most important of the five senses
It plays a crucial role throughout childhood and beyond

Tips: To help stimulate your 2- to 3-month-old child's vision
development, the American Optometric Association (AOA) has
these recommendations:

While infants should be placed on their backs for sleep to
decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS),
put them on their stomachs when they are awake and you
can supervise them. This provides important visual and
motor experiences.

problems should have their eyes screened by six months of
age, then examined at age three and again at the start of
school. Risk-free children should then continue to have their
eyes examined at least every two years throughout school.

There are three different kinds of eyecare professionals:
ophthalmologists, optometrists and opticians. Who you should
see depends on your needs.

Ophthalmologists are medical doctors (MDs or DOs) who
specialize in eyecare. Not only do they prescribe eyeglasses and
contacts, but they also perform eye surgery and treat medical
conditions of the eye. Ophthalmologists are doctors who have
received 12 or more years of training.

Optometrists (ODs) are eye doctors who can prescribe glasses
and contacts and treat medical conditions of the eye with eye
drops and other medicines. Optometrists generally receive eight

or more years of training. Optometrists prescribe glasses,
contacts, low vision aids, vision therapy and medication to treat
eye diseases, as well as perform certain minor surgical
procedures.

Opticians are not doctors, but eyecare professionals who adjust
and repair glasses, instruct patients in contact-lens use and grind
and assemble spectacles. In some cases, specially trained
opticians can determine your prescription and fit contact lenses.
Opticians generally receive their training either "on the job" by
apprenticeship or from technical schools.

Eye tests and general examinations often are conducted to
detect the possible presence of these types of eye problems
commonly found in young children:

amblyopia, which is a lazy eye with decreased vision in one or
both eyes without detectable anatomic damage. Tools for helping
detect amblyopia include general assessment of vision
capabilities as well as posture evaluation and determination of
how each eye sees in relation to the other eye. Unfortunately,
amblyopia is not always correctable with eyeglasses or contact
lenses and may require eye patching to strengthen the weaker
eye. [Read more about amblyopia or lazy eye.]

eyes (strabismus) can have different causes, such as problems
with muscle control in the affected eye or eyes. If strabismus
persists in young children, a condition known as lazy eye or
amblyopia (see above) can develop along with related vision
problems. [Read more about strabismus.]

child's focusing (accommodation) ability. The child's depth
perception or ability to gauge distances between objects may
also be examined. Color vision may be tested through methods
such as placing a dot pattern of symbols within a pattern of dots
made up of other colors. [Read more about color vision and how
the eye refracts light.]

eye health, the eye doctor will examine his or her eyelids and lid
margins, looking for shape irregularity and discharge on the
lashes or lid margins. The eye doctor may turn the lower lids
inside out (evert) to look for abnormal or infected eyelash
follicles, bumps (papillae), discharge, and swelling (edema). Your
eye doctor may examine the cornea, iris, and lens to look for
cloudiness (opacities) or other irregularities.

Vision-Related Learning Problems
Vision obviously is an important part of learning.
The state of the eyes pertains to eye health, visual acuity and

The functioning of the eyes encompasses focusing, the eyes
working in tandem and eye movement. A child with a focusing
problem may have difficulty reading the chalkboard because she
cannot change focus rapidly from near to far. If her eyes do not
function properly as a team she may have eyestrain, double
vision, headaches and difficulty sustaining attention. Inability to
control eye movements means she will lose her place frequently
while reading.

Visual perception includes understanding what you see,
identifying it, judging its importance and linking it to previously
stored information. Eye-hand coordination also has to do with
visual perception. Visual perception relates to visual memory,
too. This means, for example, recognizing words that you have
seen previously, and using the eyes and brain to form a mental
picture of the words you see.

Many pediatric computer vision eye doctors believe that heavy
computer use among children puts them at risk for early myopia.
Sitting for hours in front of a computer screen stresses a child's
eyes because the computer forces the child's vision system to
focus and strain a lot more than any other task

The recommended distance between the monitor and the eye for
children is 18-28 inches. By viewing the computer screen closer
than 18 inches, children risk straining their eyes.

Other names are actually types of vision therapy. Orthoptics, also
called optometric vision therapy, is the use of eye exercises for
conditions such as amblyopia and strabismus. You might hear
about vision therapy for children with learning disabilities as
well: usually, tinted lenses (also called Irlen lenses) or eye
exercises. Another branch is dedicated to reducing refractive
errors, such as nearsightedness. Finally, syntonics, also called
optometric phototherapy or photoretinology, is the use of colored
lights for a wide range of visual ailments.

Orthoptics, the use of eye exercises to improve vision, is the
most widely studied type of vision therapy. Clinical studies have
shown it to be effective in treating amblyopia, strabismus,
convergence insufficiency and certain accommodation problems.

So what exactly are these eye exercises? Actually, many
exercises are available, and the therapy is individualized for each
child. Exercises to improve accommodation, for example, may
involve looking at a specific far object with one eye covered,
then looking at a specific near object (with the eye remaining
covered); the child would repeat these actions several times,
then switch eyes.

Orthoptics is not the only type of treatment available for these
conditions. Other strabismus and amblyopia treatments include
eyeglasses, patching, eyedrops and surgery. For convergence
insufficiency and accommodation dysfunctions, eyeglasses may
be appropriate.

**Health Dieting \u2013 very important for your eyesight Vitamin A is the key to solving many eye problems Beta carotene \u2013 vitamin A

like spinach and cabbage.
\u2013 Vitamin A is the key to solving many problems
Parents of school-age children should stay informed about
vision correction options, such as using contact lenses instead