Could your child have trouble seeing? Many times, kids with visual impairment may show signs in unexpected ways, such as avoiding reading or acting irritable.
Before assuming your child is acting out, consider scheduling an eye exam to rule out vision issues.
Potential Signs of Visual Impairment
1) Short Attention Span
Does your child struggle with focusing, managing time, finishing what they start, or meeting homework deadlines? A short attention span can have many causes, including trouble seeing. An eye exam by an optometrist can determine if poor vision is playing a role.
2) Frequent Headaches
Another sign to look for is the next time your child has a headache, ask if they feel pain behind the eyes or in front of the head. Kids with farsightedness will often feel pain at the front of the head, often between the brows, and find it difficult to focus on nearby objects. When a child focuses harder in order to make up for farsightedness, this leads to increased headaches and eye strain. A vision test can determine if farsightedness is a contributing factor.
3) Tilting Head To One Side
The reason we instinctively move our head to the side when we cannot see is because it re-positions our eyes better. Observe how often your youngster tilts their head, but don’t ask him or her why as it tends to be a subconscious reaction to trying to see better and not a conscious choice.
4) Clumsiness
Depth perception is the ability to see things in three dimensions: width, length, and depth. Someone struggling with depth perception has difficulty judging distance. Also, not being able to catch a ball can be the result of poor depth perception rather than a lack of athleticism or coordination problems. Sometimes depth perception problems can indicate a child has trouble seeing in one eye while the one dominant eye is doing all the work.
5) Avoiding Reading
Does your child avoid reading? Sometimes, kids have trouble seeing and experiences eye strain when trying to focus on a book. If your child resists reading, schedule an eye exam to rule out vision-related issues.
If your child is experiencing even one of these five symptoms, they may have trouble seeing and need glasses. Bauer & Clausen Optometry welcomes you and your child to our office this back-to-school season for an eye exam. Schedule an appointment today with one of our optometrists.
