Vision defect in a child can be the cause of school failure
“Amongst the most frequent vision ailments among children up to eight years of age, may be squinting, long-sightedness, short-sightedness, astigmatism and "lazy eye", among others. In order to avoid these problems, eye care professionals advise an early ophthalmological check-up before the child completes his or her first year of age. Children also need their eyes to be checked when they start school, which is at the age of four (or may be even three) years of age, a key period when it comes to guaranteeing their performance at school”, says ophthalmic surgeon Dr. Maneesh Kumar.
Some school failure problems can be traced back to the child’s poor vision. Up to 15% of children have sight defects. Squinting, long-sightedness, short-sightedness, astigmatism and "lazy eye" are among the most frequent ailments up until eight years of age. Some can be detected during the first few months of a child's life. In this respect, experts advise an early ophthalmological check-up before the child completes his or her first year of age.
Children need their eyesight to be checked for the second time when they start school, which is at the age of three or four years. At this age, the eye-specialist can detect any problems in good time and correct emerging eyesight ailments. This second ophthalmological check-up is essential in guaranteeing the child's performance at school.
Signs for parents to look out for
In order prevent or correct possible vision defects, parents are recommended to watch out for certain symptoms regarding their child's eyesight, including the following:
• Squinting of eyes in order to focus
• Bringing book close to face or going up close to the television screen in order to see better.
Early diagnosis.
Experts agree that early diagnosis is essential when it comes to correcting ailments such as lazy eye, which can be solved easily over the first six years of a child's life and yet presents much lower success rates at a later stage, entailing a serious loss of vision in one of the eyes in some cases. It is estimated that four out of every one hundred children suffer from this ailment.
Squinting is another problem that better be detected at an early age in order to rule out the presence of secondary problems, such as congenital malformations and tumorous lesions.
Whilst the short-sighted children are faced with the challenge of seeing well from a distance, which makes it difficult for children to read the blackboard, the long-sighted children find that close-up focusing requires an excessive effort, which can cause headache, itchy eyes and blurred vision, leaving them to put off their homework for a better occasion.
Apart from long-sightedness, which diminishes in some cases as children grow older and can disappear entirely by the end of childhood, defects of refraction, i.e., short-sightedness and astigmatism are irreversible and progressive and require the use of glasses in order to ensure proper vision. more
Some school failure problems can be traced back to the child’s poor vision. Up to 15% of children have sight defects. Squinting, long-sightedness, short-sightedness, astigmatism and "lazy eye" are among the most frequent ailments up until eight years of age. Some can be detected during the first few months of a child's life. In this respect, experts advise an early ophthalmological check-up before the child completes his or her first year of age.
Children need their eyesight to be checked for the second time when they start school, which is at the age of three or four years. At this age, the eye-specialist can detect any problems in good time and correct emerging eyesight ailments. This second ophthalmological check-up is essential in guaranteeing the child's performance at school.
Signs for parents to look out for
In order prevent or correct possible vision defects, parents are recommended to watch out for certain symptoms regarding their child's eyesight, including the following:
• Squinting of eyes in order to focus
• Bringing book close to face or going up close to the television screen in order to see better.
Early diagnosis.
Experts agree that early diagnosis is essential when it comes to correcting ailments such as lazy eye, which can be solved easily over the first six years of a child's life and yet presents much lower success rates at a later stage, entailing a serious loss of vision in one of the eyes in some cases. It is estimated that four out of every one hundred children suffer from this ailment.
Squinting is another problem that better be detected at an early age in order to rule out the presence of secondary problems, such as congenital malformations and tumorous lesions.
Whilst the short-sighted children are faced with the challenge of seeing well from a distance, which makes it difficult for children to read the blackboard, the long-sighted children find that close-up focusing requires an excessive effort, which can cause headache, itchy eyes and blurred vision, leaving them to put off their homework for a better occasion.
Apart from long-sightedness, which diminishes in some cases as children grow older and can disappear entirely by the end of childhood, defects of refraction, i.e., short-sightedness and astigmatism are irreversible and progressive and require the use of glasses in order to ensure proper vision. more
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