Protect those baby blues...or browns...or greens

A friend or ours has recently discovered that their tweenage child is legally blind in one eye. The most crushing thing was to find out that if they had discovered this earlier, much of his vision could have been saved. You might be surprised to find out that their child had never before complained of vision trouble. They discovered this on their first vision checkup at the optometrist's. You might be really surprised to find out that their child had been through yearly screenings at his elementary school.

Apparently this happens more often than we'd think. The problem is not necessarily with the people doing the screenings. They are literally checking scores of kids at a time. The problem is mainly that children don't necessarily know that they aren't supposed to have to squint or peek with the opposite eye to see the "E" on the board.

What can you do as a parent? If your child fails the screening, see an eye doctor immediately. Do not, however, rely on an in-school screening to protect your child's vision. Our friends have informed us that correction and/or therapy for several vision problems is most effective before the age of 8, and that it's effectiveness drops off drastically after that point. So make sure your pediatrician does formal checks of your childrens' vision at the 3 year old checkup, and make sure you get regular vision checkups for your child with an optometrist or ophthalmologist early enough to head off any potential problems.

If you're interested in reading about some of the big vision things your child should be screened for, or want to know a little more about the subject, check out

Vision Screening for Kids: A discussion of Pediatric vision screening at about.com

BTW, don't forget to get UVA/UVB protective sunglasses for the kiddos. You put sunscreen on them before they spend time in the sun. Protect those little retinas too!