Does your back-to-school checklist include eye exams for your child?
Dr. Amy Robinson, president of the New Brunswick Association of Optometrists, says it should.
Nearly one-in-four school-age children have vision problems and Robinson told our newsroom many do not even know they do.
“Children don’t have anything to compare themselves to, they assume that the way they see is the way everyone else sees,” Robinson said. “So if they’re experiencing some blurry vision or maybe they’re having some double vision, they assume that other people are experiencing that too.”
Robinson said about 80 per cent of a child’s learning is visual, so if they are unable to see properly, their school work will suffer.
Government encourages eye exams for children returning to schoolhttps://t.co/Ejlyesf9eh pic.twitter.com/n2DxaK6SRb
— Government of NB (@Gov_NB) July 10, 2018
New Brunswick recently expanded its Healthy Smiles, Clear Vision program to provide free eye exams and corrective glasses for all four-year-olds.
“But a lot of parents aren’t even aware of the program,” Robinson said. “I’ll have some four-year-olds that come and I’ll tell their parents about this program and they’re not aware of it yet, so we’re trying to get people educated about it.”
Robinson said children should have their eyes checked before starting kindergarten and every year once they are in school.