As a family practice, Crozet Eye Care is one of the few practices that serves children under age 5 in the Greater Charlottesville area.
Early Childhood EYE CARE
Eye and vision problems in infants can cause developmental delays, so it is imperative to detect issues as early as possible. It is for this reason that the AOA recommends well eye care check-ups starting at age 6 months, 3 years, by 1st grade and then every two years – even if no eye or vision problems are apparent.
COMMON VISION PROBLEMS FOR CHILDREN
The following signs may be indications of eye and vision problems in children. If you suspect that your child has a vision problem, please don’t hesitate to call us. The earlier a problem is detected, the better chances treatment will succeed.
INFANTS
- Excessive tearing
- Red or encrusted eyelids
- Constant eye turning
- Extreme sensitivity to light
- Appearance of a white pupil
Pre-Schoolers
it is estimated that 10% are affected
by vision problems
- Sitting close to the TV
- Holding a book too close
- Squinting
- Tilting their head
- Frequently rubbing their eyes
- Short attention span for child’s age
- Turning of an eye in or out
- Sensitivity to light
- Difficulty with eye-hand-body coordination when playing ballor bike riding
- Avoiding coloring activities, puzzles, and other detailed activities
School-Age Children
- Frequent eye rubbing or blinking
- Short attention span
- Avoiding reading and other close activities
- Frequent headaches
- Covering one eye
- Tilting the head to one side
- Holding reading materials close to the face
- An eye turning in or out
- Seeing double
- Losing their place when reading
- Difficulty remembering what he or she read
In an effort to encourage infant eye and vision assessments and ensure they are accessible to everyone, the American Optometric Association and The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., have partnered to create InfantSEE, a no-cost public health program developed to provide professional eye care for infants nationwide. Through InfantSEE, doctors of optometry provide a one-time, comprehensive eye assessment to infants between 6 and 12 months of age, offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost, regardless of income.
Crozet Eye Care is an InfantSEE provider. If you are outside of the Charlottesville or surrounding areas, call 1-888-396-EYES (3937) or log on to www.infantsee.org to find an InfantSEE provider near you.