Austin Eye Care Publishes Article On Importance Of Regular Eye Exams For Children

Austin Vision Therapy Center, an eye care clinic based in Austin, Texas, has announced that they have recently published an article on the importance of regular eye exams for children. The article is titled, “Are Glass Not Enough for Children?” and it points out that regular eye exams with a pediatric eye professional can have a significant contribution towards the goal of protecting the vision and overall eye health of children.

“Because young children are not as attuned to changes in their eyesight as adults, it is important for parents to start scheduling eye exams for their children as early as possible,” says Dr. Denise Smith, founder and clinical director of Austin Vision Therapy Center.

She continues, “During a pediatric eye exam, your child’s eyes will be evaluated by an eye care professional who will determine if they need vision correction. For some children, vision problems like nearsightedness or farsightedness can start early and become worse if left untreated. Regular pediatric eye exams can also detect early signs of eye disease as well.”

According to Dr. Smith, it is recommended that parents schedule the first eye exam for children when the baby is six months old, the second eye exam at the age of 3, and an annual eye exam after the age of 3. These periodic eye exams are necessary to detect early signs of eye disease if there are any. Some of the eye problems that can be detected include color blindness, cataracts, lazy eye, pink eye, ptosis, retinitis pigmentosa, strabismus, and uveitis.

According to the article, it is important to carefully choose the eye care professional who will perform those eye exams for the child. Parents should not hesitate to ask a prospective eye care professional some questions to help them find out if that doctor is the right eye care doctor for their child. Some of these include how long the eye exam will take; whether the exam will include testing for eye disease; whether the child’s pupils will need to be dilated for the exam; whether the parent has to provide the child’s medical history or not; and whether the exam will include checking for astigmatism.

At the Austin eye care center, Dr. Smith points out that they take a comprehensive approach to the vision care services that they provide, which include vision therapy; diagnosis and treatment of learning-related vision problems; neuro-optometric rehabilitation; evaluations for strabismus and amblyopia or lazy eye; pediatric eye care; and syntonics phototherapy.

Dr. Smith explains that vision therapy is not just about eye exercises but rather, it is a personalized treatment program that is prescribed and supervised by an optometrist to enhance visual efficiency, increase visual skills, enhance the processing of visual information, and alleviate any visual discomfort. This is not just about how well patients see but also how they perceive visual information and react to it. Vision therapy focuses on enhancing visual processing, the quality of vision, and visual motor integration. Evidence-based scientific research provides the basis for using therapeutic lenses, prisms filters, phototherapy, computerized technology, and specialized equipment.

At Austin Vision Therapy Center, they are well aware of the connection between vision and learning, which is why they encourage parents to have their children undergo regular eye exams. They offer a personalized vision therapy program that can help children improve their vision to make learning easier. This is because vision is directly linked to how children learn things, visually and verbally. Having the right vision care helps in improving receptive and expressive abilities and influences how children remember things. Vision therapy has a significant impact in improving a person’s visual dominance, which results into better learning for both children and adults.

Those who are interested in learning more about the eye care services provided by Austin Vision Therapy Center can visit their website at http://austinvisiontherapycenter.com/, or contact them through the telephone or via email. They have also recently opened a new clinic in Waco at 605 Austin Ave, Suite 102 (2nd floor). The clinics are open on Mondays and Fridays, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.