Good Vision Can Be the Key to Your Child’s Scholastic Success

    By David B. Soll, M.D., F.A.C.S.

First day of first grade for Johnny. He sits at his desk as Mrs. Jones scratches the English

vowels 'a,e,i,o,u'on the blackboard. Johnny recognizes the patterns on the board from preschool and home, but he is seeing 'o,o,i,o,u', because the details on the a and e are not clear. Mrs. Jones asks the class to repeat the phonics of the letters, and suddenly Johnny hears several different pronunciations for what he perceives to be the ' character 'o'. No

Explanation is offered by Mrs. Jones, and the other children seem to understand, so Johnny sits, quietly bewildered and afraid to look like a fool in front of his new classmates.

It doesn't take long before confusion overwhelms Johnny and he gives up trying to learn. His grades are very poor, and it isn't long before it is recommended to his parents that Johnny be placed in a special class. He doesn't understand why he isn't as smart as everyone else, but he does understand that he isn't good enough to be in the regular class. He begins to resent school and, even worse, he loses confidence in himself, because he is truly failing.

Four of every one hundred children are affected by amblyopia or lazy eye. Amblyopia occurs when there is a lack of vision development in one eye, and it is commonly associated with misaligned or crossed eyes, a specific condition known as strabismus. But amblyopia can also bp, caused by optical defects such as near or farsightedness. Regardless, if it is not detected early, severe and permanent vision loss may occur.

If you and I begin to have difficulty with our vision, we recognize a change in our visual ability. When the problem becomes bad enough we go to the eye doctor. Children with eye disorders have a distinct disadvantage. They have no basis for comparison. Would we know what being fat meant if we never saw a thin person? Would we know what tall meant if there were no short people? Or would we know our vision was poor if we never saw clearly? Remember, the children don't know they have a problem, so they cannot tell us. Many children are forced to struggle in school and face other possible side effects of stress, such as bed wetting or a poor attention span. Having your childrens' eyes checked regularly can prevent a host of problems ranging from social behavior to health.

Your eye doctor has the basis for comparison for your children and will detect eye problems before they become serious. Eventually Johnny's eyes will be corrected and he will be fine, but that is only due to the special perceptions of one teacher. You shouldn't leave your children’s vision or health to chance. Bring them to the eye doctor for an examination.