Eyes Health
don’t pick this up, it is much harder to strengthen the weak eye in later years,” says Holland, who explains that wearing contact lenses or special glasses can correct the problem. All children should have annual
eye examinations until the age of eight, when eyesight is usually fully developed. After that, a check-up every two years is fine. It pays dividends to seek out
practices that specialise in treating children: the Chelsea Eye Centre is experienced in testing children and are well worth paying a visit. A good rule of thumb, however, is to ask what percentage of patients are children, or seek recommendations from other parents who have already found “child-friendly” eye doctors. Dr Clyde Alexander is a partner
at Alexander Kobrin Optometrists in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, which is mainly devoted to children, and their parents. He advises parents to specifically ask for a visual skills test, which is not part of the standard eye test. Tis is a way to measure the ability of the eyes to focus, line up and track across a page and it can be missed. “A child’s eyes are developing all the time, but they should be working according to certain known parameters. If for whatever reason, a child is struggling to move his or her eyes, it can have a huge knock-on effect on skills like reading,” says Dr Alexander. Te best time for this visual
skills test is probably around the age of five or six when a child can already read. Dr Alexander uses an instrument with infrared sensors which records eye movements as a child reads from a text. All children should be tested, not just those who are falling behind. “Quite frankly, regardless of the child’s ability, it is a good idea to get visual skills assessed, otherwise you don’t know if a child is being held back,” says Dr Alexander, who suggests that the test should be repeated at two-year intervals to check progress. Visual skills tests can also be useful
when a child already has a diagnosis of dyslexia. “Te eye problem is not causing the dyslexia, but it may well be contributing to the symptoms.” When a diagnosis has been made,
there are ways to try and correct the problem. Eye exercises done at home
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under a parent’s supervision can help to strengthen weak muscles that are contributing to convergence and focusing problems. A typical exercise is repeatedly focusing on a near object for a couple of seconds and then one at a distance for a couple of seconds. “Te majority of children will benefit from eye exercises which need to be done for 15 minutes each day,” says Dr Alexander. Coloured filters laid over a page of
text, have also been found to work to correct tracking problems, when a child finds it hard to follow a line of text due to pattern glare. Tis is when the contrast of black print on a white background creates hyperexcitation of the visual cortex, leading to rapid eye movements. Te child’s eyes literally jump around on the page, making it almost impossible to read effectively. Pupils at Te Dominie school in
Battersea, London, for children with dyslexia and dyspraxia, have been taking part in a research project with the University of London looking into the effects of using coloured overlays with regard to improvement of reading comprehension. Altogether 24 children took part aged between 7 and 11. Te results, which have just been collated, suggest that coloured overlays can indeed be a useful tool to help some children who have reading and comprehension difficulties. “It was found that the coloured overlays increased the rate of reading among the small group of children that were tested. Additionally, they also helped to improve the comprehension of English text in some
Don’t forget the sun!
A child’s eyes are vulnerable to UV rays. Summer sun, or winter sun, reflected off fresh powder snow are both potentially harmful. “Children have clearer lenses and larger pupils than adults, so around 70% more sunlight is absorbed directly into the retina,” explains Gavzey. Damage that occurs in
childhood can last a lifetime. According to the World Health Organisation, this lack of natural eye protection along with the fact that children tend to play outside for a greater part of their day, means that as much as 80% of a lifetime’s UV is absorbed into the eye by the time a child
reaches the age of 18. Cumulative exposure to UV
rays may lead to cataracts later in life and increases the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration – the UK’s leading cause of sight loss. The best thing parents can do
is make sure that children wear sunglasses that carry a CE or British Standard Mark – never wear toy sunglasses as these can do more harm than good. For maximum protection wear a cap or brimmed hat in addition to sunglasses and stay out of the mid-day sun. On the ski slopes, wrap-around glasses or goggles that cut out the bright glare are
‘All children should have annual eye exams until the age of eight, when eyesight is usually fully developed’
of the children who had an overall lower reading age than chronological age. Work now needs to be done on a larger scale with some amendments to the methodology in order to test our findings, but it is still promising to see signs of improved comprehension,” says Sophie Fleischmann, a postgraduate Psychology student at Middlesex University. School Principal, Anne O’Doherty says that more people are becoming aware of how important vision is to the learning process. “Over the past few years we have become more appreciative of the connection between reading difficulties and vision.” New children attending the
school, which caters for 30 pupils aged between 6 and 12, are regularly referred to a specialist optometrist. “A number of these children have been found to have difficulties with their vision. Te difficulties have ranged from long-sightedness, short- sightedness, convergence difficulties to visual stress,” says Miss O’Doherty. For those who are found to have
a vision problem, the diagnosis can be life changing. Certainly incentive enough for me to get Hugo booked in for an eye appointment – sooner rather than later.
For more information Keith Holland
www.keithholland.co.uk
BABO British Association of Behavioural Optometrists
www.babo.co.uk Chelsea Eye Centre www.
chelseaeyecentre.com Alexander Kobrin Optometrists www.
alexanderkobrin.com
Remember to protect your child’s eyes from the sun
highly recommended. “There is no reason why
children can’t have fun in the sun, as long as they are protected from its harmful effects, and that includes protecting their eyes,” says Gavzey.
Autumn 2011 FirstEleven 57
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PHOTOS: ISTOCKPHOTO
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