Four Reasons Why Parents Don’t Take Their Kids in for a Vision Test
Posted on Wed, Feb 01, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
You take your kids to the dentist, right? Without hesitation, from the moment they were born, you, as a good parent, have it ingrained in your head to take your child to the dentist. But what about a vision test?
It’s a cultural norm here in America. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association recommend that the first dental exam occur prior to your child’s first birthday. My question is this: Why doesn’t prevention of vision problems inspire the same kind of behavior?
I can give you four reasons, and without a doubt, there are many more.
1. Parents don’t know. As a parent and a member of the helicopter parent brigade, I think many more parents would take their child in for a Functional Vision Test if they knew all the details about what typical vision screenings miss.
2. Parents aren’t told. Why don’t parents know? It’s because many people in the educational and health fields aren’t as fully informed about all the potential functional vision problems that exist. Most people don’t know that visual skills such as eye tracking, teaming and focusing are skills that are learned much like learning to walk and talk. Without an understanding of the impact of the visual system, educators and health care professionals can’t help shape public attitudes about vision care.
3. People are resistant to change. It’s a simple fact of life that human beings are resistant to change. Adding in a Functional Vision Test– one that extends beyond the Snellen Chart –is one more thing we need to add to our kid’s to-do list. Despite how quickly a Functional Vision Exam can be conducted (approximately 30 minutes for infants if no problems are found), it’s just a change in what people are used to, and that can be difficult.
4. We parent like our parents did before us. Perhaps closely tied to #3, people tend to model their parenting skills after their parents (for the most part). If you were never taken in for a Functional Vision Testas a child, it’s probably not an automatic to do the same for your kids.
You look at this list, and you think that many of these excuses are flimsy and easily correctable. Yet only 14% of kids under age five have received a vision exam.
Let’s hope the tide turns. We applaud your trips to the dentist. Why not tack on an hour or two and schedule a Functional Vision Test while you’re at it?
(Photo by Community Eye Health Journal)
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The Vision Therapy Center has helped over 2,000 people overcome vision problems since 1995, and has Wisconsin vision therapy offices in Brookfield and Madison.