Hidden Visual Problems Affect Learning

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Today, Dr Lee had the opportunity to speak with teachers at William Dunbar PS about hidden visual problems which can impact learning. Students at this school are lucky to have a wonderful team of teachers dedicated to finding resources to help kids reach their full learning potential! They’re working hard while you kids have a day off 🙂
Wishing everyone a safe and happy family day weekend!

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School Vision Screening for Kids

This week, Dr. Lee partnered with Kids2See to provide free vision screenings for JK and SK students at Secord Elementary School in Toronto. Kids2See is an initiative run by University of Toronto Med students Emily Wright, Aaron Chan and Eli Kisilevsky with the purpose of  identifying children with vision impairments which require early treatment, and ensuring that they receive a complete eye exam from a qualified eye specialist further to the screening. They also strive to educate parents and school officials on the importance of routine eye exams, as 10-20% of vision problems may be missed by the screening. The school screenings only flag certain problems, so it is still important to have yearly comprehensive eye exams for complete assessment of your child’s eye health.

Kids2See will be visiting other schools weekly throughout November – January. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to help out! 🙂

kids vision screening
Checking one eye at a time!

*No pictures of the kids due to privacy reasons

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Your Child’s First Eye Exam

Here are great tips from Dr Dina Kulik, Pediatrician from Toronto on preparing your child for his/her first eye exam. Children should be seen at least once around age 2-3 before starting school, and the first exam can be as early as 6 months. Parents mistakenly believe that kids would complain if they couldn’t see, but they don’t because they accept it as normal.

  • Talk about the upcoming visit with excitement. If children are excited they are less likely to become fearful.
  • Schedule an appointment at a time when your child is alert and interactive, not during a naptime or mealtime.
  • Book yourself plenty of time. Rushing will stress you out and by extension your child will have less fun.
  • Use books or props to help prepare your child for the experience; we have a book about ‘Critter’ getting his eyes checked.
  • Use a low power flashlight on yourself or partner to show your kids how the eyes grow and shrink to the light. Then let them try it on you. Use this time to talk to your child about the use of bright lights before the appointment.
  • Rewards, rewards, rewards. When you start talking about the appointment tell your child about the reward he or she will get for behaving well.

See More at How Vision Problems Can Affect Your Child’s Abilities. (Yummy Mummy Club.ca)

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October is Children’s Vision Month in Canada, so book your eye exam today! Children are covered for one full exam per year by OHIP.

Also visit Doctors of Optometry Canada to enter for a chance to win one of five weekly prizes including an HP laptop, and a chance at the grand prize valued at over $5000!
Click here to enter the Children’s Vision Month Sweepstakes

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Problems Seeing the Board At School

Here‘s more Vision Therapy in the news!

1 in 4 students has a vision problem! 80% of what a child learns comes through vision, so a problem could prevent a child from earning the grades he/she should.

Here are some red flags:

  • headaches
  • complaints of not seeing the board
  • avoiding close work
  • child doesn’t like to read
  • doesn’t want to do homework
  • it takes hours to complete homework that should take 30 minutes

Watch the video to hear how vision therapy helped Spencer

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When Your Child Takes Hours To Finish Homework

Does your child take an unusually long time to finish homework? Do you have to get into a “homework war” every night to get things done? Your child is not being lazy. Homework might be very difficult and uncomfortable if he/she is suffering from a vision problem.

If you are baffled because your child is passing 20/20 vision tests, but still complains about reading the chalkboard or worksheets, has headaches or blurred vision, or is just plain struggling in school, it’s important to rule out any visual challenges. The first step is to book a Visual Skills Assessment.

Click here to read about Nicholas, a second grade student who was very bright and had a good memory, but spent 2-3 hours on homework every night. The problem was convergence insufficiency, and he improved his reading and hand-eye coordination in sports with Vision Therapy.

 

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