VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — There are lots of things to check on as the school year gets underway and vision should be one of them.
The ability to see clearly is imperative to our childrens' education. However, sometimes vision issues are not obvious. Jen Lewis spoke with a local doctor of optometry about what to be on the lookout for.
Dr. Deanna Ritenour with Beach Eye Care said, “Students might squint their eyes if they’re trying to see better. Far away, they might close an eye if they have a bad eye that’s not working for them. They also may just not like reading. They might talk about having headaches, especially after a school day or they’re tired, maybe they don’t want to do their homework.”
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She sees an uptick in referrals in September. That’s typically when school nurses conduct vision screenings. However, Ritenour suggests getting ahead of potential problems with a comprehensive eye exam before the start of the school year.
“Summertime is a great time for kids to come in and prep for getting ready for back-to-school and a lot of those conditions can be identified," said Ritenour.
Not being able to see clearly can be a real detriment to learning.
“Children don’t know what they don’t know, so it feels normal to their systems," said Ritenour. "If they can’t identify it, they’ll just stop doing something, such as reading. They’ll stop wanting to focus on schoolwork because it’s uncomfortable.”
Paying attention to subtle changes makes all the difference. Those small changes are what made a Virginia Beach mom, Stephanie Reyes, take her son, Christian, to the eye doctor.
“We noticed he started squinting a bit more when he would be watching TV, or he would tilt his eyes a certain way to view something," said Reyes.
Sure enough, Christian needed glasses. Now, he only gets super close to the board or screen if he prefers it.
He told Jen, “Life is just easier. I can see a lot of cooler things. I don’t have to sit, you know, at a one-foot radius from the TV.”
Christian’s older brother P.J. wears glasses too and wound up with a referral from school.
He explained, “Different grades come to the nurse and they do a little eye exam. I did it and they said go home [and] tell my parents that I might need to check with the actual eye doctor.”
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Vision screenings are typically conducted by a family physician, a pediatrician or a school nurse. Dr. Ritenour likes to see patients fairly early, and she's seen patients as young as 6 months old.
"We recommend children seeing the eye doctor around age three and up, unless there is some sort of eye turn or something parents notice sooner," said Ritenour.
The youngest of the Reyes children, Olivia, doesn’t need glasses so far, but she’s a fan of her brother’s eye wear and enthusiastically exclaimed, “They look handsome!”
With all the fashionable options now, getting the perfect pair is easy. Contacts are also certainly an option for age-appropriate kids.
Optometrists advise preparing children for exams by explaining the process and using a product like Refresh Tears so they’re ready for drops at their visit.
Jen also asked Dr. Ritenour about cost and she explained, “Eye exams are typically covered by insurance. Beach Eye Care accepts all major vision plans and even medical plans if there’s a medical condition going on, but a typical, standard eye exam usually starts around $125.”
School can be tough enough, but it's even tougher if you can’t see well. As students progress through their education, they face increasing demands on their vision. Annual eye checks help to ensure children have a clear start to the school year. Clarity changes everything and it’s what makes optometrists, like Dr. Ritenour love what they do.
“It’s the best feeling when kids put their glasses on and they look at themselves and they’re like, 'there’s freckles on my face!' Yeah, it’s awesome," said Ritenour.
