As school comes to as well as Teacher Appreciation Week, we got to thinking about how much we owe teachers. They’re often some of the first people to notice poor vision in younger (or even older) students and recommend students’ parents bring them to see us.
According to the National Eye Institute, about 1 in 10 preschoolers have a vision problem, but as the organizations news brief states, “Kids might even think it’s normal to see double or for things to be blurry. But poor eyesight can cause headaches and hinder reading. Some children with vision problems might seem to have attention difficulties, since eyestrain and headaches can make it hard to stay on task.”
To help teachers out – because we know they already have enough on their plates! – we’ve put together a short list of common indicators of vision problems. If a student in your class is exhibiting a combination of these symptoms on a regular basis, you might want to recommend her parents make an appointment with an optometrist. (We know four really good ones, if you’re looking to recommend someone…)
Signs that may indicate a child has vision problem include:
- Frequent eye rubbing or blinking
- Short attention span
- Avoiding reading and other close activities
- Frequent headaches
- Covering one eye
- Tilting the head to one side
- Holding reading materials close to the face
- An eye turning in or out
- Seeing double
- Losing place when reading
- Difficulty remembering what he or she read
If you, as a parent, have any concerns related to this list, please get in touch!
Teachers, we appreciate you more than we can say. From teaching our littlest patients their letters so they can read our eye charts to getting us all through school so we can serve the people in our communities, we literally would not be where we are without you. From all of us at Hawks, Besler, Rogers, and Stoppel, THANK YOU!
Sources: nei.nih.gov, aoa.org
