Developmental Vision Exam

A comprehensive developmental vision exam will determine exactly how your child’s vision may be interfering with reading comprehension and learning. Vision is a learned and developed skill that can be improved at any age. Vision is a dynamic process that involves the integration of the brain, eyes and body. Vision imbalances affect learning, behavior, movement and overall health. This requires the Developmental Optometrist to look at the child as a whole person. Vision must be integrated with the vestibular (balance and movement) system as well as our auditory processing system for a child to be attentive in the classroom, enjoy reading and participate with confidence in sports.

During the initial evaluation, we will determine refractive status (nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism) and test both distance and near visual acuity. We are specifically looking for signs of amblyopia or strabismus (crossed or lazy eyes). During the eye health exam, we will evaluate for any signs of cataracts or retinal problems.

Binocular Vision Skills
Distance Vision: visual acuity (sharpness, clearness) at 20 feet distance.
Near Vision: visual acuity for short distance (specifically, reading distance).
Focusing Skills: the ability of the eyes to maintain clear vision at varying distances.
Eye Tracking and Fixation Skills: the ability of the eyes to look at and accurately move the eyes across a sheet of paper while reading.
Binocular Vision or Fusion: the ability to use both eyes together at the same time.
Stereopsis: the ability to experience depth perception and peripheral vision.
Convergence: the ability of the eyes to aim, move and work as a coordinated team.
Color Vision: the ability to differentiate colors.

While this initial visit is necessary to determine the need for glasses, evaluate eye health and screen for binocular vision problems; a complete assessment of your child’s visual information processing skills is needed to provide a more accurate diagnosis and assist in determining the length of any individualized vision therapy program. We use the next visit to evaluate visual memory, hand-eye coordination, visual-motor integration (copy skills and handwriting), laterality and directionality (understanding right and left side of the body & letter reversals), and visual-cognitive skills (visual thinking).

Visual Processing Skills
Reversal Frequency: confusing letters or words (b, d; p, q: saw, was; etc.)
Visual Memory: the ability to store and retrieve visual information.
Visual Form Discrimination: the ability to determine if two shapes, colors, sizes, or distances are the same or different.
Visual Motor Integration: the ability to develop hand-eye coordination for sports and handwriting.
Visual-Thinking: the ability to manipulate and organize what we see (helpful for math and spelling)