Patient Education

Q: When should I bring my child in for an eye exam?
A: Ideally, a physician did a quick screening for your child for gross abnormalities at the hospital when your child was born. Vision for an infant is almost adult like before they are one year old. We recommend that your child have their first eye exam at age six to eight months. A comprehensive eye exam can pick up subtle problems that, if left untreated, can cause severe, often irreversible vision loss.

Routine exams should be done again at ages 2-1/2 years as certain eye turns tend to develop then, and again at age 5 before they begin school.

Q: Doesn’t my pediatrician take care of my child’s eye exams?
A: Pediatricians do screen for obvious problems in children. However, without a more thorough examination done by an eye care specialist, certain conditions can go on unnoticed.

Q: Is the Optometry Clinic at the Tang Center equipped to do children’s exams?
A: Yes, the Tang Eye Center has optometric interns and doctors of optometry trained for pediatric eye exams. We recommend that children be seen at six to eight months of age and again at two and a half years old.

Q: My child seems to have fine vision and will point out small things to me, so certainly a trip to the eye doctor is unnecessary?
A: Eye exams are recommended for chidren at an early age because eye conditions that can cause permanent vision loss may not be detected by watching a child's behavior. It is not uncommon for the eye condition to exist in only one eye allowing the child to appear as if they have two normal eyes.