Signs Your Child Might Need Glasses
Here are a few signs that indicate your child may be experiencing vision problems and need glasses:
• Squinting. Squinting may be a sign that your child has a refractive error , which affects how well the eyes focus on an image. By squinting, your child may be able to temporarily improve the focus and clarity of an object.
• Tilting head or covering one eye. Your child might cover one eye or tilt his or her head to adjust the angle of vision in an attempt to increase clarity. This might be an indication that the eyes are misaligned or that your child has amblyopia , also known as lazy eye which is one of the most common eye disorders in children.
• Sitting too close to the television or holding hand-held devices too close to the eyes. Sitting too close to the television, holding hand-held devices too close to the eyes or lowering the head while reading are all possible signs of poor vision. People who have myopia, or nearsightedness, have clear vision at close range and poorer vision at a distance. Bringing an object closer makes an image bigger and clearer.
• Rubbing eyes excessively. Excessive eye rubbing may indicate that your child is experiencing eye fatigue or strain. This could be a sign of many types of vision problems and conditions, including allergic conjunctivitis .
• Complaining of headaches or eye pain. If your child complains about eye pain or headaches at the end of the day, he or she may be overexerting the eyes in an effort to increase focus of blurred vision.
• Having difficulty concentrating on school work. Because children need to quickly and accurately adapt their visual focus from distant to near and on a number of different objects ranging from chalkboards and computers to textbooks and tablets, vision problems may manifest as a lack of focus on schoolwork.