Vision problems are becoming more common, especially among children. It can take a long time before a child’s visual impairment is detected. The child is not always aware of this and parents may not have their own experience of how vision defects manifest.
When the child starts school, he is called by the school nurse who does a health check. It includes a vision test that aims to find out if the student has reduced visual acuity and, if so, is referred to an eye clinic or optician for further examination.
However, the examination performed by the school nurse does not capture more complicated vision problems such as the ability to focus and maintain the gaze. Such joint vision problems relate to how the muscles of the eye work together and other methods of measurement are needed to detect it.
A child with poor eyesight has difficulty reading. The letters fluctuate and it is slow. Since reading forms the basis of learning in most subjects, the entire schooling suffers.
There is also a risk that these students will be labeled as “anxious” or “having difficulty concentrating”. An investigation into neuropsychiatric disabilities may therefore be at hand and, in the worst case, the student is misdiagnosed.
Last spring we made one in Synologen minor study among middle school students from two different schools. Survey results show that nearly every third student would need to be investigated for vision problems. Not everyone may have such a problem, but it indicates that there is a group of students who have undetected vision problems and it affects their schooling. Previous studies of both Sweden And United States of America points out that 13 to 18 percent of school students have this type of vision problem.
We know that for those students who are actually detected, there are relatively simple treatment methods in the form of glasses, prisms or training to restore normal function of the eye muscles and provide better near vision. If students get help as soon as possible, their entire school situation will be easier.
It is important for these children and their future that they receive the right help.
A model for capturing these students and being able to give them the right treatment is for a qualified optician to perform eye exams outside of school. If the school nurse examines physical health, an optician can focus on the students’ eyes and vision.
With a school optician, even the most complicated visual defects and joint vision problems would be detected and then these students could get started faster with joint vision training and get the right visual aids. This also means that the adjustments that the school has to make to help students are less extensive. Overall, it would likely be a savings for most schools.
For us adults it is logical to go to an optician in case of suspected vision problems. The same order should also apply to our children. The time has come to see students’ vision problems in school.
Lena Petersson Lindeli
Licensed optician and master in clinical optometry
Eva Larsson
Licensed optician and CEO of Synologen
