Children’s Vision And Learning

Since 80% of what a child learns is through their vision, children with vision difficulty will likely suffer academically or have to work extra hard to overcome their visual discomfort or deficit. 1 out of every 3 children has a vision problem, yet children lack the experience before the age of 9 or 10 to know what normal vision is. Most parents are often surprised to find out their child needs visual assistance through either glasses, contact lenses, or visual training exercises.

Many children are misdiagnosed as learning disabled, when in fact, they have a correctable vision disorder. It is therefore recommended children have a thorough eye examination by an optometrist on a yearly basis from the age of 3 and infants should have their first eye exam at age 6 months.

School vision screenings should never take the place of a complete eye health and vision exam by a trained optometrist or ophthalmologist. A lack of early, routine eye exams can unfortunately result in an otherwise avoidable permanent visual deficit, known as lazy eye or amblyopia.

What you should know after your child’s exam:

• Are my child’s eyes healthy?
• Can my child see well at all distances and without eyestrain?
• Does my child see colors normally (boys especially)?
• Does my child have comfortable, coordinated binocular vision and depth perception?

Here are some symptoms that may indicate a child is having vision problems:

• sits close to the television
• has trouble reading or avoids reading tasks
• has trouble recognizing faces
• often squints
• tilts their head frequently to one side or angle
• is clumsy or bumps into objects frequently
• demonstrates anti-social/shy behavior
• experiences frequent headaches
• is having difficulty at school despite a good effort

When should we start Myopia Control Therapy?

The sooner the better! Studies show the earlier a child becomes myopic, the faster their distance vision and glasses prescription will worsen. If we are going to have the biggest impact on slowing myopia progression, we should act quickly. Half of the myopic children stabilize by age 16, 75% will stabilize by age 18, while 90% will stabilize by age 21. Higher levels of myopia are associated with higher risks of eye disease and vision impairment in adulthood.

Sign up for the Myopia App – this ingenious digital device app measures how closely the device is being held and darkens the screen if it is too close, revealing the screen again when it’s held at or further than the ideal distance. Developed by a team of scientists and optometrists, early research on this app has shown it effectively modifies screen time behavior, making a significant reduction in visual strain.

Atropine Drop Therapy For The Control Of Myopia Progression

Low-dose atropine eye drops can slow eye growth and myopia progression. They are taken once daily before bed and are generally well tolerated. Side effects include sensitivity to light due to enlarged (dilated) pupils and problems with reading vision due to reducing the eye’s inherent focusing mechanism. These side effects can be managed with spectacle lenses that darken when outside (called Transitions or photochromics) and that also incorporate a stronger power in the lens to support reading (a bifocal or progressive addition spectacle lens). Dr. Sciberras will advise on the treatment options and monitor their effects over time.

The most effective spectacle lens design for myopia control, according to recent research, is the Defocus Incorporated Multi-segment Spectacle (D.I.M.S.) lens, or Miyosmart, which has shown a 62% myopia control effect in a six-year study.

Miyosmart by Hoya

Miyosmart spectacle lenses are made up of a central clear optical zone for correcting myopia, with an outer band of defocus that acts to control myopia progression (D.I.M.S. lens design). The lens makes use of the natural eye adjustment known as “emmetropization”, where the eyeball reshapes to receive focused images. The Miyosmart lens was found to:

– slow myopia progression on average by 59%

– reduce the eye’s axial length growth by an average of 60%

– have completely halted myopia progression in over 20% of participants

Here is an image of the D.I.M.S. lens design. Each of the small segments seen in the periphery of the lens adds +3.50D of power to create a myopic defocus, image lands in front of the peripheral retina, to help slow or halt the elongation of the eye. These lenses have equal adaptation and acceptance to standard single-vision lenses, with the benefit of slowing myopia progression in children.

Orthokeratology

Ortho K as it is better known has been around for decades and involves the precise fitting of a rigid contact lens to reshape the surface of the eye (the cornea) to correct vision during sleep. The lens is removed on waking. Orthokeratology restores clear vision during the day for glasses-free vision. It also slows or halts the progression of myopia and vision deterioration over time.