All children are different, and some children are made to feel different at school because they do not acheive the same potential as others.  Some children under achieve because they have a need for  visual correction or orthoptic treatment (eye exercises), some visual stress, some just teacher / child non compaterbility, and unwillingness to work at school/home.

The first most important step is to have a child take a thorough eye examination at a trusted / recommended Opticians, it is essential for every child's healthcare and personal development.  If the child has poor vision they will find it difficult to learn at school, research shows one in five children has an undetected eye problem, this is why it is essential all children have eye examinations before they start school, paid for by the NHS.

In the eye examination the Optometrist will perform a number of examinations  which is much more concise than the most basic vision check performed at your child's school.

• History & Symptoms - a very important part of any medical examination, firstly we discuss any problems you think there may be with the child's eye sight, general health, and most important is the family history of ocular health and general health.
• Ophthalmoscopy - before the Optometrist does anything else they will examin the external part of the eye, then looking closer at the cornea, the pupil, the lens inside and then the back of the eye where the retina is.  This part of the examination is vitally important as it will tell us firstly whether the eye is healthy,  any neurological problems associated with the pupils, and  if the eye is well developed.  By the appearance of one or some of the ocular structures the Optometrist will have an indication on how well a child might be able to see.
• Retinoscopy - this where the Optometrist will use and instrument that will help determin whether a child is long or short sighted,  this exam is a objective test and needs no help from the child.
• Refraction - here the Optometrist will then fine tune their initial findings with the aid of the child to find the optimum prescription which will enable the child to see too their full potential.
• Oculomotor Balance - our Optometrist will check the muscles in your child's eye work together in a co-ordinated manner, the slight imbalance can cause visual disturbances and therefore this will need to be sorted, usually with an orthoptist at the eye hospital.

Dependent on the out come of the full eye examination will determine the next step:

Muscle imbalance, Lazy eye or neurological then a referal to the eye hospital.  If the referal is for Muscle imbalance or lazy eye then you child will see Optometrists and Orthoptists in clinics, spectacles are prescribed if appropriate,  exercises and patches may also be advised.   You are then sent back to ourselves to dispence the spectacles, which should be well fitted to accomodate the child's soft tissues of their face, and also the importance of the spectacles sitting correctly so the child can see to their full potential.   This part of the child's sight has to be caught early as their eyes develop to how well they see.  Eg.  if the child's vision is poor and not corrected the eye will not develope as well as an eye that sees well,  so this part needs to be sorted very early, before the eye stops developing at the age of 7years.

Slight prescription which is not out of the ordinary, we will deal with with spectacles, which again the importance of the good fit for a child is most important.

Once the vision and muscles are sorted we can offer further examinations if your child is having other problems.

The Colorimetry Examination.

The colorimetry examination will determine whether a tint will help your child with any other internal or external  problems, which are exacerbated when they hit the visual cortex and cause hyper-excitability of the cortex. 

We will give you a questionaire to fill in before the colorimetry examination, this will give us a more concise history which you can take your time to answer rather than on the spot in an examination.

Symptoms are: 

under achieving at school

reading difficulty

words moving

word changing size

Myers Irlen Syndrome ( white lines vividly noticable between words)

eyes tiring easily

See the dyslexia page

Please note  Optometrists can not diagnose any learning problems, this is done by the Educational Psyscologist organised by the SENCO in your child's school.  We do offer the tints which may releive symptoms dramatically to make learning more easy.  The above symptoms can be familiar, so whilst reading this you may think you had problems like this at school or in life, but this was before Colorimetry was well known.