Yesterday I posted about why I am passionate about protecting your eyes and vision, and why I never take my sight for granted. If you missed the post you can see what it means to lose your sight on yesterdays post. To make sure that the whole family is taking care of their eyes we took Monkey for his first eye exam. We didn’t have any specific concerns, but just like a check up for your body with your family doctor getting your eyes checked by an Optometrist is a good idea for early detection of any issues. With 1 in 4 school aged children having a vision issue, it is better to be safe then sorry. Plus it is easy and quick to do.
You can book an eye exam for children under age 20 once a year and it will be covered by OHIP in Ontario. We went to our local Loblaws Optical Centre at the Real Canadian Superstore. The appointment took around 20 minutes, and it was not invasive at all (no drops or instruments touching the eyes).
The tests were adapted for children so that many used pictures and symbols instead of just letters. This helped Keep Monkey interested and as the tests are not “boring” and only they only take a couple of minutes. Also the Optometrist had fun glasses for Monkey to wear when one eye needed to be covered to complete the assessment. Lets look at some of the tests that the Optometrist completed as part of the eye exam for my 5 year old.
The appointment started with Monkey looking into a special machine so they could take photograph of his retina. The hardest part of this was getting him to look straight ahead and keep his eyes still.
The we were off to the Optometrist assessment office where he hopped into the assessment chair. Using a projector and mirrors letters were displayed of varying sizes for Monkey to read. The Optometrist also used pictures to test his vision. First they went over a card with large images on it to make sure that he was using the right names and knew what the pictures were. Then another book was placed across the room with sets of 4 images of varying sizes for him to identify.
The funky glasses came out when it was time to assess Monkeys vision is each eye separately. The lenses in these glasses are solid black, but flip open so they can see out of one side at a time.
Keeping on with neat glasses next was the test for 3-D vision. For this assessment Monkey was asked to pick the animal that was coming out of the page.
The last test that was done, was the colour assessment using a book with “hidden” numbers in the picture to see if he could spot them.
Monkey passes his eye exam, and did not have any issues. However if that is not the case and your child needs glasses the Loblaws Kids See Free Program will provide you with a FREE pair of glasses for your 4-10 year old. There were lots of durable frames to choose from as part of this program. To learn more about how you can get a free pair of glasses for you child visit your local Loblaws Optical Centre or visit their website. The Kids See Free program runs until the end of 2015.
Remember your eyes are too important not to take care of them. Make sure you have regular eye exams not only for yourself but also your children.
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Loblaws Optical Centres. All opinions are strictly my own.
My son loves getting his eyes checked – I just took him for his annual exam last week!
Great info – thank you for sharing. I’ve wondered a few times what is the right age, knowing that our LO needs to communicate well.
My oldest son wears glasses so he’s familiar with getting his eyes checked. I’m so glad that he likes it. 🙂
Wish i had seen this before my granddaughter had to go for her first appointment and was nervous,this would have been great for her to see she just got her glasses yesterday and now she will beable to see the board in school