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Pediatric Vision Screening in Frisco, TX

Early detection and intervention can prevent vision problems from affecting your child’s learning and daily activities. Our physicians and trained medical staff conduct comprehensive vision screenings to detect any potential vision issues early.

How do you test a child’s vision?

When should I be concerned about my child’s vision?

How do you screen newborns for vision?

What happens during vision screenings?

When you have children, it is instinctual to want the best for them in everything, whether that involves their health, happiness, future, or their vision development! At Pediatric Associates, we have state-of-the-art vision screening techniques and equipment to catch any vision issue with your child early on so that it can be treated and dealt with before becoming a larger concern.

How do you test a child’s vision?

As your child ages, different screening techniques and methods are completed to test a child’s vision. In the newborn to 12 months stage, pediatric vision tests typically rely on visual inspections and specific lighting to assess your child’s blink and pupil response.

As they reach the toddler stage, between 12 and 36 months (one to three years), photo-screenings will likely be added to the visual inspection, wherein the pediatric practitioner or ophthalmologist will take pictures of your child’s eyes using a special camera to check for problems that lead to various eye conditions, such as amblyopia (lazy eye).

When your child is between the ages of three and five years old, the pediatrician or ophthalmologist will likely assess their eye alignment and conduct a visual acuity test, which will occur as soon as your child can read an eye chart. These tests will help indicate whether or not your child is farsighted (hyperopic) or nearsighted (myopic), has strabismus (misaligned eyes), amblyopia, astigmatism, or focusing issues.

After they reach the age of five, your child should have routine visual acuity and alignment screenings every one to two years.

When should I be concerned about my child’s vision?

It can be challenging to know if your child has problems with their vision, especially when they are young! With that in mind, here are a few warning signs to look for that could indicate that your child is having issues with their vision:

Complaints of eye pain or headaches
Covering one eye or tilting their head to look at something
Difficulty concentrating on schoolwork
Excessively rubbing their eyes
Eyes that look misaligned, appear overly sensitive to light, or quickly flutter from side to side or up and down
For newborns, inability to track an object or make steady eye contact
Frequent squinting
Sitting too close to the television

If you are noticing any of the above vision symptoms with your child, please feel free to make an appointment with us at Pediatric Associates of Frisco! Our pediatricians would be happy to provide a vision screening for your child.

How do you screen newborns for vision?

Vision screenings for newborns require some creativity, as communication is hindered a little bit! With that being said, there are several effective ways that pediatricians and ophthalmologists can assess a newborn’s vision. Some of these methods include shining a penlight in the eye to measure their pupil and blink response or holding up an object or toy to assess their ability to look at a follow it as it moves.

What happens during vision screenings?

Depending on your child’s age and development, several different things may occur during a vision screening. If your child is in school or able to read letters, a visual acuity test will take place, where they will stand at a distance with one eye covered and be asked to read letters on a wall chart from the smallest letters on the bottom to the largest letters on the top. For children who are too young to read, pictures may be used instead of letters.

If you come to Pediatric Associates of Frisco for a pediatric vision screening, we will most likely provide a vision photo screening test using the Spot™ Vision Screener, which is a handheld device that can quickly and easily detect vision issues in children aged six months and older, including astigmatism, gaze development, nearsightedness, and farsightedness. The Spot™ Vision Screener screens both eyes simultaneously from three feet away while also using various lights and sounds to help keep young children engaged. We serve patients from Frisco TX, Little Elm TX, The Colony TX, McKinney TX, Prosper TX, Aubrey TX, Oak Point TX, Lakewood Village TX, Plano TX, and Dallas TX.