Most children regularly visit the pediatrician and the dentist, but a majority never see an eye doctor. Yet vision is the most important sense a child uses in learning. And undetected vision problems can cause poor school performance, not to mention behavior problems. Eye screenings in school can catch some vision problems, but not all. A comprehensive eye exam is needed to check for many potential problems, including:

Strabismus (a "turned" eye)

Ambloypia ("lazy eye")

Astigmatism

Hyperopia/myopia (farsightedness/nearsightedness)

Eye movement disorders

Eye focusing problems

Visual perception difficulties

Congenital cataracts and glaucoma

Our recommendation is for infants to have an eye exam between 6 and 12 months, then again at age 3, age 5, and yearly thereafter.