According to a study by UC San Diego - - children with uncorrected vision problems score lower on motor skill and intelligence tests than children who can see clearly.
The study also found that when the childrens' vision was corrected, their test scores improved.
Sharon Berger, an Optometrist says, "There's so many children that have struggled and struggled and struggled only to find out at age ten or eleven that they had a vision problem that would've made learning a lot easier had they found out when-before the child started school."
That's why, experts say, early vision screenings are so important. They detect problems that oftentimes parents and kids aren't aware of. "They don't know how to verbalize that print's going in and out of focus or words are doubling or the words are jumping around on the page they don't know how to describe that and so therefore they don't tell their parents hey, something's wrong with my eyes."
Experts say a vision screening once a year is sufficient. But if one screening proves inconclusive, as often happens with very young children, parents should have them checked again in a few months to see if serious problems can be detected.
