“My Kids Passed the School Screening. Do They Still Need an Eye Examination?”

By Dr. Richard Barnstein

My patients with children will often ask this question. While school screenings serve a great purpose to pick up potential vision problems with kids, they’re not a substitute for a comprehensive eye health examination. I have many pediatric patients who passed school screenings with undiagnosed visual conditions. I also have many pediatric patients who fail their school screenings, and still wind up having perfect vision at their eye health examination. Most parents that I see have vision plans, where their children are covered under their insurance for routine eye examinations. If you have any questions about your insurance, feel free to contact our staff. They can look up and verify whether your child is eligible for an eye examination. Vision screenings can easily miss eye conditions such as astigmatism, amblyopia, hyperopia, and strabismus. These screenings usually do not check the health of the eyes for any conditions with the retina, cornea, lens, and iris. The doctors at Professional Vision examine children every day. If you’ve been waiting on making sure that your child has excellent vision, and healthy eyes, please give us a call! Have a great day!