Free Eye Exam for Infants at Envision Eyecare
Envision Eyecare participates in a wonderful program called InfantSEE, a public health program that allows us to provide a comprehensive eye assessment to children between the ages of 6 and 12 months as a no-cost public service. This program is managed by Optometry Cares of the American Optometric Association Foundation. According to Optometry Cares, the program is “designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an essential part of infant wellness care to improve a child’s quality of life.”
It is extremely important to schedule an early eye exam for your baby’s health and development. Your child’s eyes are developing, his or her eyes and brain are learning to see, all of which is helping your child to learn and develop. Proper or improper eye development is not necessarily something that can be recognized by a parent. Your baby’s vision is huge in developing coordination and motor skills, recognition, stimulation, and so much more at such an early age. Learn more about how an infant learns to see and the steps of eye development. An optometrist can also help you determine how to visually stimulate your child and help his or her vision develop properly. According to the AOA, by two years of age, a child’s eye-hand coordination and depth perception should be well developed.
The other unfortunate fact is that many eye conditions have no symptoms that can be identified by a parent or even a routine check-up by a family physician. A more detailed exam by an optometrist can in fact catch these eye conditions that can be treated or corrected early on in your child’s life. With some conditions, your child’s vision can be corrected, in the worst case scenarios it can be saved. The hard facts according to the AOA are that of the 3 to 4 million babies born every year in the United State, 1 in 20,000 has retinoblastoma (eye cancer), 1 in 25 will develop strabismus (commonly known as crossed eyes), and 1 in 30 will develop amblyopia (or lazy eye).
At your infant’s first eye exam Envision Eyecare will test for excessive or unequal amounts of nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism. We will test for eye movement ability and eye health problems. These tests will not be invasive for your child. Don’t worry; our Envision Team is experienced with children of all ages. Helping ensure your child’s development and quality of life brings us great joy!
Schedule your infant’s comprehensive eye exam with us, compliments of InfantSEE!
