FOCUS ON CHILDREN

Free sunglasses for 5 year olds starting school

Look out for Visique's free sunglass voucher coming home with your five year old. Simply bring your child and the voucher in to your local Visique CapitalEyes branch and swap it for some sunnies.

Play the fun Visique Sunsmart game .

Learn About Eyes

Visique have created a number of resources, from suggested lesson plans to fun eye facts and information on how the eye works. Click here for the link to the Visique website

Government Spectacle Subsidy for Children

If your child is under 15 and you hold a vaild communtiy services card or a high user health card, you may be entitled to a government subsidy of up to $281.25 per year towards the cost of an eye exam, frame and lenses for your child. We will assist you with the paper work, just bring your card in with you.

“A question often asked by parents is “when should my child have their eyes examined?”

If there is a family history of childhood eye problems like squints, lazy eye or glasses at a young age, an eye examination by age 3 is important, even if there are no symptoms. If the parents notice eye problems at a younger age, then the child should be seen immediately, as if there is a problem it is important for the development of good vision that treatment is started as early as possible.

For all children, even if there are no concerns about their vision or signs of problems, a thorough eye examination age 4, before they start school is recommended. This is to check for any vision problems that may affect the childs ability to learn, particularly reading. These problems are not checked for at the Plunket or childcare vision screenings. For children under 5 we have a 30 minute appointment, and the testing is appropriate to the child. If there are signs of concern, follow up examinations may be required for extra testing.

If all has gone well with primary school the next routine eye examination should be at about age 10. By this age, we can usually do a full examination of the young persons vision, much as we would for an adult. As the student moves onto higher levels of school, the vision demands become higher. This is a full examination and we allow an hour for the appointment.

10 Tips for How To Identify Child Eye Health Issues

1. Loses their place while reading.

2. Avoids close work.

3. Holds reading material closer than normal.

4. Tends to rub their eyes.

5. Has headaches.

6. Turns or tilts their head to use one eye only.

7. Makes frequent reversals when reading.

8. Use finger to maintain place when reading.

9.Omits or confuses small words when reading.

10. Consistently performs below potential.