Eye See Eye Learn

Excellence in school starts with excellent vision

Did you know that 1 child in 4 suffers from some kind of vision problem severe enough to impact their learning?

Many parents believe their child will tell them if they can’t see well. The truth is children often don’t know they don’t have good vision, because they have nothing to compare it to.Poor vision can affect the grades of even the brightest children. In fact, 60% of children with learning difficulties have an undiagnosed vision problem. Vision problems that go undetected can cause children to suffer from low self-esteem and manifest in behavioural problems.

The only way to be sure your child’s eyes are healthy, seeing well at all distances and working together as a pair, is through a comprehensive eye exam with an optometrist.

Children’s eye exams are covered by OHIP

Every child in Ontario who has an Ontario Health Card is entitled to an annual OHIP-insured eye exam by an optometrist, up to and including age 19.In fact, the Ontario Association of Optometrists recommends that every child has complete eye examinations at ages 6 months, 3 years and every year thereafter. Please note:  a child does not need to know their Alphabet’s to have an eye exam done.

Early eye exams also are important because children need the following basic visual skills for learning:

• Near & Distance vision
• Eye teaming (binocularity) skills
• Eye movement skills
• Focusing skills
• Peripheral awareness
• Eye/hand coordination

Eye See… Eye Learn® offers prescription glasses at no charge

Eye See…Eye Learn® is a unique program designed to promote readiness for learning among our “almost-ready-for- school”-aged children and to emphasize the importance of routine comprehensive eye exams with an optometrist.

If required, Eye See…Eye Learn® will provide one pair of glasses per child courtesy of our participating optometrists and corporate partners Essilor Vision Foundation Canada and Modern Optical Canada. The frames are fashionable and are made with high quality and impact resistant polycarbonate lenses. The estimated value of the glasses is over $250.

More information can be found at https://optom.on.ca/esel  or feel free to contact our office for more details.