Studies show that approximately 80% of what a child learns is information that is presented visually. If a child’s vision, eye health and binocular vision (how the eyes and eye muscles work together) status are not in top form then their ability to retain, learn, perform basic tasks and remain attentive will be compromised.  While vision-based skills are most commonly detected when children are at school, it is important to have your child’s first exam prior to commencing school to set them up for success with learning. Some other activities that can show clues of visual problems may include: Sports – depth perception (catching a ball, kicking a ball), wide field of vision (being able to detect a ball coming from the side) and hand-eye coordination delays can show signs of visual troubles. Watch for overly clumsy children, delayed swing at a baseball consistently, inability to catch a large ball consistently, etc.  Reading – monitor your children for reading ability, teachers are good advocates of what level of reading ability children are typically for the age of your child. Watch for children consistently losing their place, mixing up letter or numbers, letter reversals (b’s are d’s, c’s are o’s, etc.) and using their finger to read. Watching TV – sitting really close to the TV can indicate that your child’s vision is not as clear as it could be for the distance. Another sign could be that your child always tilts their head or closes one eye to watch TV or look out the window in the car. It is important to know that children’s vision is not only impacted by being near-sighted (myopic), far-sighted (hyperopic) or astigmatic but also their binocular vision status or the ability for the muscles to communicate accurately without extended effort to maintain clear, single vision.  Binocular vision disorders (BVD) are quite common. The University of Waterloo did a retrospective review of school-aged students who all had an Individual Education Plan specifically for reading and over ¾ of the students had good eye-sight, but importantly over 1/3 of the students scored below the normal for their binocular vision assessment BVD is often classified by Optometrists under three main categories: Accommodation – put simply this is the focusing part of the eye, more specifically focusing at near or changing focus from distance to near and vice versa  Vergence – eye teaming, this can mean troubles turning the eyes in (convergence), typically when looking up close and divergence (eyes turning outwards). A common binocular vision diagnosis in children is convergence insufficiency, which is quite often recognized as children having difficulties turning their eyes in to read Oculomotor – also recognized as eye tracking, children often present with difficulties keeping their place reading and require finger or ruler to keep their spot on the line they are reading.  The good news with children with BVD is it is often treated, although, often requiring referrals to special optometrists and vision therapists, glasses are not often the solution. Optometrists can often provide recommendations for specific tasks including school work and learning.  Common behaviours and symptoms of children with BVD: Poor handwriting (spacing, letter sizing) Activity avoidance Difficulty reading Difficulty seeing the board and difficulties copying from the board Difficulty identifying shapes, colours and letters in an age-appropriate way Frequently bumping into objects Stomach aches and headaches when away from home (wanting to come home from school because they are finding it difficult) Anxiety in public places Closing one eye to look at things  Children in BC are covered by MSP until they are 19 for their eye examinations, which are typically done annually, however, there are certain instances why children may need more frequent eye examinations, see your eye doctor today!