Why It Matters

Your child's vision is essential. Because vision disorders can occur at any age, those left undetected or untreated during the development of the vision center of the brain can lead to permanent visual loss. Therefore, these problems must be detected earlier in life to maximize the opportunity for treatment.

Cost of Professional Eye Exams

With a price of $75 - $150 for a professional eye examination, in addition to time off work and transportation, many families simply cannot afford to pay for their children's annual eye exam. In fact, only 1 in 5 children undergo a professional eye exam prior to entering the 1^st grade.

VisionQuest 20/20 believes that a professional eye examination provides the most thorough assessment of your child's visual health. While vision screenings are not meant to be a replacement for a professional eye exam, VisionQuest 20/20 supports the administration of vision screenings to serve as a precautionary measure used for identifying children that are most likely to have a vision problem. Once detected, children are referred for a full examination by an eye care professional.

Importance of Vision Screenings for Your Child

In many cases, children are unaware that their vision is impaired. If the world has always appeared blurry, then how do they know any different? Studies suggest that nearly 80% of learning occurs visually. So if a child cannot see and nobody knows, then how can we expect optimal academic performance?

Athletic performance can also be adversely impacted by vision problems. Even though their vision is not blurred, a child with limited depth perception may experience frustration with certain activity like catching a ball. The inability to "judge distance" also increases the risk of injury.

Certain vision disorders including amblyopia (lazy eye) can ultimately result in permanent vision loss. For individuals under the age of 45, amblyopia is the leading cause of monocular blindness.

Protect Your Children and Family

You can help protect your children's vision by looking for obvious signs such as squinting, bumping into furniture, inability to read, frequent headaches, etc. However, the absence of these signs does NOT mean that your child's vision is normal.

Contact your child's school today and ask if they conduct vision screenings. If they do not, or if they do but use manual, antiquated methods, get your child's school involved by urging them to get VisionQuest 20/20 to their school. For more information about our vision screening program including school sponsorships and fundraising opportunities, fill out our request more information form