Pediatrics
 

Pediatrics is headed by Dr. Nakada. She is our highly trained pediatric specialist at Dr C Optometry. Her rapport with children allows her to assess your child’s visual performance effortlessly and efficiently. After determining a treatment plan for your child, whether it is glasses, contacts or vision therapy, she explains it to you and to your child’s pediatrician.

Information she wants all parents to know:

• It’s never too early to begin annual eye exams. In fact, one in every ten children is at risk from an undiagnosed eye or vision problem. Generally the earlier a problem is detected, the easier it is to correct. For infants between 6-12 months of age, there is a free vision and eye health assessment at our office called the Infantsee program.
• Limit computer use, 83% of children 10-17 years old are on their digital devices daily more than 3 hours and sometimes up to 9 hours a day. Schools require students to spend more time on computers at an earlier age. As parents we must attempt to limit computer use and promote physical activity. We must also limit exposure to excessive blue light emitting from LED screens by including filters in glasses and by adjusting settings on digital devices.
• Children will not always tell you when they don’t see properly. The change in distance vision generally happens slowly, and kids may not realize anything until a teacher asks why they are squinting to see the board. Playing vision games with your child like “who can see a sign first” or “what is the farthest thing you see,” will help you know what your child can and cannot see.
• Watch for signs of vision problems:
  • Frequent headaches or eye strain
  • Blurring of distance or near vision, particularly after reading or other close work
  • Avoidance of close work or other visually demanding tasks
  • Poor depth judgment
  • Turning of an eye in or out, up or down
  • Tendency to cover or close one eye, or favor the vision in one eye
  • Double vision
  • Poor hand-eye coordination
  • Difficulty following a moving target
• Stay vigilant:
  • *80% of what a child learns before the age of 12 is thru their eyes.
  • *80% of learning disabilities are vision related.
  • Be proactive, make certain eyes remain healthy, see well, focus efficiently and coordinate well.
• A Pediatric eye exam is not only about vision. During the exam Dr. Nakada will evaluate the health of the eyes, what the child can see at distance and near and if they needs glasses to see better. She also evaluates how the eyes work together and how efficiently the eyes adjust their focus at different distances. We want a child’s energy put into learning, not into trying to focus.
• Vision Screening is not the same as an eye exam. Screenings help in finding big problems but are not thorough; many problems can be missed, slowing your child’s ability to learn.
• Vision problems can also affect how a child performs in recreational activities. If a child cannot see well or does not have good eye hand coordination they will not excel at certain sports.
• Children NEED to wear sunglasses when outside! The harmful UV rays have an accumulative damaging effect on the eye both for the retina and the lens. Be sure all sunglasses you buy, say that they are 100% UVA and UVB filtered. If it doesn’t say it, it doesn’t have it. Start small children wearing sunglasses by putting them on while they are in the sun, they are more likely to not resist if they feel more comfortable.