By STAFF WRITER, Nassau Guardian

The new backpack is sitting proudly on your child's night stand and the spit-shined shoes are sitting in the closet. You have even completed your child's yearly physical with the pediatrician — but did you have their eyes checked yet?

If you haven't had your child's eyes examined prior to the beginning of the school term you could be doing them an injustice, according to Dr. Charlene Wallace-Ferguson of Family Eye Care Centre, Collins Avenue. She says that poor vision can interfere with learning and can also affect performance in school, sporting and other extracurricular activity.

"If your child is unable to see properly that could affect everything they do. If a child is unable to see what is written on the board, or see what is projected on a screen when audio visual aids are being utilized, their learning process can be significantly hindered.

"Additionally, if a child is unable to see well their handwriting can also be affected, and sometimes, they are unable to consistently write on a line because they don't see it clearly, or the line doesn't stay in focus," she said.

The vision specialist says there are several signs that parents should look for which would indicate to them that they should have their child's eyes examined — squinting, complaints of headaches, holding reading material close to them, sitting close to the television or computer screen, constantly adjusting their distance to the computer or their writing/reading material, poor handwriting and rubbing their eyes a lot when reading or viewing distant information on a computer, movie or TV screen.

"Parents are sometimes advised by teachers to have their child's eyes examined if they are performing poorly in school or if they have some indication that they may not be seeing well in school. Unfortunately, some parents do not always heed the advice of the educator. Many times, they either wait for the child to complain that they are not seeing well, or they wait until their child has fallen behind in class or has not performed well that term — then decide to follow the advice given to them and have their child's eyes examined."

Dr. Wallace-Ferguson says many children are not aware that they are having a visual problem, and that often times they write or copy what they think they see, unintentionally skipping or missing letters that are written on the board. She says these students tend to either ask fellow classmates to tell them what information is on the board, constantly ask the teacher or move out of their seats (when permitted to) to see what's written on the board.

"It doesn't matter whether they sit at the front or back of the room, they still experience difficulty seeing what's written on the board. When reading, these students often-times get sleepy quickly, use their finger as a guide or must re-read an article or paragraph several times before understanding what they have read. As a result of this, these students have little interest in reading."

Dr. Wallace-Ferguson says when a comprehensive eye examination is conducted, both the health of the eyes and the status of their vision (how well a person sees) is evaluated. She says most persons think that both eyes naturally see the same and have the same prescription, but advised that this is not the case. "Both eyes may be able to achieve the same visual acuity (such as 20/20 or 20/40) but the prescriptions of both eyes may differ."

She advises that parents have their children's first eye examination done at age three, as in most cases, by then, they are enrolled in preschool, and beginning their formal education. After that initial vision test, she says children should have one done yearly afterwards, whether they wear corrective lenses or not, unless otherwise recommended by their eye care professional.

She further said that even though your eyes are tested every year that doesn't mean that your prescription needs to be changed each year. "There are some children's prescription that would change more frequently than others. It depends on whether a person is nearsighted, farsighted or has astigmatism. In a lot of cases, some children do not even notice that their vision has changed and nor are they aware of how much their vision may have changed. That is why it is important to ensure that your eye care provider examine your children annually, just as you would ensure that they have their annual physical and dental check-ups."

The one myth that Dr. Wallace-Ferguson would like to dispel is the belief that if you have 20/20 vision your eyes are perfect — that you have perfect vision and that your eyes are healthy.

"First of all 20/20 is the standard that we use for the population to state that someone has achieved normal vision. Additionally, the eyes are a part of the body and are a vital organ where information about the health or disease status of the body can be obtained. Diseases such as diabetes and hypertension (just to name two) could be diagnosed from an evaluation of the back of the eye. It is possible to have 20/20 vision and still have a disease process occurring inside the eye," she cautioned.

"In terms of being properly prepared for school, every child should have a comprehensive eye examination annually by their eye care provider whether or not they wear glasses or contact lenses. This is the only way that you can ensure that your child has healthy eyes and good vision for a brighter future."