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Dr. Chris Jacquinot
Dr. Chris Jacquinot is an Optometrist in Pittsburg, KS and has been practicing at Wimmer Vision Care since 2007. He is originally from Parsons, Kansas and graduated from Pittsburg State University. He completed his Optometric training at the University of Missouri – St. Louis College of Optometry. During his Optometry training, Dr. Jacquinot had the opportunity to intern at several locations including Washington University, St. Louis University, the Kansas City Veterans Hospital, and the Carl Albert Indian Health facility in Ada, Oklahoma. Dr. Jacquinot is a member of the American Optometric Association, Kansas Optometric Association and is active in a number of organizations in the Pittsburg area. For more information please call Wimmer Vision Care at 620-232-1005 . |
Vision
2011-03-01 10:26:00
When should a child have their eyes examined?
Answer: This is a wonderful question, and one that I am asked quite often.Children use all of their senses to learn about their surroundings and obtain information from birth. This ability helps the child to develop and adapt to their environment as they are growing. Sight is, for obvious reasons, an extremely important sense - and any deficiency or loss of sight at an early age can hinder a child’s ability to develop (visually, educationally etc). Thus, catching any visual impairments in young children is extremely important because of the affect that it can have on long term development.
In some cases, visual problems in children are identified rather easily (child is squinting, parent notices child has an eye turn etc). However, many times from an outward appearance a child seems to function fine but they have underlying visual impairments. One of the most common situations occurs when a child’s vision is good in one eye but poor in the other. While both eyes are open, the child seemingly has no outward problems - however, in reality the child is only relying on the good eye. Left untreated, this can have lasting effects on depth perception, reading ability, reading comfort and even overall school performance.
Children can also be born with, or develop ocular pathology that may not initially affect vision or be identifiable from an outward appearance. In some cases the pathology, if left untreated, may eventually decrease vision permanently. In extreme cases, some pathology can be linked to conditions that cause morbidity as well as mortality.
The above scenarios highlight the need for pediatric eye examinations, and the American Optometric Association has guidelines set up to help determine when your child should have his/her eyes examined.
Newborns are typically screened at birth for congenital eye disorders and disease, and if a problem or risk factor is present they should have a full eye examination as soon as possible. If no specific problems or symptoms are noted at birth, the child should be seen at six months of age for an examination.
In the absence of specific problems or symptoms at six months, re-examinations at age three and prior to entry into school are recommended.
Studies have shown that roughly one in ten children under the age of eleven have either an eye muscle imbalance, a disease condition, or other abnormality in one or both eyes. This statistic alone makes it extremely important for all children to have their eyes examined on a regular basis. Examinations at a young age will help identify visual problems and/or pathology that could cause lasting issues as well as developmental delays.
