Children's Eye Care

Many vision problems begin at an early age in childhood, so it’s important for children to receive proper eye care from the time they are infants. Early detection and treatment are essential to preventing conditions that could potentially cause problems or vision loss.

In the United States, more than 12.1 million school-age children have some form of vision problem, but as few as 14% of children receive an eye exam before entering first grade.*

In addition, many, if not most, schools have no regular screening program in place and even when mandated by law, screenings are often not done. Poor eyesight can have a significant adverse affect on a child’s educational and social performance.

The American Optometric Association recommends that every child has a professional eye exam shortly after birth, by six months of age and again just prior to entering school. Once in school, children should receive regular eye exams.

* Prevent Blindness America

Optos’ commitment to children

Optos is committed to educating parents on the importance of having their children’s eyes checked regularly. This commitment to children stems from our origin – Optos’ revolutionary optomap Retinal Exam is the brainchild of Douglas Anderson, founder of Optos whose son lost sight in one eye at the age of five due to an undetected retinal detachment. After this tragedy, Mr. Anderson set out to develop a system that not only could capture an unprecedented view of the retina (200 degrees), but that was also patient-friendly, particularly for children, who tend to be more difficult to examine.

Regular monitoring of the retina (back of the eye) can detect serious eye conditions. If left untreated, many of these can ultimately cause blindness. Unfortunately this is what happened to Douglas Anderson’s son.