My child has '20/20' vision so why do I need to see a behavioural optometrist?

By Nicky Kiparissis

Sight or Vision

I am often asked what the difference between ‘sight’ and ‘vision’ is. The truth is they are incredibly different, and here’s why:

Sight, simply put, is what we see. It describes how well our eyes are able to see fine detail in the distance, and is where we get the well-known, but slightly misleading term ‘20/20 vision’.

Testing sight is always our first step. Assessing how well you can see provides an indication of how the gateway to your visual system is operating.

So, why am I seeing a behavioural optometrist if I have ‘20/20 vision’? Why does my child need glasses if there ‘vision’ is perfect? 

When we talk about the numbers 20/20 we are actually not talking about vision at all.

Vision is a little bit more complicated. It takes into account both how you interpret the information that you see as well as how well your eyes are able work together as a team. This is our sense which allows us to create our perception of reality through our sight – the ability to use what we see and interpret this cohesively in our brain.

You may have great sight, but that does not mean that good vision is a given.

To assess vision in our behavioural examinations, we look at eye teaming, accommodation, focusing and movement: all of the things which go beyond how far in the distance you can see. 

Good vision is what is required for good reading and henceforth good learning. In my many years of practice in behavioural optometry, I have been able to see a number of patients who have struggled with school – and not because of an intellectual inability, but instead because they had poor vision. Their eyes were unable to team, focus and accommodate to allow them to interpret what they see into a clear image in their minds.

Remediation with a pair of glasses has been a magical solution for a lot of these patients. I often have parents return to me mentioning that their children are less frustrated and angry, less needy, more alert, less tired and importantly, are learning better. As well as this, some are even surprised that their child isn’t as clumsy as they through – they just weren’t able to use their vision properly!

The brain is a weird and wonderful thing. The eyes are so closely and intricately connected to the brain and the central nervous system that improvements actually stem beyond the visual system. I have seen children grow their confidence and even develop their speech all with the support of a pair of specs. 

I love my work and I love working with children because I can see the way I and my team are able to assist them by giving them the tools to help them read and to help them succeed.

No matter what your child’s age, they are never too young or too old for a behavioural eye test. Even if you don’t suspect that they have an issue, it is always worthwhile seeing if they have any undetected troubles with focusing and accommodating, which can lead to the progression of less reversible conditions, like myopia, later in life.

A behavioural eye test certainly can be an incredibly helpful asset to assess and assist your child to learn and therefore grow.