First, it is important to verify exactly what the screening included at school. Most are simply a test to see where the child can read on the eye chart. The typical failure criteria is vision worse than 20/30. This means that if your child can see 20/30, he or she is passed. Ask your eye doctor to demonstrate to you exactly what 20/30 vision looks like through trial lenses. Guaranteed, you would not be happy with 20/30 vision if that was the best you could see. Also, simple 20/20 vision does not mean perfect eyes. The visual system should be thought of as a complex optical instrument, not only including the eyes, but the visual pathways through the brain to the sight center and how the information is processed. There is also a complex mechanism which controls eye movement and alignment. Just because a person can read the bottom line on the eye chart does not necessarily mean the eyes are working as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Also, screenings only test for nearsightedness. A person who is farsighted will be tested as having 20/20 vision, but may have terrible eyestrain when reading. The school nurse and her volunteers work as hard as possible to identify those children who may have vision problems. However, their time and equipment is limited. A Comprehensive Eye Examination with a trained doctor of Optometry is a simple, inexpensive way to be 100% certain that your child is seeing as best as possible.
