What to do if you
have concerns

If you have concerns regarding your child’s vision, it is very important to discuss your concerns with your pediatrician. Your pediatrician can evaluate your child’s eyes for general health and make recommendations of eye care specialists.

Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who specialize in the diagnosis of eye pathology and medical treatment. The ophthalmologist can also make a determination of your child’s visual acuity, eye alignment issues, and evaluate the structure of your child’s eyes. The ophthalmologist can prescribe glasses; do surgical intervention, if needed; as well as other medical treatment as necessary to address your child’s visual condition.

Optometrists are specifically trained to examine the eyes and determine the presence of vision problems. Optometrists, although not medical doctors, specialize in the determination of visual acuity, prescribe glasses/contact lenses, and can prescribe some medications. Some optometrists specialize in low vision evaluation and can prescribe low vision aids while others might specialize in developmental optometry which evaluates and treats children with ocular motor problems through “vision therapy”.

Opticians are technicians who make glasses. They grind the lenses to the appropriate prescription and fabricate the glasses or contact lenses.

Low Vision Specialists are usually optometrists who specialize in the evaluation of visual acuity loss and prescriptive devices that may enhance vision. Low vision devices may include use of telescopes, magnification, close-circuit televisions (CCTV), bioptics, etc. A thorough assessment is done of the patient’s vision and various devices are used in the process to determine the need for prescriptive low vision aids and the best device for the individual.