Dr. Kisling is a VSP network optometrist practicing in Ft. Collins, CO.

Is your preschooler or kindergartner ready for their first eye exam? There are critical times to have eye check ups, and this is when you as a parent typically start to have concerns that your child can see his or her best. The onset of the school year brings in many young children to the eye doctor’s office for the first time. Some of them are very anxious because their experience with doctors has normally been associated with sickness and pain.

You can help alleviate your child’s anxiety about going to see the optometrist with six easy steps:

1. Explain this is a fun type of doctor’s office without shots. Advise them they will need to answer a few questions as best as they can and there are no right or wrong answers. Assure them if they do need glasses they will get to help pick out colors and shapes they like. If they need vision correction, give them some ownership of the process. If it is determined they need glasses, make positive statements of how much they will enjoy seeing the leaves on the trees and their favorite movies.
2. Prepare them for eye drops. You can refer to them as tickle drops that make their eyes tickle for a few seconds. Yes, they do sting briefly, but when I tell children they will probably tickle a few seconds that is what usually happens. Right after drops are put in the eye I start asking children questions to distract them for the first minute or so. If they are thinking about something and answering questions they don’t feel the drops. You can do the same thing by barraging them with questions that have happy answers. Talk to them about how their eyes will be blurry up close for a few hours and they will need to wear some funny looking sunglasses when they are outside until the drops wear off.
3. Explain they will need to read very small letters on a wall. You can practice at home by making a homemade eye chart with print size you can read easily from across the room taped to the refrigerator. Have them cover one eye at a time and practice. If they don’t know their letters, yet pick three objects they know and do the same thing.
4. Tell your child the optometrist will shine some bright lights in their eye for a short period of time like a flashlight feels when shined at their face.
5. Explain they may need to sit very still for a few minutes while an eye computer checks their eyes. Play a game of sitting still and staring straight ahead for 1 minute with a reward when they do.
6. Promise a reward after the eye exam if they do good. Doing something they enjoy right after a vision exam will give a positive association with going to see the eye doctor. 

A happy patient!

Making your child’s first visit to the optometrist a fun, positive experience can help them maintain a lifetime of healthy eyesight. I find they are my easiest patients: normally cheerful and they rarely complain. Last but not least, schedule their eye exam at a time when they are at their best, not at the end of the day or around nap time. Help make it a fun new adventure. And if your child is under one year old, the InfantSEE® program will provide a one-time, comprehensive eye assessment offering early detection of potential eye and vision problems at no cost regardless of income. To learn more about InfantSEE® call toll-free (888) 396-EYES (3937) or visit www.infantsee.org.

David H. Kisling, O.D., A.B.D.A.
www.drkisling.com
www.twitter.com/dhkisling
Harmony Eyecare
Fort Collins, CO. 80525

VSP providers Jeff Anastasio, O.D. and Cary Vincent, O.D. volunteered services.  Check it out!

Visit  the VSP event calendar to see where the VSP Mobile Clinics will be next!

Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations Team

VSP believes everyone deserves to see well. We actively seek opportunities to give back to the community, such as partnering with the AOA InfantSEE program.

As VSP’s mission is to increase Americans’ access to quality eyecare and promote awareness about the importance of eye health, the InfantSEE program partnership is a natural and important extension of this mission. This is the second time this year we have partnered with InfantSEE, providing them with a much needed extension to bring access to eyecare to those in need who aren’t able to go to a doctor’s office.

In May, more than 275 West Virginia infants were seen for an eye assessment during a two week period of traveling across the state. One out of every five infants had an abnormal exam or a cause for concern. Findings included: hyperopia, astigmatism, myopia, amblyopia, strabismus, mild refractive error and tear duct issues. During the next few weeks we hope to reach even more infants during our time in Louisiana!

Check out these videos of our first day of outreach in New Orleans yesterday. InfantSEE staff member Emily Zar, with VSP Dr. Heitmeier’s office, is conducting a vision test with a New Orleans baby and his mother and VSP Dr.’s Cary Vincent and Jeff Anastasio are doing a vision assessment of another little New Orleans baby. It’s amazing to see how un-invasive these assessments are and how much fun the babies have doing it!

Check out the VSP event calendar to see where the VSP Mobile Clinics will be next!