A Cheap Eye Test is Too Expensive for Your Child!
Article by Darin Browne
A Cheap Eye Test is Too Expensive for Your Child! – Health – Wellness
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A cheap eye test can be found all over our area these days and many parents, who are instructed by concerned teachers to have their child’s eyes tested, believe that if they take their child to have a cheap eye test, then everything is OK. The fact is that such an eye examination can be detrimental to the learning and development of your child, because only a limited array of tests are performed, and many visual problems that affect learning, dyslexia and concentration are overlooked.
What is a Cheap Eye Test?
In our society, according to the government and Medicare, all eye examinations are the same. All Optometrists are paid the same amount by Medicare, and cannot charge more for a more comprehensive examination. Most of us, myself included, bulk bill, which means that parents pay the same amount for a half hour, comprehensive eye examination as a 10 minute rush job at the local shopping centre… nothing!
So in our society, a cheap eye test costs zero for the consumer, as does a comprehensive behavioural vision analysis. The question is, “Why would you want a basic test when you could have a comprehensive eye examination for zero cost to you?”
So, if eye tests give the Optometrist the same rebate, how can you earn more money as an optometrist? Simple, do more of them! Therefore what I may take a full half hour doing, others are rushing through in 10 minutes, and cramming as many as possible into a working day. Think you are going to get better service, or better analysis in a shorter time?
What Does a Cheap Eye Test Involve?
A cheap eye test for a child needs to cover basic areas of eye health by law. The reports I am hearing suggest the length of the examination is around 10 minutes, sometimes less. The basic test for a child includes
-Visual Acuity: Measuring the seeing ability of the child to make sure then can see a distant object. This gives rise to the phrase “20/20 or 6/6 vision”.
- Eye Health: The optometrist looks into the child’s eye to check the retina and eye health structures.
- Refraction: A measurement is made of the distance prescription of the child, whether they are long sighted, short sighted or astigmatic.
And that is pretty much all that is done when testing a child in a cheap eye test.
What Does a Cheap Eye Test Overlook?
A behavioural eye examination goes far beyond the basic cheap eye test. When I examine a child, I do not treat them like a miniature adult, but like a unique individual with special needs and problems. In addition to the basic tests listed above, I check the following…
-Eye Movements and Tracking: Making sure the child’s eye movements are well controlled so they do not misread when reading.
- Focus: I run a number of tests to examine exactly how a child focuses on a page, how flexible they are in their focus, hoe easily they can change and how long they can sustain their focus.
- Eye Coordination: I check how they work they two eyes together as a team, both for distance and near work like reading.
- Stereo Perception: Looking at depth and eye teaming.
- Binocularity: Seeing how eyes balance for various tasks, under various amounts of pressure.
- Perceptual Tests: Where we examine how information coming into the eyes is interpreted, understood and applied to school work (things like sequencing, coding, memory, manipulation and directionality)
So before you decide to have your child’s eyes examined, consider the fact that a cheap eye test does not really exist in our society, because they are all costed the same through Medicare. The only difference when it comes to your child’s learning and visual development is between a comprehensive behavioural eye examination and a basic test.
I believe that your child is worth more than a cheap eye test!
About the Author
Darin Browne is a Behavioral Optometrist who lives in Queensland, Australia. For more great Behavioural Optometry Information check out Behavioural Optometrist
Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.
Darin Browne
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Darin Browne is a Behavioral Optometrist who lives in Queensland, Australia. For more great Behavioural Optometry Information check out Behavioural Optometrist
Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.
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