#gary rodney

How To Know If Your Child has Vision or Sight Problems?

When bringing up children, parents know what to expect when it comes to potty training, helping them to crawl, and then getting up and walking. They help them with speech, and warn them what not to touch. They also expose them to different smells and tastes, all of which are easy enough to identify, discuss, explain and understand. But many parents are at a loss when it comes to helping their children with their eyesight or vision, and just as many are missing the signs of possible vision difficulties, according to leading Australian behavioural optometrists Gary Rodney and Jacqueline Gattegno, whose Smart Vision Optometry specialises in this field.  

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Entering the School Years a Step or Two Behind

Rodney and Gattegno agree this means that many children head off to school a few steps behind their peers, simply because they do not see the world or anything in it in the same way their classmates do. Instead everything is blurred or not processed appropriately visually. This can lead to a number of learning problems as well as causing the children to feel uncomfortable in several areas.

“They’re facing a whole new world when they enter school, and tend to lose confidence when they feel they are not performing as well as their new friends. Reading can become difficult and other learning skills can lag, and they don’t know why this is happening. So many of them may start to show behavioural problems or avoid engagement with a process that seems too hard. Some don’t want to read, and many don’t want to take up sports,” Rodney and Gattegno explained.  

A Question of Distance

Two of the most commonly known of the eye problems, which together with other eye problems affect around 22% or more of Australians under 14, are myopia and hyperopia. Both cause children to have blurry vision, either when trying to view something at a distance, which is the case with myopia (nearsightedness), or when looking at something close up, when they are farsighted (hyperopia). Both are refraction errors caused by the light rays focus in front of the retina or behind it, but not on it as it should.

On school screenings however, Rodney and Gattegno have found that optical blur only accounts for 11% of all other vision problems. There are far more issues with both functional vision skills and perceptual vision skills. So looking at refractive error alone will not identify the vast majority of vision road blocks to reading and learning.

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How to See the Signs 

Parents can be on the watch for certain give-away signs that their children have problems with visual function or visual processing of things at different distances. Some are easily visible in physical actions.

These include a tendency to move very close to what they are trying to see, like when watching TV, or bring books close to their eyes when they are trying to read.  Children with eye problems may also lose their place while reading a book, let their eyes follow the words using a finger to guide them, or take to avoiding the things its too difficult to do. This could include books or perhaps sports because the blur creeps in and makes it too difficult because the focus called for is not comfortable for them, according to Rodney and Gattegno.

They may also squint, or tip their head to one side to allow the stronger eye to do the work, so allowing the weaker eye to become “lazy” and deteriorate even more.

Rodney said that difficulty focusing could also lead to frequent headaches, light sensitivity and complaints about “sore eyes”. It can also result in avoidance in response to suggestions that they read a book, or work on a computer, a while this might sometimes be taken as bad behaviour, it could turn out to be the very real effect of an eye problem.  

What Parents Can Do

Armed with these warning signs, they can then approach leading optometrists like those at Gary Rodney’s and Jacqueline Gattegno’s Smart Vision clinics in Sydney, or call one of the Eyes In Design NSW clinics at Bondi (02) 9365 5047 or Mosman (02) 9969 1600.

They can also visit the Smart Vision website: Optometrists Sydney: Optometry Services For Children and Adults | Smart Vision to find more information provided by the Smart Vision behavioural optometrists whose major focus is on the effects of perceptual and functional vision problems in children.  

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New Ways to Cut Myopia Blur May Slow Down Epidemic, says Aussie Expert

Myopia, or nearsightedness, the visual impairment which causes people to have clear vision when viewing something close up, and see anything further away as a blur, has been affecting more and more people over the past few decades, and there’s no indication this pattern is likely to change. While some optometrists suggest it is reaching epidemic status, leading Australian behavioural optometrist Gary Rodney says it has also resulted in more studies and research which could give better insight into what causes myopia, how to lessen its impact, and slow its progression.

Numbers of Children With Myopia Soaring

Rodney, the founder of the Smart Vision approach to behavioural optometry said recent statistics suggest that more than one in three people in the US and Europe, and four out of five in East Asian countries, are battling to cope with the eye impairment. And global numbers are expected to see myopia affecting every second child by 2050. With high myopia significantly contributing to increased numbers of age-related blindness. Meanwhile, the debate was still going on regarding what causes the incurable condition, why the number affected is growing, and finding the best to treat it. 

Rodney said that fortunately focus on the issue had increased and specially-designed single, and multi-focal contact lenses, as well as Orthokeratology which uses gas permeable contacts in its overnight treatment were now part of a sizeable list of new developments which could help treat the situation and control the damage being caused to the eyeball even though they still do not provide a cure.

RELATED ARTICLE: Behavioural Optometrist Myopia Prevention Children Eye Care Clinic Mosman Sydney

New Approach to Treating Myopia

The newest of these, Orthokeratology (Orthok) temporarily reshapes the cornea to lessen the refractive errors which lead to vision confusion for those with myopia. And studies have cleared it as being successful as both primary therapy and for slowing down myopia’s tendency to worsen progressively as children age and often continuing into adulthood. 

Rodney said nearsightedness develops when the cornea or lens in the eye has an abnormal shape, or the eyeball is too long, any of which can cause the image focus to be in front of the retina rather than on it, resulting in blurred vision. 

Nearsightedness Remains a Mystery

“Myopia is still a bit of a mystery because so far there is no cure, no certainty about why it occurs, and it is affecting increasing numbers of children.  The current debate is covering a wide range of factors, including discussions about genetics, diet, and, according to a recent Chinese study, the suggestion that it could be caused or worsened by the impact of screen and mobile watching,” Rodney said. 

He said treatment was also complicated by the fact that all of the treatments available for use, from corrective glasses to contact lenses and eye drops, and even laser surgery, were purely fixes aimed at alleviating the problem. 

Still No Cure for Myopia

“There is still no actual cure. And perhaps that’s the reason why surveys show that more than 6 out of 10 optometrists have not moved forward from their long-standing single vision treatment protocol. Maybe they don’t see the point, or believe the equipment and training needed for new treatments such as Orthokeratology is beyond their means, ” he said.

Rodney, one of seven orthokeratologists in Australia and a fellow of the International Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control, said the three Smart Vision clinics in Sydney are equipped and trained to administer Ortho-K treatment. 

For more information visit the Smart Vision website, Optometrists Sydney: Optometry Services For Children and Adults | Smart Vision, or call the NSW clinics at Bondi (02) 9365 5047, Mosman (02) 9969 1600 or Pennant Hills (02) 9481 0449.

Syndicated by Baxton Media, The Market Influencers, Your Digital Marketing Agency.