Have you ever left your child’s eye doctor appointment and felt like the doctor didn’t get an accurate picture of what your child/student can do or not do? Or you didn’t learn everything you wanted to learn?
Understanding your child’s eye health and vision is important as you and your educational team make decisions about interventions and services. Here are some things you can think about ahead of time, and questions you can ask when you’re there, to help get the most out of your time with the doctor. Make notes for yourself, and bring photos or videos if you think it will help show the things you see or are concerned about.
- What is my child’s visual acuity: each eye and both eyes?
- What testing procedures were used?
- Does my child use their eyes together?
- Does my child have visual field defects? If so, where?
- Is there a refractive error? Would glasses/contacts help?
- What is the cause(s) of the impairment?
- Is it optical (eye) or cortical/cerebral (brain) or both?
- Is it related to any other impairments?
- Would vision stimulation activities benefit my child?
- Are there any other strategies we should try?
- Is my child legally blind? Visually impaired?
- Is my child’s vision stable or a progressive loss?
Tell the doctor (before the visit if possible) what you have observed
- Eye movements and appearance
- Fixating on a target (what kinds of things and where)
- Scanning to locate people or toys
- Lighting preferences
- Light adaptation (time needed to adjust to different lighting
conditions) - Color and size of objects your child will respond to
- Irritability or fatigue with visual tasks
- Squinting
- Head tilts or turns, postures/positions
- Color/toy preferences
- Anything else you notice!
If you can’t send information ahead of time, you can take it in writing and leave a copy with the doctor for their future reference.
Make sure you share the information with your child’s team
When you visit the eye doctor, always request a copy of your child’s eye report to share with the TVI (Teacher of the Visually Impaired).
Key points to remember:
- Important information in the eye report: This report will detail your child’s visual acuity, diagnoses, prescription needs, and any limitations, which are crucial for tailoring accommodations.
- Functional Vision Assessment (FVA): It’s essential for your TVI to understand your child’s visual diagnoses before conducting an FVA.
- Questions about glasses: Your team needs to know when your child should wear their glasses, whether for near or distance tasks, or both.
- Classroom considerations: The eye report, along with the FVA, can help your TVI determine the best seating arrangement for your child, optimal lighting conditions, and appropriate font sizes for learning materials.
By sharing the eye report, you are actively contributing to your child’s educational success by ensuring all team members are working together to provide necessary supports for your child based on their specific visual needs.
Medical practices often have their own eye report forms, and your state may have a preferred form, but here is a blank general form for reference.
