Baby Vision Test

9/27/2013

We were at the pediatrician yesterday for Kenzo's 9 month checkup and were asked by the nurse if we wanted to schedule a vision test for him. Huh? What? She explained that there is a vision test, not covered by insurance of course, that can detect a bunch of things such as lazy eye. My answer? "I'm going to have to look into that. Thank you". Here's the flyer they had up in the office:

Next I went to the Spot Vision Screening website. They use a machine that looks like a camera. From 1 meter away and in just seconds, this machine can supposedly detect the following:

Near-sightedness (myopia)
Far-sightedness (hyperopia)
Unequal refractive power (anisometropia)
Blurred vision, eye structure problem (astigmatism)
Pupil size deviations (anisocoria)
Eye misalignment (strabismus)

My first reaction is, what's the point of knowing if your baby has any of those things? They just want my hard earned $25. Then, if they do find something abnormal, it means off to a specialist for all kinds of tests and worries and is this really necessary at such a young age??

That said, I do worry about Kenzo's future vision. My husband has perfect vision and no issues there whatsoever. I on the other hand have some interesting vision issues. First, I have one eye that is nearsighted and one eye that is farsighted. Every vision test in elementary school ended in me crying because the nurse is saying I'm lying that I see an eye doctor and he says my eyes are just fine the way they are. They'd send me home with a note and my mom would have to follow up supporting my prior pleas and telling them they're idiots. Also, both me and my father have lazy eye. Mine was treated in many ways as a young child - eye patch, daily torturous eye exercises, and finally when all else failed surgery at the ripe age of 6. That didn't fix it either, not long term anyway, and to this day my right eye wanders if I get super tired or if I choose to freak someone out, haha, yes, I've learned to turn it out on cue - what a fun party trick eh?! With my history, I fail to find the benefit of learning whether or not my 9 month old baby has lazy eye...

I know some eye problems can continue to get worse and even result in blindness or other terrible things if not treated with exercise or surgery. But I'm thinking if we find an issue now there is nothing we can do about it for another few years. So, I'd rather spend that time not knowing there is a problem. Am I being ignorant here? If anyone has some insightful info to share, please do so with a comment below!!