It’s important to make your child’s eye health a priority early on in life. This will teach them to continue to take care of their vision through adulthood, as well as help to prevent any long-term issues from materializing. As a parent, there are several conditions you should look out for as your children grow and their vision system continues to develop.
A specific problem that occurs in several children is accommodative insufficiency. This is a condition that affects the ability to change focus from near to far. Those with normal vision have eyes that work together and bring images into clear focus quickly. If eyes cannot maintain focus for a prolonged time, it’s likely accommodative insufficiency is the reason.
Symptoms of Accommodative Insufficiency
The symptoms of accommodative insufficiency are known to include blurred vision, fatigue, headaches, motion sickness, double vision, and lack of concentration. Accommodative insufficiency is most commonly detected in school-aged children. This is when it becomes apparent that a child is having a problem focusing on certain tasks, such as reading, writing, or copying from the blackboard. However, accommodative insufficiency is often mistaken for a learning disability or attention deficit disorder when, in fact, it’s a vision impairment that is causing the child trouble. In turn, poor school performance can be another warning sign.
Causes of Accommodative Insufficiency
Typically, there are a few different causes of accommodative insufficiency. Children who have had poor health overall and suffered from illnesses such as a severe flu bug, glandular fever, or chronic fatigue can develop weak focus. It can also be a side effect of some medications or visual stress. Children who are not able to develop good focusing stamina are prone to accommodative insufficiency.
Treatment of Accommodative Insufficiency
A pediatric optometrist should be consulted if accommodative insufficiency is suspected in a child to determine the proper course of treatment to take. A child may simply need to start wearing reading glasses, or the doctor might find it necessary for them to undergo vision therapy. This is meant to teach the brain the right cues for focusing.
Accommodative insufficiency can be an extremely frustrating condition for children to deal with, especially when it comes to focusing in the classroom and on schoolwork.
