Pediatric Eye Exams at Eyes & Optics

Healthy vision plays an important role in your child's growth, development, learning, and everyday activities. From birth through the teenage years, regular pediatric eye exams help ensure that your child's eyes are developing properly and that vision problems are identified as early as possible.

At Eyes & Optics, we provide comprehensive pediatric eye exams in Farmington Hills for infants, toddlers, children, and teenagers throughout Metro Detroit. Dr. Lucas Wilson completed a residency in pediatric and infant vision at the State University of New York College of Optometry and has specialized training in evaluating children's vision and eye health.

Our doctors understand that examining children requires patience, experience, and an approach tailored to each child's age and developmental abilities.

Why Are Pediatric Eye Exams Important?

Children don't always realize or know how to express when they have a vision problem. They may assume that everyone sees the way they do, especially if they've never experienced clear vision.

Vision problems can affect a child's ability to read, participate in classroom activities, play sports, and comfortably complete everyday tasks.

A comprehensive pediatric eye exam can help identify conditions such as:

• Nearsightedness (myopia)
• Farsightedness (hyperopia)
• Astigmatism
• Lazy eye (amblyopia)
• Eye turns (strabismus)
• Eye focusing and coordination problems
• Other eye health or developmental concerns

Many childhood vision conditions respond best to treatment when identified as early as possible, while the visual system is still developing.

When Should Your Child Have Their First Eye Exam?

Children should receive comprehensive eye examinations even if they appear to see well and have passed their school vision screenings.

Infants: First comprehensive eye exam around 12 months of age.

Preschoolers: Another eye exam around age 3.

School-Age Children: An examination before starting kindergarten (required in Michigan), followed by annual eye exams throughout the school years.

Teenagers: Annual eye exams to monitor changes in prescription, visual comfort, and eye health.

Children with existing vision problems, eye conditions, developmental concerns, or a family history of certain eye diseases may require earlier or more frequent examinations.

What Happens During a Pediatric Eye Exam?

A pediatric eye exam is different from an adult eye exam because children have different visual needs and abilities.

Our doctors use age-appropriate testing methods to evaluate your child's vision, eye alignment, focusing ability, and overall eye health. It does not matter if the child doesn’t know their letters or can say which is better one or two, our doctors are prepared for children of all ages and developmental status.

Depending on your child's age and needs, the examination may include:

• Assessment of vision in each eye as well as both eyes together
• Evaluation of eye alignment and movement
• Testing of eye teaming and focusing
• Measurement of refractive error (nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism)
• Evaluation of depth perception, color vision, and other visual skills
• Examination of the health of the front and back of the eyes

Dilating eye drops may be recommended to relax the focusing system and obtain a more accurate prescription, particularly in younger children.

Our goal is to make the examination as comfortable and engaging as possible while obtaining the information needed to evaluate your child's vision.

Infant Eye Exams: It's Never Too Early

Your baby doesn't need to know letters or communicate verbally to have a comprehensive eye exam.

During an infant eye examination, our doctors use specialized techniques to evaluate how your baby's eyes are developing.

Testing may include observing how your baby fixes on and follows objects, evaluating eye alignment and movement, and examining the health of the eyes.

These examinations can help identify significant refractive errors, eye alignment issues, and other eye conditions that may interfere with normal visual development.

Dr. Lucas Wilson is an InfantSEE provider, offering comprehensive eye assessments at no cost to eligible infants between 6 and 12 months of age through the InfantSEE program.

Signs Your Child May Have a Vision Problem

Some children with vision problems have no obvious symptoms or do not know how to express their symptoms. Others may demonstrate behaviors that suggest difficulty seeing clearly or using their eyes comfortably.

Common signs to watch for include:

• Squinting or closing one eye to see
• Holding books, tablets, or other objects unusually close
• Frequent eye rubbing or complaints of tired eyes
• Headaches during reading or other near activities
• Losing their place while reading
• Tilting or turning their head when looking at objects
• An eye that occasionally or consistently turns inward or outward
• Complaints of blurry or double vision
• Avoiding activities that require sustained near vision like reading or homework

Why School Vision Screenings Aren't Enough

School vision screenings can help identify certain vision problems, but they are not a substitute for a comprehensive pediatric eye exam.

Most screenings focus primarily on how clearly a child sees at a distance. Children are smart and can squint or peak and pass a screening even with vision issues. Screenings may not detect problems with farsightedness, eye focusing, eye coordination, or certain eye health conditions.

A child can pass a school vision screening and still have a vision problem that affects reading, comfort, or everyday activities.

Our doctors evaluate more than just how clearly your child can read an eye chart, providing a more complete picture of their visual development and eye health.

Pediatric Eye Care for Children With Special Needs

Every child deserves access to comprehensive eye care, regardless of their developmental or communication abilities.

At Eyes & Optics, we have experience examining children with special needs and understand that some patients may require additional time, flexibility, or alternative testing methods.

Our doctors adapt the examination to each child's abilities and comfort level, using objective testing techniques when traditional vision testing isn't possible.

We strive to create a welcoming, supportive environment for children and their families.

Managing Myopia in Children

Nearsightedness, also called myopia, is increasingly common in children and often progresses as they grow.

While regular glasses or contact lenses can correct blurry distance vision, certain treatments may help slow the progression of myopia.

At Eyes & Optics, we offer myopia management options that may include:

• Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) contact lenses
• Specialized soft contact lenses for myopia control including FDA approved MiSight
• Myopia management spectacle lenses including FDA approved Stellest Lenses
• Low-dose atropine eye drops

Our doctors can evaluate your child's prescription, age, eye health, and rate of progression to determine whether treatment option your child would be a candidate for.

Schedule a Pediatric Eye Exam in Farmington Hills

Whether your child is due for their first eye exam, preparing to start school, or experiencing changes in vision, our team is here to help.

At Eyes & Optics, we're committed to providing personalized pediatric eye care in a comfortable, family-friendly environment. Our doctors take the time to understand your child's needs and help support healthy vision throughout every stage of development.

Schedule your child's comprehensive pediatric eye exam at Eyes & Optics in Farmington Hills today.

​​​​​​​At Eyes & Optics, we're proud to provide personalized eye care for individuals and families in Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Commerce Township, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake, Livonia, Northville, Orchard Lake, Plymouth, Wixom and surrounding Metro Detroit communities.