Why Are You Here?

The first thing I ask a child during a developmental exam is “Why are you here?”  It may see like an odd question, but finding out, in the child’s own words, why they think they are in my office can be quite enlightening and occasionally quite entertaining.

Responses include:

• I am here to get my eyes checked

• I am here because my mother brought me

• I don’t know

• I am not doing well in school

• I have to get my teeth checked (this young girl confused me with a dentist)
   

Perhaps even more important than what children say is how they respond.  If they are confident and answer quickly then I can be assured that any visual difficulties have not affected their self-esteem.  If they are hesitant and do not want to talk to me, I have to assume their vision may have affected their self-confidence.  Poor self-esteem can dramatically affect school performance and social development.

When children have trouble developing reading skills they often develop behavioral techniques to avoid reading. They may become very quiet to avoid attention, or act out in class when called upon.  They don’t realize that their problems are eye related and then tell you they are having difficulty.  Instead they reach the incorrect conclusion they are stupid, and sometimes become a disruption in the class.

In cases where self-confidence is an issue, I often try to show children before they leave how glasses can help reading.  Hopefully by paying attention at the start when I learn whey they came, I can help them before they leave.

William Dodge Perry, OD

Optometrist, Falls Church VA