Many times medical insurance will cover office visits for medical issues such as: burning, stinging, itching, dryness, floaters, flashes of light, foreign bodies, conjunctivitis (pink eye), glaucoma, diabetes, etc. There are many instances where medical insurance will cover a comprehensive eye examination as well.

After you provide us with your medical insurance information we can determine if you have routine vision coverage through your plan. We can also check to see if you have met your deductable. During the examination, the doctor will determine if your exam can be billed to your medical based on what is found during the testing.

Although we do not need this information to perform an eye examination, it will help us to determine if a large change has occurred from one year to the next. It also helps us to find something more suitable if you are currently unhappy with your glasses or contacts.

No! Not all sunglasses are safe. Beware of cheap sunglasses as the UV coating wears off easily thereby exposing your eyes to even more UV than if you were not wearing any sun protection at all. Please call our office for more information on how to safely protection your eyes from harmful UV rays.

Almost all adults and children use computers throughout the day. Unlike reading text on paper, viewing a computer screen is not as easy on the eyes. The contrast between the words and the background is not as sharp and therefore much more difficult to focus on. The eyes are always trying to over and under focus thereby causing eye strain and fatigue.

Adults can make their computer station more comfortable by taking the following steps:

Look away from your computer screen every 20 minutes. This will cause your eyes to relax and force you to blink, thereby decreasing irritation and burning.

Make sure you computer screen is in the correct position. The computer screen should be just below your line of sight. If it isn't then either lower your screen or raise your chair.

Carefully check for glare and reflections on the computer screen. Position the monitor to minimize glare.

In some cases, these adjustments alone will not take care of computer vision discomfort. We always recommend a complete eye examination as some individuals need a prescription specifically for the computer. We offer an excellent office lens. Please ask us for more information!

Absolutely! Our staff is able to assist you in choosing the proper eyewear for your lifestyle. We also recommend this interactive tool to help you better understand all of the features available in today's products.

Drs. Kelvin and Stacie are happy to fit children with contact lenses. There are many factors that go into deciding if the child is the right age; there isn't a certain age that makes a child eligible for contact lens wear (for example, the child can be as young as 11 or as old as 16). The following criteria must be met:

• They have a suitable prescription for contact lenses
• They are mature enough to understand the dangers of contact lens over wear and mishandling the lenses.
• They must demonstrate maturity during the examination.
• They are mature enough to follow directions and maintain good personal hygiene. Good questions for parents to ask themselves are "does my child regularly brush his teeth, shower, keep his room clean, etc". If not, he may not be ready to handle contacts, as they are a medical device that he is inserting in his body.
• The child (not the parent) must be interested in wearing contact lenses (if there is no motivation by the child, they will not have success with their training and with the care of their lenses)
• They must complete a training session on how to insert and remove the lenses from their eyes. The training also provides the child with information on how to take care of the lenses. It usually takes about an hour to complete the training and is usually performed on the same day as the eye examination.
• The child MUST have a pair of glasses with their current prescription. There are times where contact lenses cannot be worn (if the child has a red, irritated eye, for example) and for when the lenses are removed at night before going to bed.

At Prosper Family Eyecare, we recommend that you bring your child in for an eye examination before he/she enters school. We also recommend bringing your child in earlier if you notice any problems or if the child's pediatrician recommends an eye examination.

80% of the information that children learn in school is processed through their visual system. Unfortunately, it is hard for children to understand what it means to see something "blurry" because it looks normal to them.

The nurses in our area do an excellent job at screening the children for visual problems. However, there are some children that pass the screening but still have a need for glasses (far sighted children). These children can have the following symptoms:

• Difficulty in school (especially reading and math)
• Grades start to decline
• Avoid reading/Do not read for pleasure
• Suffer from headaches

If you notice any of the above, please bring your child in for a complete eye examination.

There are a few reasons that this may be true.

1. Your child may be farsighted. Although he can read 20/20 on the eye chart, his muscles are working overtime and causing him to strain. This can lead to avoidance of work, headaches, decline in grades, etc.
2. Your child may have problems perceiving what he is seeing. Approximately 15-20% of children with learning problems have visual processing (VIP)/perceptual problems that are significant to interfere with school performance.
   
   VIP is the ability of the brain to take and organize visual information from the environment and coordinate it with other sensory modalities and higher cognitive function. Development of this system is an ACTIVE process and the rate of development is faster at younger ages.
   
   VIP is an important aspect of vision, particularly for children in grades 1-5. Just because a child can see clearly & comfortably does not guarantee that he/she will be able to make use of the incoming information. We believe that visual processing skills develop in most children without the need for any special attention or intervention. However, in some children the development of visual processing skills does not keep pace with the child's growth in other areas. This type of lag can lead to difficulty in the early grades.
   
   Examples of behavioral signs and symptoms associated with VIP deficits:
   • lack of coordination and balance
   • working slowly compared to others
   • skipping/re-reading lines
   • difficulty learning R vs. L
   • poor math skills
   • sloppy handwriting
   • difficulty learning the alphabet
   • poor spelling skills
   • difficulty finishing school work
   • difficulty copying from blackboard
   • not reading for pleasure

   Because 80% of learning is derived from visual processing, it is extremely important that children who are struggling in school have their eyes examined. We first recommend a comprehensive eye examination. We may also recommend special perceptual testing, which is a separate examination given by Dr. Stacie. During this testing, Dr. Stacie will perform a handful of tests with the patient. The tests will then be scored and compared to the normals for the child's age and sex. If there is a problem in any of the areas, either a therapy plan will be derived and discussed with the parents or the child will be referred to a specialist for further testing &/or therapy.

It is OK! Testing on toddlers is very different than testing on adults. We use pictures instead of letters and can check their prescription without ever asking them a question.

Beware of cheap sunglasses as the UV protection wears off quickly. With cheap sunglasses, your child's eyes are exposed to more UV light than if he/she were not wearing anything at all.

We proudly offer high quality, non prescription children and infant sunglasses with great UV protection. They range from $17-$25. You can also have sunglasses made with your child's prescription. Please call our office for more information.

We are proud participants in the InfantSEE™ program. Cooing, sitting up and crawling are signs that your baby is growing. Your baby's vision has stages of development too, but usually there are no signs to mark the progress.

The American Optometric Association encourages parents to include a trip to the optometrist in the list of well-baby check-ups. Assessments at six to twelve months of age can determine healthy development of vision. Early detection of eye conditions is the best way to ensure your child has healthy vision for successful development-now and in the future.

InfantSEE™ is a public health program designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an intergral part of infant wellness care to improve a child's quality of life. Under this program Prosper Family Eyecare will provide a comprehensive infant eye assessment within the first year of life at no cost. Please contact our office for more information.

Infant Milestones (courtesy of the Optometric Extension Program Foundation and the American Optometric Association):

Birth-6 weeks

• Sees in shades of gray at birth
• Distance vision blurry, primary focus is 8-10 inches from baby's face (the distance to their parents face)
• Stares at surroundings while awake
• Momentarily holds gaze on bright light or bright objects
• Blinks at camera flash
• Eyes and head move together
• One eye may seem to turn at times

8-24 weeks

• Eyes begin to move more widely with less head movement
• Eyes begin to follow moving objects or people (8-12 weeks)
• Watches parent's face when being talked to (12-16 weeks)
• Begins to watch own hands (12-16 weeks)
• Eyes move in active inspection of surroundings (18-20 weeks)
• Depth perception develops (20 weeks) (seeing the world in 3 dimension)
• While sitting, looks at hands, food, bottle (18-24 weeks)
• Now looking for, and watching more distant objects (20-28 weeks)
• Color vision fully developed (24 weeks)

30-48 weeks

• May turn eyes inwards while inspecting hands or toy (28-32 weeks)
• Eyes more mobile and move with little head movement (30-36 weeks)
• Watches activities around him for longer periods of time (30-36 weeks)
• Looks for toy he drops (32-38 weeks)
• Visually inspects toys he can hold (38-40 weeks)
• Creeps after favorite toy when seen (40-44 weeks)
• Sweeps eyes around the room to see what's happening (44-48 weeks)
• Visually responds to smiles and voices of others (40-48 weeks)
• More and more visual inspection of objects and persons (46-52 weeks)

12 -18 months

• Now using both hands and visually steering hand activity (12-14 months)
• Visually interested in simple pictures (14-16 months)
• Often holds objects very close to eyes to inspect (14-18 months)
• Points to objects or people using words "look" or "see" (14-18 months)
• Looks for and identifies pictures in books (16-18 months)

24-36 months

• Occasionally visually inspects without needing to touch (20-24 months)
• Smiles, facial brightening when views favorite object and people (20-24 months)
• Likes to watch movement of wheels, egg beater, etc (24-28 months)
• Watches own hand while scribbling (26-30 months)
• Visually explores and steers own walking and climbing (30-36 months)
• Watches and imitates other children (30-36 months)
• Can now begin to keep coloring on the paper (34-38 months)
• "Reads" pictures in books (34-38 months)

As optometrists, we are training to treat red eyes on individuals of all ages. Since the eye is our speciality, we recommend bringing your child to our office for any eye related issues.

Almost all children use computers throughout the day. Unlike reading text on paper, viewing a computer screen is not as easy on the eyes. The contrast between the words and the background is not as sharp and therefore much more difficult to focus on. The eyes are always trying to over and under focus thereby causing eye strain and fatigue.

More about children and computer vision can be found here: http://www.aoa.org/x5379.xml