Kid's Eye Exams
Children rarely tell you they can't see well — often because they've never known anything different. That's why annual eye exams are recommended for every child, and why we've designed ours to work at any age.
How do you test a child who can't read an eye chart?
"My child doesn't know their letters yet — how can you possibly check their eyes?"
It's the most common question we hear from parents, and the answer is reassuring: we don't need your child to read, answer questions, or even talk. A children's eye exam is built around objective assessment — precise measurements and careful observations that tell Dr. Yu how each eye is developing, no matter your child's age. Your child's job is simply to look at interesting things. Ours is to measure everything else.
Catching myopia early changes everything
Myopia (nearsightedness) usually appears in childhood and tends to progress year after year as the eye grows. Higher levels of myopia mean stronger prescriptions — and, more importantly, a greater lifetime risk of eye conditions such as retinal detachment, glaucoma, and myopic macular degeneration.
The encouraging news: myopia progression can be slowed. Modern myopia management uses evidence-based interventions to reduce how quickly a child's prescription changes — but they work best when started early, while the eye is still growing. This is one of the most important reasons for annual exams: an eye exam each year means myopia is caught at its earliest stage, when intervention makes the biggest difference.
If your child shows early signs of myopia, Dr. Yu will discuss whether myopia management is right for them, and build a plan around your child's prescription, age, and lifestyle.
Children's Eye Exams
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Objective Refraction
Using retinoscopy — a handheld light that reads how your child's eyes focus — Dr. Yu can measure a prescription accurately without a single question asked.
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Eye Alignment & Movement
By observing how the eyes fixate on and follow a target, we assess alignment, tracking, and how well the eyes work as a team — key checks for conditions like strabismus.
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Eye Health Evaluation
The structures of the eye are examined directly, from front to back — an assessment that relies on Dr. Yu's observations, not your child's answers.
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Age-Appropriate Vision Checks
For toddlers and preschoolers, picture charts and matching games replace letters — so we can measure vision the moment your child can point.
