Pediatric Eye Care Wayzata
It is crucial to schedule regular eye exams for your children since young kids discover and explore the world around them through their sense of sight. Our team of doctors at the Wayzata clinic will ensure your child has all the visual resources needed for optimal growth and development. It might seem challenging to bring your children in for eye appointments. But, our highly skilled doctors will make sure it’s a fun experience for your child while incorporating state-of-the-art techniques and technology to provide accurate testing and results.
The American Optometric Association (AOA) recommends that children have complete eye exams at six months, three years, before the start of first grade, and yearly after that. By creating a regular schedule for your child’s comprehensive eye exams, our doctors will be able to diagnose and treat any vision injuries, issues, or diseases early. Thanks to early detection, our Wayzata doctors can treat any problems before your child has permanent damage or even just difficulty in school. Our exams test for visual acuity, eye tracking and focusing skills, nearsightedness, farsightedness, amblyopia, crossed eyes, dyslexia, and color blindness. Catching any issues early is critical to your child’s overall health because childrens’ eyes change quickly as they grow.
Infant Eye Exams: Birth to 24 Months
Our Wayzata doctors participate in the InfantSEE program, which provides a free eye exam between the ages of 6-12 months. Your baby has to learn how to focus, move their eyes, and use them together as a team in their first few months of life. Your baby will interact with and understand the world around them as their visual system gradually develops, helping the brain learn to process visual information. Eyesight development goes hand in hand with base motor development. Proper advancement will help your baby learn to use hand-eye coordination, crawl, and later walk.
By six months, your baby will be able to see as well as you can in terms of color vision, depth perception, and focusing ability. Our doctors will ensure that your baby is developing on track and seeing correctly during the comprehensive infant eye exam at our Wayzata clinic. Our doctors use the following tests to assess the progress of development:
If your infant was born premature or showed any signs of developmental delay, our Wayzata doctors require you to schedule more frequent visits. Our doctors will be able to track your baby’s progress and provide the best care this way.
Preschool Eye Exams:
Ages 2 to 5
Scheduling a preschool eye exam is critical because toddlers and preschoolers experience radical growth in their motor and intellectual skills. But, around five to 10% of kids this age have vision problems, impacting their hand-eye coordination, perceptual abilities, and development of fine motor skills. Children depend on having good vision and proper visual processes to read and write, play sports, and participate in creative activities like painting, building, and drawing.
Your child will have a better success rate if conditions are treated early on, so parents should look out for signs of developmental delays. Notice your child frequently squinting, rubbing their eyes, avoiding activities like coloring or puzzles, or sitting very close to the television? It might be worthwhile to schedule a visit to our Wayzata clinic.
School-Age Eye Exams:
Ages 6 to 18
Children and teens can suffer academically, athletically, socially, and personally when vision problems are left undetected or uncorrected. The first sign of a preexisting eye condition in kids and teens is trouble in school or after-school activities. You may notice your child getting frustrated quickly or displaying other behavior problems. It’s scary for children to experience difficulties with reading, focusing, hand-eye coordination, and teaming their eyes, so they may be expressing this through frustration. Let your child know that vision abnormalities can be corrected, and that it’s normal for them to be experiencing vision issues.
Our Wayzata clinic doctors will test your child’s basic visual acuity, along with binocular capabilities, peripheral and color vision, focusing, tracking, and hand-eye coordination. They will also check the area around and inside the eye to check for any eye diseases or other health conditions.
Children’s Eyeglasses, Contacts, and Other Services
Our doctors will present various therapeutic options if we find any vision problems with your child. They will vary from eyeglasses or contact lenses, an eye patch, or vision therapy, depending on the condition. Our Wayzata eye clinic prioritizes diagnosing any vision or eye issues as early as possible since most are much easier to treat when caught early on while the eyes are still developing.
You can help your child reach their healthy vision potential by following the guidelines for their eye exams and learning how to identify signs of vision problems. Our office partners with an assortment of insurance companies such as VSP, Eyemed, Medica, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Health Partners, and many more, to better assist you and your child in your eyecare experience.
Locations & Doctors
We are excited to bring you a team of exceptionally skilled doctors that provide each patient with unforgettable optical expertise and care. We guarantee that every patient will have a remarkable experience accompanied by an in-depth educational experience regarding their optical conditions. Our award-winning doctors establish lasting relationships with each patient, so they’re informed and receptive in every visit. With clarity and comfort, Art of Optiks guarantees an unforgettable customer experience every time.
Our office is spread between two locations that provide a variety of services to our patients. Our doctors, Timothy Haupert and Victoria Whitman, are located at offices in Wayzata and Edina, Minnesota. Art of Optiks also offers Vision Therapy at our Edina location, which is utilized to improve the quality and efficiency of vision in patients of all ages.
