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Visual Acuity In Preschool Essay

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Question 1 Assessing visual acuity in preschool aged children can present some challenges that can affect testing procedures and results. Many of these challenges are due to factors concerning the child’s ability to communicate and their willingness to comply. An evident challenge is the ability to communicate directly to children, as their level of processing information greatly differs from an adult.1 Some ways in which a professional can modify their communication techniques is to listen and engage with the child, adjust to a pleasant tone, and make comments that compliments and reassures the child.1 When explaining a test to a child, a professional may also avoid medical jargon, use simple terminology, minimise language that is negative or threatening, and use positive instructions to assist in the child’s understanding of the test and how to proceed with the test.1,2 A child may be hesitant or shy when being introduced to a new person.1 It is important to build a good rapport, especially from the first visit, as …show more content…

The ETDRS chart follows the standard principles of logMAR notation, where each letter is equally spaced horizontally in each line on a logarithmic scale, and each row is equally spaced vertically by 0.1 log unit.4 The Lea Symbols chart also follows the principles of logMAR with log unit progression from 0.1 to 2.0 at three metres.2 It has been argued that logMAR charts are superior to other charts, such as the Snellen chart, due to its accuracy and consistency in measuring visual acuity.6 However, a study has found that pre-schoolers performed worse on logMAR charts in comparison to other charts and did not recommend the use of these charts in screening preschool children at a large scale.7 Both the ETDRS chart and the Lea Symbols chart adopt the 5x5 Snellen grid size for each optotype.1,8 An advantage of this is that each optotype are standardised to a scale that subtends to an angle of five minutes of arc at the appropriate distance for each

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