Fully covered by OHIP for everyone under 20, at no cost to your family. Dr. J.C. Mungar examines infants, toddlers and school age children using techniques that do not require a child to read, speak or even sit still particularly well.
Roughly one in four school aged children has a vision problem significant enough to affect learning. Very few of them mention it, and the reason is simple. A child who has always seen the world softly has no idea it is meant to look sharper. There is nothing to compare it to, so there is nothing to report.
What parents see instead is behaviour. A child who avoids reading, loses concentration quickly, sits too close to the television or seems to be falling behind for no obvious reason. Those are often read as attention or motivation problems when the actual issue is that the page is blurry.
An eye exam is the only reliable way to rule that out. It takes half an hour, it costs nothing, and it either finds something worth correcting or gives you a clear answer that vision is not the problem.
The Canadian Association of Optometrists recommends this schedule. All of it is covered by OHIP, so cost is not a reason to delay any of it.
Checks eye alignment, movement and structure. Nothing is asked of the baby. Conditions found this early are much easier to correct.
Visual acuity and eye coordination assessed using pictures and matching games rather than letters.
The most important one. Formal reading begins here, and undetected vision problems show up as learning difficulties.
Children's prescriptions change quickly, particularly through growth spurts. Yearly exams keep the classroom in focus.
Between appointments, these are the behaviours worth noticing. Any one of them on its own may mean nothing. Several together are worth an appointment.
A sudden change in any of these, or an eye that has started turning, should be looked at promptly rather than at the next scheduled visit. Call the clinic and we will fit your child in.
This is the single most common reason children with vision problems go undiagnosed. A screening checks whether a child can read a chart across a room. That is one measurement out of many, and a child can pass it comfortably while still struggling.
A child who is long sighted can often read the distance chart perfectly while struggling to hold focus on a book for more than a few minutes. Screenings are useful, but passing one is not a clean bill of visual health.
The most common question from parents of young children is how any of this is possible before a child can read or reliably answer questions. The answer is that most of the important measurements do not need the child's cooperation at all.
Retinoscopy, for example, determines a prescription by shining a light into the eye and observing how it reflects back. The child only has to look in roughly the right direction. That single technique means an accurate prescription can be measured on a two year old, or on an infant.
Appointments move at the child's pace rather than the clock's. Some children engage immediately, others need a few minutes to decide the chair is not a threat. Both are normal.
Most of these are highly treatable when caught during the years vision is still developing, and considerably harder to address afterwards.
One eye develops weaker vision because the brain begins favouring the other. It is treatable while the visual system is still developing, and largely permanent once that window closes. It causes no pain and no obvious outward sign, which is why it is so often missed.
An eye that turns inward, outward, up or down rather than aligning with the other. Sometimes constant, often intermittent and easiest to spot when a child is tired. Early treatment protects both alignment and depth perception.
Short sightedness, long sightedness and astigmatism. Long sightedness in particular is easily missed, since a child can force distance vision clear while near work stays exhausting.
Short sightedness that worsens year on year raises the lifetime risk of retinal problems. Catching it early allows myopia control to slow the rate of change.
Eyes that struggle to work together or hold focus, producing headaches, double vision or words that swim on the page. Often addressed with vision therapy.
Increasingly common in older children and teenagers, with headaches and tired eyes after homework or gaming. Covered further under digital eye strain.
Every child and teenager in Ontario under the age of 20 is entitled to one comprehensive eye exam every 12 months, funded by OHIP. There is no charge to families, no co-payment and nothing to claim back.
We bill OHIP directly. Bring your child's health card to the appointment and that is the whole administrative process. If your child needs to be seen more than once in a year for a medical reason, that is generally covered too.
Eyewear is separate from the exam and is not OHIP funded, though many workplace plans cover children's glasses, and Ontario's Eye See Eye Learn programme provides a free pair to eligible junior kindergarten students who need them. Ask us and we will tell you where you stand.
Six months is the recommended age for a first exam. Nothing is asked of the baby. Dr. Mungar assesses eye alignment, eye movement and the structures of the eye using techniques designed for pre-verbal infants.
Conditions such as strabismus and amblyopia have far better outcomes when treatment begins early, which is the whole reason for examining this young.
Yes. OHIP funds one comprehensive eye exam every 12 months for everyone aged 0 to 19, and we bill OHIP directly. There is no co-payment and nothing invoiced to parents for a covered exam.
Just bring your child's health card. Eyewear is separate and is not OHIP funded.
Most of the important measurements do not require reading or speaking. Retinoscopy determines the prescription by observing how light reflects from the eye, so the child only needs to look in roughly the right direction.
Alongside that we use picture charts, matching cards a child can point to, and preferential looking tests for infants. Every child can be examined regardless of age or reading ability.
Yes. A screening checks distance vision and little else. It does not test near vision, focusing, eye teaming, depth perception, colour vision or the health of the eye, and it does not measure a prescription.
A long sighted child can read the distance chart perfectly while finding reading exhausting. Passing a screening is not a clean bill of visual health.
Usually 30 to 45 minutes, though we work at the child's pace rather than the clock's. Younger children sometimes need a few minutes to settle before testing begins, which is entirely normal and built into the appointment.
Sometimes. Dilating drops relax the focusing muscle, which matters in children because they can over-focus and mask a long sighted prescription. Without drops that prescription can be underestimated.
If drops are used, vision stays blurry and light sensitive for a few hours, so it is worth bringing sunglasses and not planning homework straight afterwards.
We fit children's frames in the dispensary, measured and adjusted in person. Adjustments and minor repairs are handled at the clinic, which matters a great deal with children's glasses.
Many workplace benefit plans cover children's eyewear, and Ontario's Eye See Eye Learn programme provides a free pair to eligible junior kindergarten students who need them.
Yes. This is the most important thing for parents to understand. A child with a vision problem is not withholding information, they genuinely believe they see normally, because their vision is the only vision they have known.
Self report is not a reliable screening tool at any age, and least of all in childhood. The exam costs nothing and takes half an hour.
Covered by OHIP, no referral needed, and half an hour well spent. Families from across Oakville, Bronte and South Mississauga are welcome.
