Signs That Your Child Has a Vision Problem

Who we’re looking for:

As a Receptionist/Optometric Assistant, you will be the first point of contact for our patients! We are looking for a friendly, warm face to welcome patients and offer administrative support across the practice.

This is a full time Receptionist/Optometric Assistant position. Experience in the optical or eye care industry is not required but would be an asset. Training will be provided to the successful candidate to ensure a smooth and successful start with our practice. Our office is open Monday – Friday from 9am – 5pm, closed on weekends and all statutory holidays.

Your day-to-day will include:

• Greeting and attending patients in person and via the phone
• Professionally assisting doctors, staff, visitors and patients
• Answering all phone calls in a professional and courteous manner
• Scheduling appointments between Optometrist and patients/Opticians and patients
• Liaison between departments, specialist/ophthalmologist offices, and pharmacies with discretion and professionalism
• Telephone triage of eye care emergencies
• Complete accurate documentation of patient visits, maintaining patient records (electronic and paper), updating patient demographic information
• Ensuring that stock levels are adequate and orders are timely
• Communicate medical information and results to patients (under clinical supervision)
• General accounting, billing to patients, billing to insurance companies
• Ensuring the reception area is tidy
• Receiving, sorting and distributing daily e-mails, mail and deliveries
• Maintaining business inventory such as office supplies, eye drops, and contact lenses
• Scheduling maintenance and repair of office equipment
• Updating calendars and scheduling meetings
• Performing all duties within HIPPA regulations, maintaining confidentiality of all doctor, staff and patient information

Requirements:

• High School Diploma or GED Required
• 1 year + reception/customer service experience is ideal
• Experience in the optical or eye care industry is not required but would be an asset
• Great communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to adapt to a fast-paced and often-changing work environment
• Familiarity with computers and an ability to adapt to and learn new technology and software

A little bit about us:

Spectrum Eyecare & Eyewear was founded in 1976 by Dr. Peter McGuigan and we have been helping High River and surrounding area SEE for over 40 years! The practice has had locations in downtown High River before moving to its present home on 3^RD Ave in January of 2019.

Dr. Tannis Shakya joined the practice as an associate in January of 2004, and became a partner in February 2006. Dr. Shakya maintains custody of Dr. McGuigan’s patient files following his retirement in April of 2022. Dr. Karlie Tweed joined the practice full-time in August 2023.

We offer a full range of eye health services to clients of all ages – from comprehensive eye health assessments, ocular disease diagnosis and treatment, post-operative care, contact lens evaluation and more – all with personalized attention and a smile.

Please forward us your resume (office@spectrumeyecare.ca) or drop by in person if you are interested in joining our team!

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Healthy eyes and good vision are essential for your child’s growth and development. In fact, learning is 80% visual, which means a child’s success in school, athletics and many other aspects of life can be impacted by poor vision. Good vision goes beyond how far you can see, and also includes a number of other skills such as visual processing and eye movement abilities. 

Often times vision deficiencies are at the root of learning problems and behavioral issues and may unfortunately go unchecked and misdiagnosed. Remember, if your child is having trouble in school, an eye exam and a pair of prescription glasses is a much easier solution than treating a learning disorder or ADHD; yet many people fail to check that first. 

It is common for children to think that their vision deficiency is normal and therefore they often won’t report it to parents or teachers. That is why it is even more important to know what to look for. Here are some signs that your child may have a vision problem:

Vision Signs

• Squinting or blinking often
• Eye rubbing
• Tilting the head to the side
• Covering one eye
• One eye that turns out or in
• Reporting double vision
• Holding books or reading materials very close to the face

Behavioral Signs

• Complaining of headaches or eye fatigue
• Short attention span
• Difficulty reading
• Losing their place frequently when reading
• Avoiding reading or any activity that requires close work
• Problems with reading comprehension or recall
• Behavioral issues that stem from frustration and/or boredom
• Poor performance and achievement in school or athletics
• Working twice as hard to achieve minimal performance in school

Another issue is that many parents and teachers think that a school vision screening is sufficient to assess a child’s vision, so if that test comes back okay, they believe there is no vision problem. This however, is far from the case. A school vision test usually only assesses visual acuity for distance vision or how far a child can see. Even a child with 20/20 vision can have significant vision problems that prevent them from seeing, reading and processing visual information. 

Every child of school age should have comprehensive eye and vision exams on a regular, yearly basis to assess their eye and vision health, and ensure that any issues are addressed as soon as possible. It’s also important to have an exam prior to entering kindergarten, as undetected lazy eye may be more complicated to treat past seven years of age. 

Some of the issues the eye doctor may look for, in addition to good visual acuity, are the ability to focus, eye teaming and tracking, visual perception, hand-eye coordination, depth perception and peripheral vision. They will also assess the health of the eye and look for any underlying conditions that may be impairing vision. Depending on the problem the eye doctor may prescribe eyeglasses, contact lenses or vision therapy to correct the issue. 

During the school years a child’s eyes and vision continue to develop and change so it is important to continually check in on your child’s vision. If you have a family history of vision problems, follow-ups are even more important. Progressive conditions like progressive myopia, strabismus (crossed eyes), amblyopia (lazy eye) or astigmatism can be treated and monitored for changes with early treatment so it’s important to seek a doctor’s diagnosis as soon as signs or symptoms are present. 

Make sure that your child has the best possible chances for success in school and add a comprehensive eye exam to your back to school to-do list.