Refractive errors
Myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism. Detected via Welch Allyn Spot Vision Screener at every screening; confirmed with pediatric refraction when flagged.
SKIDS Specialty Clinics Specialty care · SKIDS
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snellen
Refractive threshold · the moment a child stops being able to read the board SKIDS · clinic
The reframe
Most Indian children with progressing myopia don't get treatment until their refractive error stabilises in their late teens — by which point the damage is structural.
One in three urban Indian children develops some form of refractive error before age 12. The most common — myopia — progresses fastest between the ages of 7 and 14, the same years the child is doing the most close-up screen work and academic reading. The progression is silent. The child does not announce that the school board is getting harder to read; they simply sit closer, squint, develop headaches, and underperform in subjects requiring distance vision.
By the time a parent or teacher notices, two things have usually happened. The myopia has progressed past the point where lifestyle interventions can slow it, and the child has lost six to eighteen months of academic and visual function that better screening would have caught.
The SKIDS Vision Clinic is built around this fact. Annual screening at the school or the clinic. Welch Allyn Spot Vision Screener as the first-line tool. Refraction, myopia-control discussion, amblyopia-risk review, spectacle support, follow-up, and referral thresholds are held together in one pediatric pathway.
Vision changes are visible months before the child notices them. Screening is what makes early intervention possible.
What we screen for · what we treat
What the SKIDS Vision Clinic brings into view.
Amblyopia (lazy eye)
One eye not developing normal vision. Critical to identify before age 7 when treatment is most effective. Screened via visual acuity testing per eye.
Strabismus
Misalignment of the eyes. Detected via cover test and corneal light reflex during clinical exam. Some forms managed in clinic; surgical strabismus referred to pediatric ophthalmology.
Convergence insufficiency
Difficulty maintaining binocular vision at near distance. Common cause of headaches and reading fatigue in school-age children. Detected via near point of convergence testing.
Colour vision deficiency
Screened with Ishihara plates. Genetic, not progressive — but important for the family to know early so educational accommodations and career guidance can account for it.
Vision-related learning concerns
Children with reading difficulties may have undetected refractive or convergence issues. Coordinated with the SKIDS Learning Clinic.
Our protocol
The SKIDS Vision Protocol, in four steps.
Diagnostic confirmation
Spot Vision Screener finding is confirmed with full refraction by the SKIDS pediatric optometrist. For amblyopia and strabismus, a pediatric ophthalmologist consult (in-network or partner) confirms the diagnosis.
Severity grading
Refractive error graded by dioptre (mild: under -1.50 / +2.00; moderate: -1.50 to -3.00 / +2.00 to +4.00; severe: above -3.00 / +4.00). Amblyopia graded by visual acuity differential. Strabismus graded by angle of deviation.
Therapeutic plan
Simple refractive error may need spectacles, lifestyle counselling, and routine review. Progressing myopia may need myopia-control discussion, outdoor-time prescription, and closer tracking. Amblyopia, squint, congenital concerns, or red flags are escalated to pediatric ophthalmology with the SKIDS record intact.
Follow-up schedule
Review cadence is matched to the child's risk, prescription change, treatment response, and referral need. Progression tracking continues inside the same pediatric record.
Specialty depth
This is not a one-visit opinion. It is a pediatric care continuum.
Screening plans are generic. Specialty clinic care is individualised after assessment. The SKIDS Vision Clinic shows the breadth of what can be seen, treated, followed, and escalated under one pediatric home.
6 connected concern areas, one child.
The clinic does not treat one isolated symptom. It connects parent observations, school signals, screening findings, examination, and the child’s growth story.
From finding to treatment to follow-up.
Care may include guidance, medicines, devices, therapy, diagnostics, allied support, school advice, or specialist escalation depending on the child’s need.
Ask the SKIDS clinic manager for the right plan.
The clinic manager explains the continued-care options after assessment, including what is included, what needs referral, and how follow-up is tracked in Companion.
Contact clinic managerThe team
3 people care for your child.
SKIDS Pediatrician
Runs the protocol, makes clinical decisions, prescribes, coordinates care across SKIDS specialty clinics. The same pediatrician across every visit.
Pediatric Optometrist
Performs full refraction, dispenses spectacles, manages the in-clinic optical dispensary, conducts the lifestyle counselling sessions.
Pediatric Ophthalmology Partner
Named pediatric ophthalmologist in the SKIDS network for confirmation of complex findings, surgical referrals, and quarterly intensive-pathway reviews. Contact established before any patient need arises.
What happens, step by step
From screening flag to active care.
Screening flags vision
Either the school screening or a SKIDS clinic visit identifies a refractive error or other vision concern. The parent receives a personalised report with a clear next step.
Continue Vision care
Single appointment at SKIDS Bangalore, typically scheduled within 7 days of the flag. The pediatrician and optometrist see the child together; full refraction is completed in the same visit.
Diagnostic confirmation and pathway match
If refractive error is confirmed, severity is graded and an intervention pathway is matched. If complexity warrants, the pediatric ophthalmology partner is involved.
Begin the intervention
Spectacles dispensed in-clinic. Lifestyle plan agreed with the family. Atropine prescribed if indicated. The child leaves with everything they need to start. Parent receives a digital plan in Companion.
Follow-up cadence begins
Review cadence is matched to the child's risk and response. The same pediatrician and optometrist see the child each time. Companion records every dioptre, every change, every year.
Why a pediatrician
Why a SKIDS pediatrician with this protocol, not just a pair of glasses.
A child who cannot see the board may need spectacles. But pediatric vision care does not end at spectacles. Myopia can progress. Amblyopia has a treatment window. Squint, headaches, reading fatigue, screen posture, sleep, and learning confidence may all be connected.
The SKIDS Vision Clinic keeps that wider picture with the pediatrician. Refraction, myopia-control advice, amblyopia-risk tracking, school observations, and follow-up stay in one record instead of becoming separate visits and forgotten prescriptions.
When a child needs a pediatric ophthalmologist, SKIDS escalates with context. The goal is not to avoid specialists. The goal is to make sure the child reaches the right specialist at the right time with the whole story intact.
What the data says
Why this matters.
Board-copying, headaches, reading distance, and screen posture are treated as connected vision signals.
SKIDS whole-child care modelMyopia care includes progression tracking, outdoor-time advice, and treatment discussion where indicated.
SKIDS Vision Clinic protocolAmblyopia and squint concerns need timely identification and referral when the signal is not simple refraction.
SKIDS escalation protocolEvery prescription, follow-up, school note, and referral stays with the child's pediatric record.
Companion life recordDifferent from a fragmented referral.
A one-off visit may name the problem. A SKIDS specialty clinic keeps the child inside a care pathway: what was found, what was started, what changed, when to review, and when escalation is needed.
Different from sending the child away too early.
SKIDS gives pediatricians specialty protocols, documentation, devices, allied coordination, and referral logic so more care can remain close to the trusted pediatric home.
Continue Vision Clinic care with SKIDS.
Specialty clinic care plans are individualised. Contact the SKIDS clinic manager to understand continued care, inclusions, referrals, and follow-up for this clinic.
A growing school and clinic screening dataset. Bangalore. HSR Layout.