Toddler failed vision screening at preschool

So are ophthalmologists common in the US? Here you always see an optometrist for eye exams, glasses, eye problems, etc, and an ophthalmologist would come into play if you needed surgery or had some serious disease. An optician is the person at the glasses store who helps with fittings, etc. Some of them offer eye exams, but they really don't have the training necessary to do a good job of prescribing corrective lenses--they really just want to sell you something, in my experience!

My kids started seeing our optometrist at 6 months old for their first check up, and go every 6-12 months, depending on what's going on (eye exams for kids under 18 are free here, but the standard is to visit once a year). He's pretty progressive and has a couple very high tech machines that let him check the health of the eye from the inside, and he is also one of a small number of optometrists who prescribe bifocals for kids as a way to keep the eye from weakening when the same prescription strength isn't needed for both near and far vision. He knows my kids by name and has an amazing memory about what they like and are interested in, and he does a good job of explaining what's going on with their eyes in kid terms to them. I would go see your optometrist next week--you should be able to get your questions answered, and an optometrist is an eye care professional who can give you better results than an eye test given at school or at a paediatrician's office.