Development Stages Of Child's Vision

A child's vision develops significantly during the first year of life but continues to develop during the preschool years. When a child is born they have the mechanism for vision but need to develop the ability to see.

Infants

Newborns see primarily in black and white and shades of grey. Newborn have a preference for faces and will then develop interest in objects. It is important that in the first 12 weeks of life an infant has an eye health. This can be performed by paediatrician to check the health of the eye and check for cataracts. By 8-12 weeks an infant will start to follow objects visually. Between 2 to 4 months the infant will learn how to move their eyes to follow an object as opposed to moving their head to scan. This is the beginning of visual tracking and eye teaming (moving the eyes together in the same direction). By 4-5 months a child's eye muscles would have developed the ability to coordinate movements and 'cross - eyed' appearance should reduce. Another exciting development is that children are seeing in colour by 4 months.

Four to six months

Between four and six months children have started to roll, push themselves up, and attempt to move. They are also quite skilled at grabbing objects and bringing them to their mouths for exploration. Visual acuity or sharpness has often developed by six months.

Six to Twelve months

Between 6 and 12 months of age children develop visual perceptual skills and improve in their ability to judge distances. These skills have developed as the child's motor ability develops as they transition from crawling to walking. Eye-hand coordination also improves significantly during this time.

Vision Problems in Children

- Myopia (shortsightedness) causes difficulty seeing distant objects clearly.
- Hyperopia (longsightedness) makes it difficult for a person to focus on close objects.
- Astigmatism causes objects to appear distorted and not sharply in focus.
- Poor co-ordination of the eyes - or the ability to use both eyes together
- Difficulty with eye movement skills. The ability to aim the eyes accurately, move them smoothly across a page and shift them quickly and accurately from one object to another.
- Poor focusing skills. The ability to keep both eyes accurately focused at the proper distance to see clearly and to change focus quickly.
- Problems with peripheral awareness. This is the ability to be aware that things are located to the side while looking straight ahead. This skill is needed for when crossing the street. The child needs to be aware of side movement aswell as looking ahead.
- Turned eye
- Poor eye-hand co-ordination

Signs of a Vision problem in School Age Children

There are many clues to a vision problem in a child. These signs include eyes blinking frequently, one eye turning in or out, red or watery eyes and squinting eyes whilst the child is watching television. Other common signs include the following:

- Holds a book very close while reading.
- Loses the place while reading.
- Positions head strangely when reading.
- Rubs eyes frequently.
- Sits very close to the television set.
- Writes crookedly with poor spacing.
- Leaves out or confuses words when reading.
- Tilts head noticeably when looking at things.
- Covers or closes one eye when reading.
- Complains of headaches.
- Complains of blurred vision or seeing double
- Complains of sore eyes.

If a child has difficulty with any of the above vision skills or presents with signs of a vision problem, your child will have to work harder at academic skills such as reading and writing. This can lead to headaches, fatigue and other eyestrain problems. It may even lead to behavioural problems in some children. Be alert for symptoms that may indicate your child has a vision or visual processing problem.

Optometrist

Please contact a behavioural optometrist if your child presents with some of these symptoms over a period of time.