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HOW DO I DETECT VISION PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN?

During childhood it is fundamental to detect vision problems in children. Timely identifying visual health problems at early ages is important to be able to stop them from developing on time. Visit an ophthalmologist as soon as possible for adequate treatment.

Everyone who spends a lot of time with children, such as teachers or relatives, must pay close attention to the children’s behaviors to be able to detect vision problems and prevent learning or attention issues, since it is very difficult for them to be able to detect and communicate it by themselves.

There are many signals in children’s behavior that help us detect children’s vision problems. Below, we will tell you how to detect vision problems in children.

 

 

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DETECT VISION PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN?

Vision is one of the most important senses for a child during childhood, since much of their leaning depends on it. Until the age of 12, children receive almost 80% of their learning through their eyes.

When a child has vision problems, they may be affected in different aspects of their lives, such as, for example, poor school performance, difficulty relating with other children, practicing any type of sport, and even in the development of their own personality.

One of the major handicaps we run into detecting any type of visual defect is related to the child’s communication capacity. Or because they don’t know how to communicate that they don’t see well, because they don’t know what seeing well or seeing poorly is like because they’ve always lived that way, or because they ended up adapting to circumstances. This type of situation makes early detection difficult.

Below, we describe some signs to detect if a child has any type of vision problem.

Child under the age of three::

  • Has problems focusing and therefore it is very complicated to look one in the eye.
  • Suffers from photophobia (sensitivity to light).
  • Touches eyes often or blinks a lot.
  • Eyes twitch or move in a strange way.
  • Babies have to follow objects or lights with their sight. If they don’t, it’s recommendable to pay attention.
  • One or both eyelids are droopy
  • Pupils are opaque or uneven

 

Child from 3 to 6 years of age:

  • Difficulty understanding what they read.
  • Has difficulty correctly choosing colors when coloring or drawing.
  • Their attention capacity is very low or null because of their own visual difficulties. Make the boy or girl lose interest in reading or playing because they get very tired due to the visual strain.
  • They acquire poor postures when doing homework: may indicate a lack of visual sharpness and an attempt to focus and see better. A very common problem is suffering from torticollis.
  • They look at something either from very far or very close. This occurs when the boy or girl does not see well up close or from far away. When they don’t see well up close, for example, they tend to come very close to the paper to be able to distinguish the letters.
  • They close their eyes a bit to be able to focus well: these are involuntary movements they make to be able to focus better on everything they see. Sometimes, at school when they look at the whiteboard they cover or wink an eye to see better.
  • Their eyes strain and they have frequent headaches when reading.
  • They constantly get close to the book or screen because of medium or short distance problems.
  • They have coordination issues, they run into many objects and have difficulties doing sports.
  • They tend not to look you in the eye, above all when the child is tired.

 

CONSEQUENCES OF VISUAL PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN

As a consequence of the visual problems a child may suffer, in addition to the signs indicated above, there are certain behaviors that may derive from this problem but that are not directly related, such as, for example, getting easily distracted, having an aggressive behavior, getting very nervous, constantly trying to rest or resisting change.

If you notice your small child has one of these behaviors, it is recommendable to visit the glasses store or ophthalmologist as soon as possible to get a diagnosis. Visual problems the child may have include: farsightedness, astigmatism, nearsightedness, lazy eye or strabismus.