Early Eye Intervention For Children
Children who have vision loss might have normal-looking eyes. It might appear as something about a child’s behaviour or habit that makes you think there might be a problem with the way he sees.
Most babies start to focus on faces and objects by 4-5 weeks of age. By about 6-8 weeks, most babies will start smiling at the familiar faces and things they see. Babies with vision impairment might have problems doing this.
In young babies, signs can be as subtle as:
– Eyes move/ jerk/ wander randomly or quickly
– Eyes don’t follow your face or an object, or minimal eye contact with family and friends
– Eyes don’t react to light being turned on or off pupils seem white or cloudy
– Eyes don’t line up but look turn in or outwards
We are launching the “Open Your Eyes” Preventive Eyecare campaign to highlight the dangers of not having a regular eye examination every two years and to encourage people to come in and have their eyes tested.
The main reason someone visits an optometrist today is that they experience some kind of vision change. Unfortunately, many symptoms of eye disease are either invisible or not immediately obvious, so it is really important that Australians of all ages not wait for a problem before seeing their local optometrist. This routine should start from pre-school years and then regularly thereafter.
Eye consultation is the main weapon against avoidable vision loss and blindness by picking up early signs of eye disease so it can be diagnosed and treated.
The 360 degree eye consultation includes a holistic and extensive eye examination plus advice on health, diet and lifestyle and the latest eyewear solutions for maintaining healthy eyes and vision. Once your child has a diagnosis of vision impairment, you can get access to early intervention services and specialists. Children with all kinds of vision loss can get a lot out of early intervention.
As parents, choosing the right toys for eye safety is important. Children are born with an immature visual system that needs to be stimulated in order to promote normal visual development. The good news is nothing stimulates a child’s vision more easily than a toy. But it’s important to choose toys that are safe. We will cover more on toys and eye safety in our next article.