The Faults of vision and the child

EARLY DETECTION OF VISION DEFECTS IN CHILDREN(3)

 

 

Although parents may be very attentive and careful, they are not specialists. They can however observe their child with commonsense and test its vision. To detect amblyopia, the mother can carry out a simple test.

She covers first one of his eyes and then the other with a folded scarf, repeating the test a few times. If the baby tears the scarf off systematically it is of no great importance and the test can be repeated another day. But if the baby continues to play quite happily when the scarf is over one eye but cries and wants to remove it when it is over the other, this is because when his "good" eye is covered he sees almost nothing and is probably suffering from unilateral amblyopia. The result of the test needs to be confirmed of course. Then make an appointment immediately with an eye specialist. If the trouble is diagnosed in the first few months of its life the child will recover its binocular vision without any problem. After 2 to 3 years of age, recovery may be harder. In any case, a complete eye examination must be made before the child is three years old and again before the reading age at around six.

ALARM SIGNALS

Special signs should alert the parents in the first few months of a baby's life. First, if it squints with one or both eyes. Slight squinting - and not constant deviation - is usually of no great importance but a constant deviation of both axes should alert the parents. After 8 months of age, every day may count for the future of your child's vision. If, after a few months, the child does not follow the movement of objects or seems to fear the light. If he does not fetch toys or seem to care about his environment, you should seek medical advice.

Watch out for the following: the child getting too close to his book when reading or drawing, tilting his head to one side, sitting too near the TV, rubbing his eyes, frowning, screwing up his eyes to see better from far, complaining often of headaches. A visual problem may be the cause of only one of these symptoms and can probably be corrected if taken in time.

MYOPIA AT SCHOOL

Myopia has greatly increased in our modern society where schooling often lasts for a great many years and reading is a constant requirement. City children as well as adults tend to live in small apartments and spend much time in front of the TV, studying computers or other screens. Systematic tests have revealed up to 40% cases of myopia. It should be borne in mind that although the human eye is designed to see from far, near vision is used constantly in childhood as well as adulthood. This near vision requires an effort that - as mentioned earlier - is called accommodation and entails in the long run fatigue and stress. As the child's eye is very "plastic" it adapts by becoming shortsighted. This slight shortsightedness enables the child to see from near and from far without effort and to read for longer without difficulty. But he then loses acuity distance vision acuity and will then probably need to wear glasses to see from far.

VISUAL PROBLEMS AT SCHOOL

At school the child uses his eyes a great deal. Three quarters of his time are spent in reading and writing which require near vision. He must accommodate all the time. According to certain studies, 50% to 60% of children have visual problems that impair their scholarship. It is of major importance for the child not to bend too close to his books and to have a good light.