Signs to watch for early detection (As adopted by UNICEF)

General symptoms that may occur from birth:

• The child squints or blinks when looking at something.
• The child's eye are crossed
• The child favours one eye more than the other when looking at an object.
• One or both of the child's eyes turn in or out.
• The child's pupils are hazy.
• The child's eyes are tearing excessively, are red, or the eye-lids are encrusted with matter.
• The child turns or tilts his head abnormally.
• The child has frequent or persistent sties.

0-3 Months:

• Infant does not follow an object in his visual field.
• Infant does not play with his hands.

3-6 Months:

• Baby does not reach for toys in his visual field.
• Baby does not make eye contact when being fed or cuddled.
• Baby does not visually inspect objects in his hand.

6-9 Months:

• The motor skills of a baby do not develop such as rolling over, sitting or crawling.
• Baby does not appear to discriminate between similar objects or people.
• Baby does not pick up small objects successfully.

9-12 Months:

• Baby shuts or covers one eye when focussing.
• Baby holds playthings very close to eyes.
• Baby bumps into large objects when crawling.
• Baby rubs his eyes excessively.
• Baby does not attempt to grasp spoon or cup when being fed.
• Baby does not appear to notice interesting or bright coloured objects that are at a short distance.
• Baby does not imitate simple motor play such as waving bye bye.

1-2 years:

• Child's walking is delayed.
• Child bumps into large objects.
• Child is not interested in playing.
• Child is not interested in picture books.
• Child holds books or objects very close or far from the eyes to see them.
• Child appears to be afraid to walk or more in strange environment.
• Child is clumsy and awkward for his age.

2-5 years:

• Child stumbles over small objects.
• Child bumps into large objects, is clumsy and awkward.
• Child id not interested in games involving catching, throwing, bouncing or tagging.
• Child is not interested in tasks that require sustained visual concentration.
• Child is not interested in books.
• Child complaints of: headaches, nausea, dizziness, burning or itching of eyes, blurring of vision.
• Child can not see distant things clearly.
• Child places head close to the tasks he is doing.
• Child does not notice colour differences.

School Age:

Teacher or parent may observe:

• Child's body is rigid while looking at distant or near objects.
• Child has short attention span and daydreams.
• Child places head close to book or desk when colouring, reading or writing.
• Child uses unusual or fisted pencil grasp, frequently breaking pencil.
• Child has a spidery, excessively sloppy, or very hard to read handwriting.
• Child closes or covers one eye.
• Child dislikes tasks requiring sustained visual concentration; is nervous, irritable, restless or unusually fatigued after maintaining visual concentration.
• Child loses place while reading and uses the finger or marker to guide the eyes.
• Child has difficulty in remembering what is read.
• Child skips words and re-reads.
• Child has difficulty remembering, identifying, and reproducing basic geometric forms.
• Child has difficulty in sequential concepts.
• Child has poor eye-hand co-ordination and unusual awkwardness including difficulty with stairs, throwing and catching ball, buttoning and unbuttoning and tying.
• Child is easily frustrated, is withdrawn and has difficulty getting along with children.

Source: Visual Impairment Handbook
(By Bhushan Punani & Nandini Rawal)
Blind People's Association (India), Vastrapur, Ahmedabad - 380 015