Checklist for Delayed or Incomplete Visual Development in Infants and Toddlers
- Short attention span
- Limited eye contact
- Limited eye movements when tracking a toy
- Strabismus, or a noticeable eye turning in or out, and staying that way
- Covers one eye
- Looks out from corners of the eyes (“side viewing”)
- Poor coordination
- Delays reaching expected milestones, such as sitting up, standing, crawling or walking
- Inappropriate behaviors
- Lacks interest in peer relationships
- Lack of learning or reading readiness
Checklist for Social, Emotional and Physical Adaptations of Visual Problems
- Abnormal posture, such as head tilt or torticollis
- Toe-walking
- Self-stimulatory or repetitive behaviors
- Hesitant to reach for or catch objects
- Head movements while reading
- Turning or tilting of head while reading
- Misjudgments of distance, size and location in
- sports and play
- Slow reaction time and poor timing in sports or play
- The child is labeled as “unmotivated”,
- “distractible” or “lazy”
- Confrontational with authority
- Has emotional outbursts
- Poor self-image
- Shows aggressive or disruptive behaviors
- Awkwardness
FOSTERING Clinical EXPERTISE, RESEARCH & EDUCATION
Visual, DEVELOPMENTAL & EDUCATIONAL Services for your entire family
Vision: A Dominant Constituent of Development, Learning & Behaviors
Vision orients us to the world and gives us more information
as to where we are in our environment than any other of our
senses. When difficulties in vision arise, an individual has
problems dealing with the world around them; spatially,
organizationally and even emotionally. This leads them to
compensate for input elsewhere, leaving them with a
disruption of normal visual functioning.
When visual disturbances go undetected or untreated, a
range of difficulties may develop. These difficulties range
from trouble keeping one's focus or attention, trouble
sustaining eye contact or imitating others to developmental
delays and in more progressed cases, serious learning disabilities, behavioral and emotional problems and spectrum disorders.
Vision Goes Beyond 20/20 Sight
Too frequently, traditional eye exams only address the central process of seeing, which is determined by sharp/clear visual acuity, otherwise known as nearsighted, farsighted or astigmatic vision. Visual processing, however, including the complex functions involved in attention, tracking abilities, depth perception and sensory integration of vision involves much more than being able to see 20/20. In fact, acuity is just one of the 17 visual skills our office tests.
Specialization in our field and clinical experiences have proven to us that some of the most effective ways to gain a clear and complete picture of an individual's needs is to also evaluate their dynamic, real life performance. Therefore, in addition to examining your child’s vision, a detailed perceptual analysis provides us with more information related to your child's needs, development and behaviors. This analysis includes perceptual and performance based measurements for examining both our verbal and nonverbal patients.
The Benefits of Choosing a Developmental-Perceptual Analysis offered
by The Center for Visual Management
The Center for Visual Management takes a unique approach in evaluating the infant/toddler’s visual system as a whole, offering many benefits:
-Physicians with unique expertise examining infants and toddlers who are often turned away or frightened by traditional eye exams
-Acuity, ocular health and ocular-motor examinations
-Floor time interaction and observations to detect the child’s adaptive responses to visual spatial and performance based tasks. The child’s habitual performance is compared in pre and post lens intervention tasks to see if behaviors or performance can be modified. Some children respond instantaneously to lens intervention changes, while others may be seen to reduce or eliminate symptoms and behaviors over time.
A developmental-perceptual analysis is recommended for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old. This battery of testing supplies both the provider and parents with information on how the child is receiving, integrating, interpreting, and executing upon visual stimulus. As mentioned, the antithesis of a healthy visual system is one in which the infant or toddler can see, but experiences trouble in locating and paying attention to other dominant visual cues, as well as integrating vision with other individual stimuli or sensory systems.
Treatment and Management of Visual & Developmental Delays
A visual management program can create dramatic improvements for children. If a visual impairment is detected and lenses or therapeutic procedures are recommended, the goal of the program is to:
-Identify the degree and embeddedness of the disorder and outline a treatment plan.
-Design a therapy program to enhance visual development and efficiency. Exercises are presented in an ordered, developmental sequence, specific to each patients needs, requiring knowledge of human development, physiology, and the psychological needs of the individual.
Early Intervention is a better and more efficient approach to late remediation. Our doctors are approved providers for vision evaluations and therapy through the Dept. of Health- NYS Early Intervention program.
Parents or caregivers are encouraged to pursue an evaluation as soon as delays or symptoms are noticed. All too frequently, a parents concerns might be dismissed by professionals or parents are told to "wait it out." However, the earlier a visual problem is corrected, the more likely it is that a child can overcome the delays and become a more capable, communicative and social individual. Our office is equipped and knowledgeable in working with infants as young as 6 months old, so we encourage you to follow your instincts and not "wait it out."
The Center for Visual Management