Visual impairment can be common in children with CP, due to damage to their brain. It can happen at birth or soon after birth.

Vision impairment can range from no vision (blindness), or very low vision, to not being able to see particular colours. CP can also affect the way your child focuses their eyes and how they process visual signals.

Some of the types of vision impairment that babies, toddlers and young children with CP are more likely to experience include:

• cortical visual impairment – where the eyes can’t make sense of what they are seeing. This makes it very difficult for the child to relate what they see to what is happening
• refractive errors – where light passing through the child’s eye doesn’t land properly on the retina. These can cause:
• myopia – nearsightedness
• hyperopia – farsightedness
• presbyopia – a lens condition that can blur vision
• astigmatism – blurred or distorted vision either close up or far away
• oculomotor issues – which affect the movement of the eyes and depth perception. These can cause:
• esotropia (eye turns inward)
• exotopia (eye turns outward)
• hypertropia (eye turns upward)
• hypotropia (eye turns downward)
• strabismus (eye misalignment)
• amblyopia (a lazy eye)
• optic neuropathy – damage to the optic nerve, which causes vision loss.

Eyesight is an important part of your young child’s cognitive and emotional development. A lack of vision or vision impairment can cause:

• accidents caused by not being able to understand or navigate surroundings
• struggling to learn, read and write
• behavioural problems

The earlier your child can be assessed for possible vision impairment, the sooner they can be supported. Early treatment and interventions will help improve their connectedness to the world.

If you are worried about your baby, toddler or young child’s vision, talk to your GP or paediatrician. They will refer you to a children’s eye specialist, called a pediatric ophthalmologist, who will examine your child and carry out tests to determine if there are any vision issues.

They will then develop a treatment plan for your child. Sometimes, this can be as simple as providing your child with glasses to improve their vision.

In this section, you will find more information related to vision and relevant interventions and supports.