Visual impairment is common in children and young people with CP. Depending on the part of the brain that is damaged and how bad that damage is, it can range from no vision (blindness) or very low vision, to not being able to see particular colours. CP can also affect the ability to focus and process visual signals.

Some of the types of vision impairment that children and young people with CP can experience include:

• Strabismus – turning of the eyes in different directions
• Hyperopia – farsightedness (difficulty in seeing close objects)
• Myopia – nearsightedness (difficulty in seeing far objects)
• Presbyopia – a condition of the lens that can blur vision
• Refractive errors – insufficient or misplaced light in the retina
• Cerebral Visual Impairment – where the eyes can’t make sense of what the child or young person is seeing, causing difficulty focusing on objects, blurred vision, field vision loss, problems with fast eye movements, trouble recognising familiar faces.

If you have any concerns about your child’s vision, talk to your healthcare team about a referral to an ophthalmologist, who can carry out tests to find any vision issues. They can develop a treatment plan for your child and sometimes, this can be as simple as wearing glasses to improve their vision.

Some of the common signs that a child or young person with CP may have vision problems include:

• covering one eye while they are trying to read
• moving their head while reading, instead of moving their eyes
• squinting when they are reading or attempting to focus on an object
• holding books or other materials they are reading either too close to their eyes or too far away
• underdeveloped hand-eye coordination (the ability to do things that require the use of their eyes and hands at the same time)
• having frequent headaches or a feeling of eye strain.

Eyesight is an important part of every child and young person’s cognitive and emotional development. Early treatment and interventions will help improve their quality of life.