Vision monitoring vital for infants, says expert
Exploration skills associated with crawling and walking, handling objects and training to identify objects with names should be developed in 1-2 years
KOCHI: Constant monitoring for vision problems during infancy is very important as children with impaired sight may not learn to perform many tasks, for they cannot keep track and learn the behaviour of others, says strabismologist Dr. T.S. Surendran, vice-chairman of Sankara Netralaya, Chennai, who is here attending a paediatric ophthalmologists conference. “Social bond with family members, sitting, crawling, walking, talking, learning to read and write could be delayed if there is problem with vision,” Dr Surendran who is
Dr. T.S. Surendran also harped on the vision stimulations to be performed by parents at home during the first five years to maximally develop a child’s vision. “The vision should be monitored by stimulating with contrast colours, developing movement tracking skills, encouraging child to reach out and grab near objects etc in the first year. This is followed by developing exploration skills associated with crawling and walking, handling objects and training to identify objects with names in 1-2 years. From 3 to 5 years, a child develops visual skills for reading and writing like tracking words left to right and fast eye-foot-hand coordination for playing games. If a decline in vision or activity is suspected, do not postpone doctor consultation,” Dr Surendran said.
The two-day conference named “Paediatric Potpourri-2016’ organised by Kerala Society of Opthalmic Surgeons and Cochin Opthalmic Club and SSM Eye Research Foundation in association with the Giridhar Eye Institute is being attended by 200 paediatric ophthalmologists from different states, apart from Dr Surendran. Dr. Mahadevan, president Kerala State Ophthalmological Society inaugurated the conference. Dr. A. Giridhar presided. Dr. Joggy Joseph, president, Cochin Ophthalmic Club and Dr. S.J Sai Kumar and Dr.Neena spoke.