Vision impairment is a term that covers many vision problems, as well as different kinds of vision loss including blindness & Low Vision. Vision impairment can happen at any age. Most vision conditions in children will stay the same through their life. Some conditions might result in vision problems for only a short time, but others might get worse over time, resulting in much poorer vision or blindness as the child gets older.

What is low vision?

Low vision is when your child can't see all the things he should be able to see for his age. Your child might have low-to-no vision, blurred vision or loss of side vision. Or his eyes might not be able to see some colors – this is called color blindness.

What is blindness?

A child is considered legally blind when she can’t see at 3 m what a child with normal vision can see at 60 m, or if her field of vision is less than 20° in diameter (a person with normal vision can see 180°).

The leading causes of Visual Impairment include cataract, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, corneal opacities, and diabetic retinopathy, trachoma, and eye conditions in children (e.g. caused by vitamin A deficiency). Age-related blindness is increasing throughout the world, as is blindness due to uncontrolled diabetes. On the other hand, blindness caused by infection is decreasing, as a result of public health action. Three-quarters of all blindness can be prevented or treated.