We are not born with a visual system that is fully functional. The parts of the eyes necessary for development to begin are present but, like everything we possess as a newborn, we need to experience our real world to learn how to use it.

A new born child interacts with the environment that is important to them and so visual development starts around 1 month of age at close distances of around 20 – 30cm. This is the distance necessary for feeding and interacting with mum and dad while feeding.

Interest then begins to move further afield and an increase in the ability to see in the distance occurs around 4-6 months of age. Now that sight is present the visual world can be explored. As a baby reaches out to touch items that are visually intriguing, the hand and eye movements are linked by primitive reflexes that begin the development of hand eye coordination. This visual motor coordination continues and begins to include the whole body as a child begins to crawl and walk.

Our visual system assists in telling our body how to move in space, where things are and what they are. When a child is clumsy they are not receiving good information in about where to put their body in space. The visual system needs to be investigated to ensure that it is not the cause of the inaccuracy.

It is vital for good visual development that a child is given every opportunity to interact with the real world and experience climbing, swinging, rolling, balancing, hanging and spinning. These experiences calibrate the sensory system of vision so that accurate information going in creates accurate responses coming out.

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