Most children with a visual impairment are diagnosed before they reach school age. However, some children slip through the net, others develop a sight difficulty during their school years and those who are known to have a visual impairment may also experience difficulties if their eye conditions deteriorates.

The following are potential indicators of a visual difficulty. If in doubt, it is best for the child's vision to be assessed. Watch out for a pupil who:

• has watery, itchy or inflamed eyes
• keeps blinking rapidly or rubbing his/her eyes
• frowns, squints, or peers at work
• tilts the head, or holds work at an odd angle or distance
• closes or covers one eye when looking at books
• turns the head to follow the line across the page when reading
• appears clumsy
• bumps into people or objects
• has difficulty throwing, kicking and catching
• finds difficulty in copying from the blackboard or from a book
• confuses letters of similar appearance, such as c, e, a, o
• writes in large letters and not on the line
• presses hard with the pencil
• uses a finger to keep his/her place on the page
• misses out words and lines when reading
• complains that worksheets are too faint
• complains that s/he can't see the blackboard
• has difficulty setting out sums
• dislikes strong light or glare
• complains of frequent headaches
• works slowly
• has a short attention span

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