{"id":19877,"date":"2021-11-04T10:36:05","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T10:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/?page_id=19877"},"modified":"2021-11-04T10:36:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T10:36:05","slug":"visual-development-a-key-part-of-childhood","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/guide-to-visual-development\/visual-development-a-key-part-of-childhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Visual Development: A Key Part of Childhood\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A child’s learning, motor ability, and cognitive function are all influenced by their visual development.<\/b><\/h2>\n

A substantial part of eye anatomy and vision development occurs within the first few years of life, but they continue to improve well into the school years.<\/p>\n

Healthy visual development is essential for your infant to reach their developmental milestones in a timely manner and can later on influence their academic performance and sports abilities. <\/b><\/p>\n

Vision development and the brain<\/b><\/h2>\n

An infant’s brain is far from fully developed, as nerves and neural pathways mature throughout the first few decades of life\u2014 but critical development occurs in the first 5-7 years.<\/p>\n

Visual development<\/a> includes strengthening of the child’s focusing skills, as well the extraocular muscles<\/a> that control eye movement.<\/p>\n

Accurate eye movements allow an infant to use their eyes as a team and track objects as they move through space \u2014 skills that are vital for life.<\/b><\/p>\n

Infancy<\/b><\/h2>\n

Infants are attracted to movement, patterns, and colors, such as pinwheels and crib mobiles.<\/p>\n

In fact, any form of visual stimulation will attract a child’s attention during the first two years of life. Developmental specialists refer to this as \u2018preferential looking\u2019, which means that the eyes will automatically look towards a moving object rather than a stationary one, especially if it one that is brightly colored or has more contrast than one with more subdued hues.<\/p>\n

All visual stimuli will help children establish more connections between the nerves in the brain. These connections enable children to make sense of their environment with their growing visual skills.<\/p>\n

In other words, a well developed visual system helps children learn and develop their other senses.<\/p>\n

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you<\/a> to ensure your child\u2019s vision is developing properly.<\/b><\/p>\n

SEE RELATED: <\/strong>Vision Development and Milestones<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t

Find an eye doctor near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t
\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t