When looking into the eyes of a child or baby, we can often see depths of untainted possibility. But children with impaired sight may never fully realize that potential if their impairments go undetected and untreated.

Children process up to 75 percent of learning through their vision, research shows. Because vision also serves as a learning sense, children with visual impairment may not learn to perform tasks as quickly as children with full vision. They may not be able to learn by mimicking the behaviors of others. Therefore, a child with impaired sight may be delayed in sitting, crawling, walking, talking or learning to read and write.

Young children are particularly at a disadvantage, since they have no way of knowing how normal vision "looks." In addition, they may not be able to communicate information that could help detect these problems.

Health care professionals need to be diligent in recognizing possible vision problems in children, as early as 3 months of age. Children with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and those born prematurely may have vision problems, including crossed or turned eyes (strabismus), amblyopia and uncorrected refractive errors that result in blurred sight. Children with undetected vision problems may often squint, turn their head when looking, avoid looking while they are handling toys, and have reduced eye contact.

Vision is the ability to take in, process and understand visual information. However, the standard eye chart detects less than 20 percent of vision problems in children. Eye testing should include analyzing how well a child performs on reading distance, eye-hand coordination, tracking skills (following movement), eye teaming skills (how well both eyes work together) and visual processing skills.

The prevalence of neurological-related vision problems is increasing. In the past, the majority of children with vision impairment experienced birth defects to the eye, such as congenital cataracts, trachoma and albinism. Today, the leading cause of vision impairment in children is neurological vision impairment, in which the visual processing areas of the brain don't interpret visual information normally.

Unfortunately, vision problems are difficult to diagnose. Often, the eyes appear to be perfectly normal, without observable abnormalities. Consequently, most children do not have complete eye examinations until they're old enough to talk and describe what they see. Developmental optometrists and pediatric ophthalmologists are trained to perform specialized testing to evaluate the health of the eyes, as well as the degree of functional vision in infants.

Once diagnosed, vision impairments require a team approach, which includes ophthalmologists, optometrists, pediatricians, and sometimes occupational, physical and speech language therapists. Vision problems interfere with the development of motor skills and language and general development. Studies have reported that children with vision impairment can be two to three times delayed in reaching developmental milestones. Developmental optometrists and ophthalmologists should consult with occupational, physical and speech language therapists to promote optimal general development. By understanding what the child can see, therapists will have a better way to implement their therapies.

Children who are partially sighted should receive regular eye health examinations from their ophthalmologist to ensure that their condition is stable and that they're not at risk for other vision problems. In addition, a low vision optometrist evaluates how children use their remaining sight and prescribes devices to help children reach their full visual potential. Occupational therapists can work with the low vision optometrists by setting up a program of activities to develop the child's eye-hand coordination and visual motor skills. These specialists assess central and peripheral sight, scanning techniques, visual processing, glare and contrast sensitivity, as well as a range of other visual skills.

Specialists and parents can help children develop their vision more effectively with vision stimulation activities. Visual cells of the brain develop as children process patterns, such as black and white stripes, high contrast circles and primary-colored toys. Without being able to process patterned stimulation, the areas of the brain that sort out visual information don't develop.

By performing certain activities, the child can stimulate the visual areas of the brain to maximize vision development. These techniques, however, are not exercises that strengthen eye muscles, or cure eye diseases or abnormalities to the brain.

The following activities will help stimulate a child's vision development. Specialists often can teach these techniques to parents.