10 Eye Challenges Children Face That Parents Should Be Aware Of

Many parents wonder, “My child is bright, but why do they struggle with reading or focus?” In fact, hidden vision problems in children are surprisingly common and often go undetected by routine checks. Even if a child can see the board (20/20 acuity), they may still have subtle visual difficulties that make learning hard.

These problems can mimic “laziness” or behavioural issues, but are usually manageable if correctly identified. This guide highlights all you need to know about vision challenges in children and when to seek help. 

Why understanding children’s vision challenges matters (the connection between eye function and learning) 

Vision and learning are tightly linked. Reading and schoolwork often rely on functional vision skills, such as eye focusing, tracking, teaming, and visual processing.

In most schools, standard screenings are limited to distance visual acuity, such as reading letters on a chart. These tests do not assess how well the eyes converge, track words, or shift focus between near and distant objects. As a result, a child can pass a basic exam and still have significant vision issues that hinder reading and concentration.

Below are the must-know eye conditions in children, along with the major signs of vision challenges that can help identify and address learning barriers early.

1. Focusing issues (Accommodation Problems)

Focusing problems occur when a child’s eyes can’t stay sharply focused on near tasks or switch focus smoothly between distances. In other words, the eyes cannot sustain clear near vision or rapidly adjust to look from board to desk. This is often called accommodative insufficiency.

With this condition, children may avoid reading/homework, complain that print quickly becomes blurry, rub or close their eyes often, or get headaches/tired eyes after a short time reading. Some may also see letters jumble when reading. These are clear signs of focusing fatigue.

2. Poor eye tracking (Oculomotor Dysfunction)

This condition causes the eye not to move smoothly and accurately across a page or follow moving objects. A child with this issue will have trouble keeping their eyes on the right place in text. In other words, the eyes may “jump” or skip lines.

If the child loses their place when reading, skips short words or entire lines, or uses a finger to help track text, they may be struggling with oculomotor dysfunction. Some children may tilt their head or squint to compensate or read much more slowly than their peers. These symptoms strongly suggest an eye-tracking weakness that standard tests often miss.

3. Convergence Insufficiency (CI)

With this eye condition, the eyes don’t converge (turn in) properly during near tasks. That means the two eyes have difficulty working together to focus on a close object. In CI, the eyes drift outward at close range, resulting in double or blurred vision during reading or writing tasks. 

Children with CI may complain of double or blurred vision when reading, or that words seem to move on the page. They also experience fatigue easily, noticing headaches, eye strain or dizziness after a short homework session. Children may hold reading material unusually close or avoid near work due to visual discomfort.

4. Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD)

BVD occurs when the eyes do not align properly, even if each eye individually has good vision. This means that the two eyes do not work together, causing chronic visual discomfort. BVD often results from small coordination inefficiencies in the eye muscles or their neurological control.

Symptoms like headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, or light sensitivity are common in children who have BVD. Other signs of this condition include double vision, trouble reading, or motion sickness in cars or other similar environments. 

5. Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)

The “lazy eye” condition occurs when one eye is significantly weaker than the other and does not develop normal sight. This often causes the brain to start ignoring input from the lazy eye. Amblyopia is typically caused by misalignment (strabismus) or unequal refractive error, which means that one eye may require significantly stronger corrective lenses.

Since a child may not notice the deficit (since they see with the strong eye), the parent should always look for indirect clues. Affected children may exhibit poor depth perception, such as clumsiness in sports or difficulty with tasks that require both eyes to be used simultaneously. Other signs are frequent eye rubbing, leaning very close to read, and difficulty paying attention to visual tasks.

6. Double vision (Diplopia)

Diplopia is a condition in which a person sees two images of a single object. In binocular diplopia (most common in kids), the double vision disappears when either eye is covered, indicating an alignment problem. Monocular diplopia (where blur or ghosting is still present with one eye shut) usually suggests a lens/cornea issue.

With this condition, a child may report seeing two of everything or seeing “ghost” images. They often cover or close one eye to stop the double vision. The parent might notice them tilting their head to try to align the images or complain of eyestrain and headaches when both eyes are open.

7. Visual processing issues

Visual processing disorders (also called visual perceptual disorders) occur when the brain has a difficult time interpreting visual information accurately, even though eyesight itself is normal. Individuals with this condition have difficulties recognising shapes, remembering what they have seen, or making sense of visual scenes. 

Children with poor visual processing often struggle with reading and writing, even if they have clear vision. They may skip lines or read words out of order, as well as letters or numbers, which they might easily confuse or reverse. Messy handwriting and difficulty copying from the board are other common symptoms.

8. Poor hand–eye coordination

While this condition is closely related to visual-motor processing disorders, it mainly affects the coordination of the brain and hands. In most cases, the child’s eyes see correctly, but the brain fails to guide the hands smoothly. This can affect everything from writing to catching a ball.

A common way to identify this condition is to observe clumsiness in fine motor tasks. For instance, the parent may notice very messy or inconsistent handwriting, difficulty colouring inside lines, or a slow and awkward pencil grip. The child may also avoid sports or activities like ball games or crafts because they feel uncoordinated.

9. General eye strain (Asthenopia)

Asthenopia refers to eye fatigue or strain. It manifests as discomfort after visual tasks. Common causes are uncorrected focusing or tracking problems, poor lighting, or unergonomic reading positions.

The parent should take note of this condition if the child constantly rubs their eyes, blinks excessively, or complains their eyes feel sore or “burning” during reading. The child may also experience headaches frequently or feel tired during homework.  

10. Screen-related fatigue (Digital Eye Strain)

Prolonged focus on digital devices can cause eye strain. Symptoms overlap with general asthenopia but also include dry, irritated eyes due to reduced blinking. Screens at close distance demand intense accommodation and convergence, which tires the eyes.

During or after long screen sessions, kids may have red, itchy or watery eyes, and report “blurred vision” when they look away. Headaches and neck pain from poor posture are also common. If symptoms appear or worsen after extended screen use, digital eye strain may be contributing to the discomfort. Simple adjustments, such as taking regular breaks and maintaining the correct screen distance, often help. Persistent symptoms, however, should be assessed through a functional vision evaluation.

How Orthovision Singapore identifies these root causes

At Orthovision Singapore, assessment begins with a Comprehensive Functional Vision Assessment and Visual Cognitive Assessment that evaluates functional vision skills, including focusing, eye-teaming, convergence, and eye movements, as well as visual perception and sensory-motor integration.

The clinic also provides (Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology) INPP screening in Singapore for primitive reflexes. This is an internationally recognised method for identifying neuro-developmental factors that may influence vision and coordination.

Based on the assessment findings, we create a personalised therapy programme. This may combine vision therapy with reflex integration exercises under the ICORE (Integrated Cognitive Orthoptic Remediation) approach. The aim is to support stronger communication between the eyes and the brain.

For further evaluation or discussion of the child’s needs, contact our clinic for a professional consultation. Our team will recommend the most suitable next steps toward improving visual comfort and learning performance.