Infant visual development undergoes rapid growth and significant changes during the first few years. Infants are learning how to see and use their visual skills. Early detection and management of vision problems is recommended to provide appropriate vision development. Operation Bright Start is a program dedicated to early detection and treatment of vision problems in infants. A complete evaluation of the visual system in infants is possible through the use of age-appropriate targets and tests. An infant’s vision examination may include the following:

1. Visual Acuity Status (how well they see), comprised of:

• Refractive status ( nearsighted, farsighted, or astigmatism)
• Ocular health (active pathology or congenital abnormalities)

2. Visual Efficiency, comprised of:

• Eye teaming (identification of any eye turns)
• Eye tracking (large eye tracking ability)

3. Visual Information Processing, comprised of:

• Visual perceptual screening (fine and gross motor skills)

Toddlers are able to communicate and express themselves. They have entered a stage where they can use their vision to guide other learning experiences. During the preschool years, they need to develop visually guided eye-hand-body coordination, fine motor skills and visual motor skills. Because the child’s attention to tasks is longer than infants, more in-depth assessment of the visual system is possible. A toddlers' and preschoolers' vision examination may include the following:

1. Visual Acuity Status (how well they see), comprised of:

• Refractive status ( nearsighted, farsighted, or astigmatism)
• Ocular health (active pathology or congenital abnormalities)
  • Color vision (critical in the early grades because many learning activities involve color discrimination)

2. Visual Efficiency, comprised of:

• Eye teaming (identification of any eye turns, eye coordination, fusion and stereopsis)
• Eye tracking (large eye tracking ability)
• Eye focusing (eye focusing power)

3. Visual Information Processing, comprised of:

• Visual perceptual screening (fine and gross motor skills)

School-aged children require the integration of a number of different vision skills for classroom readiness and performance. For example, good visual acuity is needed to be able to clearly see the board and good focusing skills are needed to focus on books and other near work. If deficiencies are identified early in the child's academic career, proper treatment can insure that these deficiencies will not hamper the child's chances for academic success. Routine and regular vision care detects vision problems early allowing prevention of related effects on the development of learning skills. Examination of the following vision skills determines how well and how efficiently the child is using his/her eyes.

1. Visual Acuity Status (how well they see), comprised of:

• Refractive status ( nearsighted, farsighted, or astigmatism)
• Ocular health (active pathology or congenital abnormalities)
  • Color vision (critical in the early grades because many learning activities involve color discrimination)

2. Visual Efficiency, comprised of:

• Eye teaming (identification of any eye turns, eye coordination, fusion, and stereopsis)
• Eye tracking (small and large eye tracking ability)
• Eye focusing (eye focusing power, accuracy, and ability to change focus rapidly and efficiently)

3. Visual Information Processing, comprised of:

• Visual perceptual screening (directionality and visual-motor integration)