How to Recognize Blindness in an Infant

Have your infant's vision checked by a professional, as it's difficult to determine if an infant is blind or vision impaired. Ask your physician to check your infant's vision as soon as you suspect a problem, since the sooner a problem is detected the more effective treatment can be.

Instructions

• 1

  Extend your finger and hold it close to your infant's face. Slowly move your finger back and forth and watch to see if your infant's eyes track your movements.

• 2

  Take your infant into a dark room. Sit close to her and watch her reaction while someone turns on the overhead light. She should respond to the sudden brightness in a way that you can see, typically by blinking or closing her eyes.

• 3

  Use a pen light and shine it directly into each of your infant's eyes. Examine each eye to see if the pupil dilates with the light. If no dilation occurs, it's an indication that his vision is impaired.

• 4

  Find a brightly colored toy that your infant isn't used to seeing and place it in front of his eyes. Move the object up and down and side to side to see if your baby will follow it with her eyes and turn her head to keep it in her line of vision.

• 5

  Request that the visual response evoked test be administered to your infant. Ask the experts to attach the monitor that allows them to see the brain's reaction to visual stimulus.