Amblyopia, also called lazy eye, is a disorder of sight due to the eye and brain not working well together because vision in one or both eyes does not develop properly during childhood.

The cause of amblyopia can be any condition that interferes with focusing during the first few years of life. This can occur from poor alignment of the eyes such as in strabismus (squint), one eye being significantly more nearsighted or farsighted than the other, an eye being extremely irregularly shaped or clouding (cataract) of the lens of an eye such that focusing is difficult.
A child’s vision develops during infancy. It is important to diagnose and treat amblyopia as early as possible, otherwise, a child with amblyopia will not develop normal, healthy vision. Early detection improves treatment success. Without treatment, in addition to poor sight, the child with amblyopia will also have poor depth perception, eyestrain and possible headaches which typically persist into adulthood.
There are clues that loved ones and educators can use to find out if a child has amblyopia. The first and obvious sign of ambyopia is a squint where parents, caregivers and educators are encouraged to observe the alignment of the young child’s eyes, looking for any inward or outward turning of the eye/s. Another clue that your child may have amblyopia is if he or she is easily irritated or cries when you cover one eye at a time when he or she is performing a visual task, such as watching television. If your child is not annoyed/bothered when one eye is covered, but objects when the other eye is, this may suggest that the eye you have covered is the “good” eye, and that the uncovered eye has amblyopia with poor vision. These simple, home screening tests while useful are certainly no substitute for a comprehensive eye exam by an optometrist.
Amblyopia is the one of the most common causes of preventable blindness in children. Have your child’s eyes examined to ensure he or she has normal vision in both eyes and that the eyes function together properly together.