This book is intended to be an aid to all who are concerned with
assessing vision and handling day-to-day problems during the growth of
infants and children. It is directed mainly to com- munity doctors,
health visitors, school nurses, general practitioners, paediatricians
and teachers. Members of all these groups have expressed to the author
their ignorance and indeed fear of visual problems resulting either in
nonchalance or over-anxiety based on the traditional misinformation
which most of us have about our eyesight. It is particularly important
that nurses and teachers should be able to identify and scale the
severity or otherwise of any visual problem. The book is not primarily
one of theory nor does it make any pretence of being weighty or
encyclopaedic. It is hoped that it will be of use in conjunction with
training courses. Those who wish to go deeper will be helped by the
references to further reading. It is inevitable that technical jargon
should creep in, but this has been resisted where possible and a
glossary has been provided in the hope that anyone interested in
children's eyesight will find the book readable. May 1981 P. A. Gardiner
Guy's Hospital 7 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to record my thanks to
the band of illustrators.