Assessment of visual acuity in toddlers.

Visual acuity in children 15 to 35 months of age is particularly difficult to measure. Children in this age range become bored with methods used for assessment of infants, but they are often not capable of responding to the tests used with older children and adults. Partially because of these difficulties, there is no widely preferred standard test of visual acuity for the 15 to 35 month age range. Instead, a variety of behavioral techniques have been used, with varying degrees of success. These techniques will be described and evaluated with regard to adequacy of norms, percent testable rates, test times, accuracy and similarity to adult standards of visual acuity assessment. Practical suggestions regarding the use of existing techniques and the development of new visual acuity assessment techniques for 15- to 35-month-olds will be given.