EYE DEFECTS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25629, 19 October 1948, Page 3

EYE DEFECTS

ADDRESS TO WELFARE ASSOCIATION New Zealand had ideal conditions for regular examinations for eye defects in children, said Mrs H. Goldenberg, addressing members of the Association for the Welfare of Handicapped Children yesterday at the Normal School. Mrs Goldenberg, a nurse specialising in eye complaints, was talking about children with squints. The use of two eyes—binocular vision—was the evolutionary feature that had made man what he was, she said. At the age of six months or thereabouts a child began to use its eyes stereoscopically. Squinting could be cured by re-education. If the trouble was caused by paralysis, surgery probably came first, then the reeducation in using the eyes. Many squints—possibly 40 per cant. —could be explained psychologically. Many cases were caused by unhappy home conditions, Mrs Goldenberg said, giving an example of a small boy who was happy with his squint because it made him the centre of attention. His sisiter had squinted for some time and the boy had noticed that the treatment and attention given her was greater than he received. . One day he suddenly developed a squint. That case arose from unhappy family conditions. The methods of treatment were then mentioned by Mrs Goldenberg, with emphasis on the part played by parents. She paid a’ tribute to the cooperation of the modern teacher.