How does Aniridia affect the way a child sees?
Most young children will feel their vision to be ‘normal’ as they have never known anything else but their own visual world. At first they assume that everyone else has vision the same as their own. They do not realise that other people see things differently. Aniridia can affect vision in different ways depending on the level to which the iris is affected and if there are other problems with the eyes. Both eyes are usually affected but one eye may be less affected than the other. If a large part of the iris is missing then the sharpness of vision may be reduced so as the child may not see so clearly. This is because the normal iris and pupil reduce the amount of light entering the eye and help the lens to focus light to the back of the eye (retina). Without an iris too much light gets into the eye. This may cause glare and dazzle especially on sunny days. Without an iris the light will not focus sharply onto the back of the eye. This causes blurred vision. Usually children with Anirid
