Vision & hearing screening
Vision and hearing screening are available as part of the clinic’s pediatric services.
One of these has a window
Most childhood vision and hearing care is not urgent. Amblyopia is the exception. It develops when the brain starts favouring one eye and sight in the other fails to develop properly, and found early — ideally before around age seven — it can often be corrected fully. Treatment becomes progressively less effective as a child gets older. A child who has never seen normally through that eye has no reason to mention it, which is the whole argument for screening rather than waiting to be told.
Not sure whether your child needs checking? A screening takes minutes and settles it.
Vision and hearing screening finds what a child cannot tell you about, because a child who has never seen or heard normally has nothing to compare it to. A screening is quick, it is not a full eye or hearing examination, and its job is to establish whether one is needed.
Is this your child?
Neither problem usually announces itself. What parents notice first is behaviour:
- Sitting close to the television, or holding a book very close
- Squinting, tilting the head to see, or covering one eye
- Headaches after reading or screen time
- Turning the volume up, asking “what?” a lot, or not answering when called from another room
- Speech that is late, unclear, or missing particular sounds
- Eyes that do not look aligned, or a white pupil where the red-eye should be in a photograph
- Grades slipping, trouble copying from the board, or being described as inattentive
What happens at the screening
- 01What you have noticedSquinting, head tilting, sitting close, headaches, and any family history of eye conditions. Older children are asked directly, and are often more observant about it than adults expect.
- 02The eyesPhotoscreening first: a device analyses how light reflects from the eyes, and your child only has to look towards it, which is what makes it work for babies. From about age three, picture or symbol charts one eye at a time, and a cover test for alignment.
- 03The earsDepending on age and on what is being asked: a video otoscope to look at the eardrum, tympanometry for middle-ear function, and hearing tests that for younger children are run as a game.
- 04Results, on the dayThe findings are discussed straight away — normal, worth monitoring, or worth referring on for a full examination.
What the equipment is doing
A photoscreener uses infrared light to measure how light reflects from the back of the eye. It picks up refractive errors — short sight, long sight and astigmatism — along with signs of amblyopia and squint, and it asks almost nothing of the child beyond looking towards it for a moment.
Tympanometry checks the middle ear rather than hearing itself. A soft tip sits in the ear, gentle air pressure and a quiet sound are applied, and the movement of the eardrum is measured. It takes seconds, it does not hurt, and it detects fluid behind the eardrum far more reliably than looking with a light alone. It is done here rather than referred out.
That distinction matters, because fluid in the middle ear usually causes no pain and no fever. The first sign is often a child turning the volume up, or answering “what?” more than they used to.
How long it takes
A vision screening usually runs ten to twenty minutes, depending on your child’s age and what is being checked. The photoscreening part of it takes less than a minute.
Tympanometry takes a few seconds per ear. Results are available immediately in both cases, so the conversation about what they mean happens while you are still in the room.
If something is found
A screening result is a signpost rather than a diagnosis.
- A vision concern is referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist or optometrist for a full examination, precise refraction and a treatment plan — glasses, patching for amblyopia, or occasionally surgery
- Fluid in the middle ear is usually watched for two to three months first, because most of it clears on its own
- Antibiotics are not usually the answer for ear fluid, because it is not an infection
- Grommets are considered where fluid persists past three months and is affecting hearing
- Where hearing loss is confirmed, the referral is for a full audiological assessment
Who you would see
Dr. Medhat Abu-ShaabanConsultant Pediatrician, Allergy Specialist & Medical Director
Dr. Tala BelbeissiConsultant Pediatrician
Every doctor consults in English and Arabic.
How often should this be done?
For vision: at the newborn check, at six and twelve months, a first acuity screening at about three, again before school at four to five, then annually through the school years. For hearing: the newborn screening, a rescreen at about a month if the first was not passed, a check at three to four, then annually at school age. More often where there is a family history, prematurity or a developmental concern.
My child passed the newborn hearing screening.
That does not settle it for good. Hearing loss can develop later, affect one ear only, sit in particular frequency ranges, or fluctuate with ear infections and middle-ear fluid. Mild and moderate losses are the ones that go unnoticed longest, and they are the ones that affect school.
Does any of it hurt?
No. Photoscreening asks your child to look towards a device for a moment. Tympanometry uses a soft tip and gentle pressure — the feeling of being in a lift — for a few seconds. Acuity testing is run as a game.
Is this the same as an eye test at an optician?
No. A screening is a preliminary assessment designed to decide whether a full examination is needed. Where it flags something, the next step is a comprehensive examination by a pediatric ophthalmologist or optometrist.
My child says “what?” constantly but seems to hear me some days.
Hearing that seems better on some days than others is a recognisable pattern, and it often follows colds and ear infections. Fluid behind the eardrum produces exactly that, usually with no pain and no fever, and tympanometry is the test that finds it.
Why does school performance keep coming up?
Because undetected vision and hearing problems are regularly mistaken for inattention, a learning difficulty or a behavioural issue. Screening is quick, and it rules that explanation in or out before anyone reaches for a harder one.
Your next step
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what is on your mind and reception will confirm the right specialist and a time.
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- Al Razi Building 64, Block B
Dubai Healthcare City