The vision of children with CVI has been described much like looking through a piece of Swiss cheese. Children may exhibit poor depth perception, influencing their ability to reach for a target. Vision may be better when either the visual target or the child is moving. Close viewing is common, to magnify the object or to reduce crowding. Overstimulation can result in fading behavior by the child, or in short visual attention span.
Children are often able to see better when told what to look for ahead of time.
Children with CVI may use their peripheral vision when presented with a visual stimulus, appearing as if they are looking away from the target. Some children look at an object momentarily and turn away as they reach for it. All children with CVI will have cognitive deficits. CVI is not a true visual impairment. Children with CVI are totally blind.