A squint, also known as strabismus, is a condition where the eyes are not looking in the same direction.

While one eye looks straight ahead, the squinting eye may turn inwards (convergent squint), outwards (divergent squint) upwards or downwards. This condition can happen at any age. It may run in families, but many people with strabismus have no relatives with this problem. 

Illustration: Convergent squint

Illustration: Divergent squint

Squints can be present all the time or be intermittent, occurring in certain situations, like when the child is reading, tired, daydreaming or looking in the distance. The eye that is misaligned may be always in the same eye or alternate between each eye.

A squint can result in defective binocular or stereovision (3D vision). Children with squints can also develop lazy eye (medically termed “amblyopia”) where vision in the eye fails to develop properly.