You may easily find answers to your questions below. If you still have questions, contact your nearest eye doctor experienced in children’s vision.

Over 2.5 billion children have vision problems, yet 80% of those are preventable.

A comprehensive eye exam will assess not only a child’s vision, but can also detect problems with their eye health and general health.

Schedule an appointment with an eye doctor near you for a comprehensive eye exam to ensure your child has healthy vision and to check for eye diseases and other health problems.

SEE RELATED: Does your Child have a Learning Difficulty?

Here are some frequently asked questions related to pediatric eye health:

1. How regularly should children visit an eye doctor?

The American Optometric Association and the American Public Health Association recommend that children have their first eye exam at 6-12 months of age.

After their first eye exam your optometrist will let you know when their next exam is due. At a minimum, they should return for an eye exam every 1-2 years.

Once a child starts school, they should have  a comprehensive eye exam once a year, or as recommended by their eye doctor.

2. Is a school vision screening sufficient for my child?

No.

School vision screenings are insufficient since they are only intended to detect a few vision problems, such as myopia (nearsightedness).

A thorough eye exam, on the other hand, allows an eye doctor to evaluate a child’s vision and eye health, as well as visual skills like focusing and eye tracking. Since a child’s visual skills are important to their academic success, eye doctors suggest that children have a comprehensive eye exam before starting school and every year after that.

Schedule an appointment with an eye doctor near you to have your child’s vision checked.

3. How does vision play a role when children are diagnosed as dyslexic or learning disabled?

Not every child who has been diagnosed with a learning disability and/or ADHD actually has one or both of these conditions.

Undiagnosed vision problems sometimes present with the same signs and symptoms as dyslexia and attention disorders.

Of course, children with dyslexia, ADHD, and other conditions can experience vision problems at the same time. When children’s vision issues are addressed, they also find it easier to learn.

It is estimated that 25% of school-aged children have an undiagnosed vision problem that could interfere with learning.

4. At what age can a child wear contact lenses?

There is no set age when a child may begin wearing contact lenses. In fact, 4 million children under the age of 18 in the United States wear contacts.

Contact lenses are particularly well suited for children after the age of 8 years.

Many children love wearing contacts especially for active or sports-loving children, and they are an excellent treatment choice for children with myopia.

They may be prescribed for children as young as six months old due to congenital cataracts or other infant eye disorders.

5. My child keeps breaking their glasses. Are there effective long-lasting glasses for children?

There is a wide selection of frames for children that are specifically built to be flexible and withstand a sufficient amount of mechanical stress.

Some children, on the other hand, can manage to break, bend, or damage their glasses, that is why having a spare pair of glasses is advised.

Early vision care can help your child reach their full learning potential.

LEARN MORE: Vision for School

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you to ensure your child’s vision remains clear and healthy.

The post Children’s Vision: FAQs appeared first on Optometrists.org.

If a child has some kind of visual dysfunction, it can hinder their academic performance and affect their reading fluency.

Children who struggle with reading fluency are often intelligent and bright, but somehow they have difficulty reading.

If your child avoids reading or is not reading to their potential, contact an eye doctor near you, as they may have an undetected visual problem.

SEE RELATED: How Does Vision Therapy Boost Self Confidence?

What is reading fluency?

Reading fluency is the ability to read quickly, accurately, clearly and with expression. Children must be able to read fluently, whether aloud or quietly to themselves, in order to comprehend what they read. While reading aloud, the words should sound natural, with proper intonation.

Reading fluency is an essential classroom skill as it connects the child’s word recognition to their comprehension. 

Reading fluency gives students the opportunity to concentrate on the meaning of text and to draw correlations between what they are reading and their own prior knowledge. Reading fluency enables students to develop an accurate comprehension.

Non-fluent readers read slowly and sound choppy. They spend more time decoding, so they have less time and energy to understand what they are reading.  Oftentimes, they have to read the same passage many times in order to comprehend it.

Reading fluency and vision

Reading fluency is dependent on the strength of visual skills such as convergence, binocular vision, accommodation, visual fixation and saccades.

A deficiency in any of these crucial visual skills can lead to reading problems, which can have a negative effect on a child’s ability to learn.

Which visual skills are necessary for reading?

• Convergence – the ability of the eyes to retain a single image by turning inward, while at the same time focusing on a near object, such as a book or computer screen.
• Binocular fusion – the ability of the brain to create a single image using distinct visual information received from each eye.
• Accommodation – the ability of the eyes to switch focus between two distances while maintaining clear vision.
• Visual fixation – the ability of the eyes to accurately focus on a target image, such as a word on a page.
• Saccades – rapid eye movements across two or more focus points, such as when reading a sentence across a page or moving from one word to the next.

Could my child have a vision problem?

As children may not be able to verbally express themselves it can be difficult to identify a vision problem.

Common signs of a vision problem may include:

• Covering one eye
• Behavioral problems
• Frequent blinking
• Excessive fidgeting
• Limited attention span
• Tilting head to one side
• School avoidance
• Reading comprehension difficulties
• Reading below school grade level
• Reading avoidance

If your child shows signs of a visual impairment, it is important to visit an eye doctor near you for a comprehensive evaluation of your child’s vision and visual skills.

Can vision therapy help?

Vision is a learned skill that can be trained and strengthened.

If a vision problem is at the root of your child’s reading difficulty, a vision therapy program can improve your child’s reading grades.

A vision therapy program may help to improve your child’s visual skills and provide them with the necessary tools to succeed in learning and reading.

Each vision therapy program is created to the needs of the individual child, and may include prisms, filters, specialized lenses and eye exercises to help retrain the brain-eye connection and improve visual skills.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

If you think a vision problem may be affecting your child’s reading success, schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help strengthen their visual skills to improve reading fluency.

The post What is Reading Fluency? appeared first on Optometrists.org.

When a child has a visual processing or perceptual disorder it hinders their ability to make sense of information taken in through the eyes and visual system. This does not mean they have problems with sharpness of vision or sight.

Many children have difficulties with eye tracking, which impacts how the brain interprets visual information.

What is eye tracking?

Eye tracking, also called visual tracking, is the eyes’ ability to track from left to right in an efficient manner and to follow moving objects.

Eye tracking problems are successfully treated with vision therapy.

Eye movements should be quick, consistent and smooth.

Eye tracking is critical to success in sports and school. The ability to track a ball or words on a page are affected when a person has poor eye tracking skills.

Poor eye tracking skills can cause difficulty in math, reading and writing. The issue is not with the eyes themselves, but the eye muscles. With poor eye tracking, eye motions may lack smoothness, causing vision to be jumpy. This can be a big contributor to dyslexia symptoms.

If you suspect your child has a learning difficulty, contact an eye doctor near you, who can diagnose and treat any visual problems.

SEE RELATED: 2021 Update: Reading Fluency

Eye tracking symptoms  

Some of the symptoms associated with eye tracking deficits include:

• Difficulty paying attention
• Clumsiness
• Difficulty copying from the board at school
• Guessing of words
• Guided reading – uses a finger when reading
• Loss of place when reading, writing, or copying
• Omits words or transposes words when reading
• Overwhelmed by pages of text
• Poor accuracy with word endings
• Poor awareness of punctuation
• Poor reading comprehension, fluency and speed
• Poor handwriting
• Poor sports performance
• Skips sentences
• Resists or avoids reading
• Re-reads words or sentences
• Reverses words or letters
• Rubs or squints eyes when reading
• Tilts head when reading
• Words or text may appear to float or move on the page

Vision therapy and eye tracking

The best way to treat a visual tracking disorder is with vision therapy. 

Vision therapy is a customized program to help strengthen the eye-brain connection, which is often weak in a person with visual tracking problems. It involves specific exercises designed to teach the eyes how to move smoothly from one place to another.

Sometimes reading lenses and/or bifocals can be helpful to reduce eye tracking symptoms. Therefore your eye doctor may recommend a vision therapy program along with lenses.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Schedule an appointment with a vision therapy eye doctor near you to evaluate your child’s eye tracking abilities.

The post 2021 Update: Vision Therapy for Eye Tracking appeared first on Optometrists.org.

Vision is not just ‘20/20 sight’ but is also how the eyes and brain communicate.

Your child may have clear sight, but in order to learn and have clear handwriting and accurate spelling a child also needs well developed visual skills.

Visual skills are how the eyes and brain talk to each other and are essential to perform at school, especially for handwriting and spelling. If your child has a problem with any of their 17 visual skills the clarity of their handwriting and accuracy of their spelling could be affected.

According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), up to 1 every 4  children have a significant vision problem that impacts their learning and school performance.

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you who can evaluate and determine if your child’s visual skills are impacting their learning.

SEE RELATED: 2021 Update: Reading Comprehension

How do visual problems impact the child?

Vision problems can affect a child’s reading, writing and spelling along with other aspects of learning. If your child’s vision is compromised then their academic performance may suffer.

Vision problems can impact any of these:

• Handwriting
• Homework completion
• Reading fluency
• Reading comprehension
• Spelling
• Attention and concentration
• Classroom performance
• Visual arts

Vision skills for writing

Efficient writing is vital for taking notes, completing assignments and taking exams. Illegible handwriting can lead to proofreading mistakes, and sometimes even avoidance of writing tasks.

If your child is unable to write legibly, they may have reduced fine visual motor and visual perception skills.

Fine visual motor skills: help a child to write neatly, with appropriately sized letters. A child with poor fine visual motor skills may press too hard on the page when writing, which can lead to muscle strain and fatigue of the hand or wrist.

Visual perception: helps a child to visualize words and letters, including their size and shape. This skill triggers a subconscious motor response that  enables the child to write the letters and words on the paper. Without this skill, the ability to write legibly will be affected.

A combination of these two visual skills is necessary to ensure that the letters are written in sequence, consistently sized, within the lines, and appropriately spaced.

Vision skills for spelling

A child’s spelling abilities are affected by their visual skills in focusing and eye pursuits skills.

Focusing: allows your child to see a word with absolute clarity. If a child has poor focusing skills, they may exert too much energy in making sure the word is seen clearly, which can affect their word memory.

Eye Pursuits: enable the eyes to scan a word, with smooth binocular movements, in order to read a word accurately. Without this visual skill, a child may omit sounds in a word. These assumptions and omissions often lead to spelling mistakes.

Vision therapy and writing and spelling

Vision therapy is a personalized treatment program that involves a series of eye exercises to strengthen the eye-brain connection and improve visual skills.

It is important to treat vision problems as early as possible so that your child can achieve optimal results and reach their full potential in school.

If you think your child may have a vision problem, schedule a comprehensive vision evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor near you.

LEARN MORE:  Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

The doctor will be able to detect any vision problems, and will discuss how vision therapy could improve your child’s writing and spelling.

The post 2021 Update: Writing and Spelling appeared first on Optometrists.org.

Up to 25 in every 100 children are affected by vision problems — that’s at least six students in every class.

This checklist will help you to discover if an undiagnosed visual problem could be impacting your child.

Regular and comprehensive eye exams are crucial for detecting vision problems — and essential in aiding a student’s academic success.

Schedule a comprehensive eye exam with an eye doctor near you, to detect any underlying vision problems your child may have.

SEE RELATED: Could Your Child Have Digital Eye Strain?

How to use this Checklist?

Follow these steps;

1. Print off the these pages
2. Carefully read through the checklist and tick any boxes
3. Schedule an appointment for your child to see an eye doctor experienced in vision therapy
4. Take these pages to the appointment

Parents Checklist

Below is a checklist for parents that may signal that your child has a vision problem.

Does your child display any of these behaviors? 

• Reading below grade level
• Reads words backwards, such as: was=saw and top=pot
• Closing or squinting of one eye
• Excessive blinking or squinting
• Frequently bumps into objects or drops things
• Frequently loses items
• Head is frequently tilted to one side or one shoulder is noticeably higher
• One eye turns or drifts in a different direction than the other
• Poor motor/visual coordination skills (hand-eye coordination)
• Problems judging distances and bumping into objects
• Tilts or turns head while reading or during other visual activities

Does your child ever complain of;

• Blurry vision
• Concentration and attention difficulties
• Dizziness or nausea
• Double vision
• Words move on a page or run together
• Eye strain or headaches
• Motion sickness or car sickness

3. Does your child display any of these whilst reading?

• Avoids or dislikes reading
• Covers or closes one eye
• Fatigues easily
• Frequently loses place and/or skips words
• Holds object or reading material too close
• Repeats lines when reading
• Rubs eyes during or after periods of reading
• Tilts head toward object or book
• Uses finger or ruler to read

If your child shows any of these signs or symptoms, schedule an evaluation with an experienced vision therapy eye doctor.

How does vision therapy help?

Treating visual problems often has a direct and positive impact in reducing problematic behavioral and learning problems.

Vision therapy is a customized treatment program that involves specific eye exercises that help to retrain the eyes and brain to communicate better.

Researchers have found that vision therapy can be helpful for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD or learning disabilities but whose learning problems are actually related to visual dysfunction.

If a child’s eyes aren’t focusing properly, then attention, focus, grades, reading abilities, and behavior are affected.

LEARN MORE:   Vision Therapy for Children

Schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can diagnose and treat your child’s vision problems.

The post 2021 Update: Parent’s Checklist for Vision Therapy appeared first on Optometrists.org.

Reduced visual efficiency can negatively impact a person’s performance in school, at the office, and on the sports field, many times these children are labelled as dyslexic. Understanding and knowing what to look out for can help with early detection and treatment of visual problems.

What is visual efficiency?

Visual efficiency is understood by measuring how effectively the eyes work together as a team. 

The measurements of the eye’s teamwork are calculated based on the visual skills such as their ability to track across a page, converge, and focus. All these skills are essential for effective processing of visual information and for effective reading fluency.

1. Eye Tracking Problems

Eye tracking involves smooth and effortless movements of the eyes. Proper eye tracking helps us gather and scan information quickly from the environment around us, so that we can understand where we are and what our next move should be.

When eye movements are slower than normal, it may indicate an eye tracking problem. Three types of eye tracking problems are: difficulties with pursuits and saccades and fixation disparities.

Individuals with an eye tracking problem may:

• Easily lose their place while reading
• Have difficulty spelling
• Have poor hand-eye coordination
• Often skip lines when reading
• Omit or substitute words while reading.

Contact a vision therapy eye doctor who can help diagnose and treat any visual problems you may be experiencing, especially if your child has reading fluency difficulties.

SEE RELATED: Smart in Everything… Except School

2. Eye Teaming Problems

Your two eyes need to work in perfect unison and coordination in order to see the world in a clear and precise way. The images the brain creates may be uncomfortable or confusing when the eyes don’t function as a team.

Convergence insufficiency and convergence excess are two common eye teaming problems.

Convergence insufficiency occurs when the eyes find it difficult to focus inwards on an object, such as when reading or using a computer.

Convergence excess is the opposite: the eyes aren’t able to easily focus outward. This leads to difficulties with distance vision.

Symptoms of eye teaming problems include:

• Blurred or double vision
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty reading
• Headaches
• Poor depth perception
• Rubbing or squinting of the eyes
• Uncomfortable or tired eyes

3. Focusing Problems

Focusing problems occur when there are difficulties either changing focus from close to far and back again or maintaining focus, such as on a book or computer screen, for hours at a time.

Every time our eyes shift their gaze from one object to another, they accommodate, or change focus, so that each object appears clear. Focusing difficulties occur when the eye can’t relax and tighten or maintain position over an extended period.

Symptoms of focusing problems can include:

• Difficulty or avoiding reading
• Blurred vision
• Blurred vision when shifting focus from one object to another
• Frequent eye rubbing
• Holding objects close to the face in order to view them
• Headaches during or after reading
• Watery eyes

Other symptoms of visual efficiency problems include:

• Holding a book too close
• Uses finger pointing while reading
• Needing excessive time for homework
• Poor reading comprehension
• Slow reading
• Head tilting while reading
• Closing of one eye
• Clumsiness
• Words or letters moving, jumping, or running together when reading

Visual efficiency and vision therapy

Vision therapy helps to increase and strengthen the eye-brain connection, which is often weak in a person with visual efficiency problems and poor reading fluency.

A vision therapy program involves custom-made visual exercises that create new pathways in the visual system. By regularly performing these exercises patient’s will develop improved visual skills and may notice a significant reduction in their symptoms.

Vision therapy may also involve the use of specialized lenses, filters, or prisms to help relieve symptoms.

LEARN MORE:   Vision Therapy for Children

If you or your child experiences any of the symptoms mentioned above, contact a vision therapy eye doctor near you to have your vision evaluated.

The post 2021 Update: Vision Therapy for Visual Efficiency appeared first on Optometrists.org.

If a child has any type of visual dysfunction it could prevent them from achieving academic success and affect their reading fluency.

These children are often bright and intelligent, but somehow their reading is still below grade level.

If your child is not reading to their potential contact an eye doctor near you, as they may have an undetected visual problem, which might require reading glasses or vision therapy.

SEE RELATED: 2021 Update: Writing and Spelling

What is reading fluency?

Reading fluency is the ability to read accurately, smoothly and with expression. Fluent readers recognize words automatically, without struggling over decoding issues. As they read, the words sound natural, as if they’re speaking.

Fluency is an essential classroom skill as it bridges the child’s word recognition to their comprehension. 

It allows students time to focus on what the text is saying and enables them to make connections between what they are reading and their own background knowledge. They are able to concentrate on comprehension.

Non-fluent readers sound choppy and read slowly. They spend more time decoding, leaving less time and energy for comprehension. They often have to read the same passage several times to comprehend what they are reading.

Reading fluency and vision

Reading fluency is dependent on the strength of visual skills such as accommodation, binocular vision, convergence, saccades, and visual fixation. Many children benefit with reading glasses, while others require a program of vision therapy to improve their visual efficiency skills.

A deficiency in any of these vital visual skills can result in reading difficulties, which can  impact a child’s ability to learn.

Which visual skills are necessary for reading?

• Accommodation – the eyes’ ability to switch focus between two distances while maintaining clear vision.
• Binocular fusion – the brain’s ability to form a single image using the distinct visual information it receives from each eye.
• Convergence – the eyes’ ability to maintain a single image by simultaneously turning inward to focus on a near object, such as a book or computer screen.
• Saccades – rapid eye movements between two or more focus points, such as when the eyes move from one word to the next when reading a sentence across a page.
• Visual fixation – the eye’s ability to accurately focus on a target image, such as a word on a page.

Could my child have a vision problem?

It can be difficult to identify a vision problem in a child, as they may not be able to verbally express themselves or know that they have a vision problem, such as visual efficiency problems.

Common signs of a vision problem may include:

• Behavioral problems
• Covering one eye
• Excessive fidgeting
• Frequent blinking
• Limited attention span
• Reading avoidance
• Reading below school grade level
• Reading comprehension difficulties
• School avoidance
• Tilting head to one side

If your child is displaying signs of a visual impairment, it is important to visit an eye doctor near you for a comprehensive evaluation of your child’s vision and visual skills.

Can vision therapy help?

Vision is a learned skill that can be trained and strengthened, vision therapy is a program to develop the visual skills.

If a vision problem is at the root of your child’s reading difficulty, a vision therapy program can help.

A vision therapy program may help to improve your child’s visual skills and provide them with the necessary tools to succeed in reading and learning, and enjoy a lifetime of success.

Each vision therapy program is created to the individual needs of each child, and may include specialized lenses, prisms, filters, and eye exercises to help retrain the eye-brain connections and improve vision.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

If you think a vision problem may be affecting your child’s reading success, schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help strengthen their visual skills to improve reading fluency.

The post 2021 Update: Reading Fluency appeared first on Optometrists.org.

Vision is our primary sense, but most people take their eyes for granted. As we rely more on digital devices throughout our lives, our eyes are starting to feel the fatigue.

What is eye fatigue?

The technical term is asthenopia, but many may know it as eye fatigue or  eye strain. When caused by using a digital screen it’s called computer vision syndrome (CVS) or digital eye strain (DES).

Eye fatigue happens when our eyes experience pain due to being overworked beyond their capacity.

Eye fatigue signs occurs when the muscles in the eye either become fatigued, fail to receive enough hydration and rest from harsh computer screen glare over long periods.

Over time, eyes tend to feel tired and ache, causing difficulties in maintaining attention and concentration.

For some people, their eyes are overworked to a point that they begin to lose concentration and experience disabling eye fatigue, due to glare, air pollutants and long exposure to harmful rays.

When this occurs, it is important to recognize the signs of eye fatigue and then also rest your eyes and take a break from screens or any other activity that requires your eyes to focus intensely.

Schedule an appointment with an eye doctor near you to evaluate your eyes for eye fatigue.

What causes eye fatigue?

Eye fatigue and tiredness occurs when your eyes get tired from being used intensely, such as working at a computer or driving a car for extended periods. 

In some cases, signs and symptoms of eye strain indicate an underlying eye condition that needs treatment. While you may not be able to change your job, or all the factors that are causing eye strain, you can reduce it.

A common causes of eyestrain is Binocular Visual Dysfunction (BVD).

If you experience tiredness or fatigue, contact an eye doctor near you, who can diagnose and treat the visual issues of this condition.

SEE RELATED: 2021 Update: BVD and Neck Pain

What is Binocular Visual Dysfunction?

The symptoms of ocular fatigue, tired eyes, blurring, headaches, and occasionally double vision. are brought on by intense use of the eyes for visual tasks.

Binocular Visual Dysfunction (BVD) is a misalignment between the two eyes, requiring micro-prism lenses.

For some it can occur while concentrating on a visually intense task such as reading fine print or using the computer for hours at a time. These tasks can unconsciously cause the muscles in the eyelids, face, temples, and jaw to clench, leading to discomfort or pain from overusing those muscles.

When eye strain stems from the use of a digital device, it is called Digital Eye Strain (DES) and often results from Binocular Visual Dysfunction (BVD).

Struggling to see in dim light or an extremely bright or glary environment can also bring on eye strain.

People are found to blink less when staring at a digital screen. This decreased blinking may lead to dry eye syndrome.

The inability to make both eyes work together, due to BVD, is a leading cause of eye strain.

What are the best treatments for binocular vision problems?

Vision therapy and micro-prism lenses successfully treat BVD and CI.

1. Micro-prism Lenses

Prismatic (prism) lenses work to correct eye misalignment by manipulating incoming light before it enters the eyes so that when the images from the two eyes reach the brain, the brain can fuse them into a single image.

The prisms in the glasses ‘trick’ the brain into thinking the eyes are properly aligned, causing them to see just one object and preventing eye muscle strain that can cause headaches.

Micro-prisms are a very low amount, usually under 2 dioptres, however their impact can significantly reduce the headaches suffered by many people.

2. Vision Therapy 

Patients with CI or BVD are also often treated with a customized program of vision therapy.

Vision therapy is a program to improve the communication between the brain and the eyes, further supporting the visual system and alleviating the symptoms of BVD or CI.

Usually, patients find that their symptoms gradually subside or completely disappear when they wear prescribed prism lenses, which can be even further helped by completing a program of vision therapy.

While eye fatigue may be alleviated by making some lifestyle and behavioral changes, your eye doctor may discover that a functional vision problem is the underlying cause of eye fatigue.

LEARN MORE:  Guide to Binocular Visual Dysfunction (BVD)

Contact an eye doctor near you who can diagnose your eye fatigue and help improve your vision and enhance screen time experience.

The post 2021 Update: BVD and Eye Fatigue appeared first on Optometrists.org.

Dyslexia is a complex condition that impacts the way the brain interprets and processes information. It is one of the most common learning disabilities that affects writing, spelling and reading.

Some adults and children, who have a difficult time reading, may experience a wide range of visual issues and complain of symptoms when viewing text on a page.

The symptoms of dyslexia may include:

• Blurry or double vision
• Comprehension difficulties
• Headaches or eye strain
• Letters or words appear to move
• Reduced attention and concentration
• Seeing a glare on white paper
• Slow reading
• Tiredness or fatigue when reading

Symptoms of dyslexia can also impact the lives of adults.

If you or your child are experiencing any of these symptoms, contact an eye doctor near you so that you can alleviate your symptoms.

SEE RELATED: Children and BVD

Could your child’s symptoms be due to a vision problem? 

The symptoms of dyslexia, mentioned above, are often similar to those experienced with vision problems.

For this reason, an eye exam is essential if you or your child has been diagnosed with dyslexia, or if you suspect your child has dyslexia.

A comprehensive eye exam can identify vision problems, even before formal schooling starts, and before difficulties in writing, spelling and reading begin.

Healthy vision is an important piece of the learning process. Each of the following visual functions must be carefully evaluated to detect any learning-related vision problems:

• Binocular Visual Dysfunction – including the misalignment of the two eyes
• Visual efficiency – including binocular vision (eye teaming), eye movements, and accommodation (focusing)
• Visual information processing – including discrimination and identification, integration with other senses and spatial awareness.
• Visual pathway integrity – including refractive status, visual acuity, and ocular health

Once evaluated your eye doctor can discuss the best treatment options available.

Schedule an appointment with an eye doctor near you to evaluate and recommend the best treatment options available.

Can vision therapy help with dyslexia?

Vision therapy is a highly effective way to treat vision problems whose symptoms either mimic dyslexia or coexist alongside dyslexia.  

A customized vision therapy program will improve a patient’s visual efficiency and processing, and therefore strengthen many academic skills.

Vision therapy retrains the eyes and brain to connect properly through a series of eye exercises aimed at strengthening visual skills.

In some cases, vision therapy also involves the use of special lenses or prisms. Your eye doctor may recommend wearing glasses full time, or as needed for near vision activities, such as reading.

If you or your child show any signs of dyslexia, the source may be an undiagnosed vision problem.

LEARN MORE:  Guide to Binocular Visual Dysfunction (BVD)

Schedule an eye exam and take the first step to improve your child’s visual skills.

The post 2021 Update: BVD and Dyslexia appeared first on Optometrists.org.

A common question asked by parents

Parents of school-age children who have struggled with reading and learning are often looking for answers to many questions.

Most likely the most frequent question asked by parents is, “Why does my bright child continue to have difficulty with reading fluency and paying attention in the classroom?”

To provide some direction, two years ago the VisionHelp Group interviewed educational specialist, Wendy Rosen, author of the book, ‘The Hidden Link Between Vision and Learning, Why Millions of Learning Disabled Children are Misdiagnosed’.

In her video, ‘Misdiagnosing Learning Disabilities’, Wendy mentions the diagnosis, “Convergence Insufficiency”, a binocular vision dysfunction usually associated with a reduced convergence ability and commonly identified with the Red/Green Penlight Near Point of Convergence (NPC) test.

This test which can be done in about 30 seconds is one tool in the optometrist’s use to evaluate a patient’s vision skills.

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School research published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology entitled: ‘Receded Near Point of Convergence is Not Diagnostic of Convergence Insufficiency’.

What they found was that the majority (89%) of post-concussed patients had a reduced near point of convergence (NPC).

Other results showed that these patients also had high incidence of;

1. Poor visual tracking (oculomotor dysfunction)
2. Reduced eye focusing problems (accommodative dysfunction) and
3. Difficulties with eye teaming and
4. Problems with focusing flexibility (binocular vergence/accommodative dysfunction)

The conclusions by the JAO Harvard researchers was that, “Because treatment options for the various oculomotor dysfunctions differ, it is prudent that these patients undergo a thorough examination of their vergence and accommodative systems so that an accurate diagnosis can be made and appropriate treatment prescribed.”

Complex visual problems should be addressed with a comprehensive evaluation process followed by a comprehensive model of treatment to meet the patient’s individual visual needs.

Vision Skills and Reading

Research shows that those children with vision-based reading and learning problems also have a high frequency of oculomotor, accommodative and binocular vergence/accommodative problems!

Therefore, the importance of assessing binocular vision skills, plus additional sensorimotor areas, is critical to assessing those children with reading and learning problems.

When the initial testing diagnosis identifies a reduced near point of convergence, it is essential to have a comprehensive sensorimotor and visual perceptual evaluation so that an accurate diagnosis can be made.

Vision Therapy

Once identified, as outlined by the American Optometric Association CPG-18, the best approach to treatment involves a comprehensive model of office-based vision therapy.

Vision therapy includes working one-on-one with a skilled vision therapist, sessions are typically 45-60 minutes, 1-2 times per week in-office with assigned home support activities.

Vision therapy should be provided in conjunction with lenses, prisms, and/or therapeutic tints prescribed and supervised by an experienced Doctor of Optometry in developmental vision and rehabilitation.

The post Is there a Link between Visual Skills and Reading? appeared first on Optometrists.org.