The first step in reading is reading fluency. Once a child has mastered that, they will start to be able to comprehend what it is they are reading.

Without comprehension, reading is a pointless and frustrating exercise. What most people don’t realize is that visual information is essential for reading comprehension.

If a child struggles with reading comprehension it could be due to an undiagnosed vision problem.

A traditional vision exam primarily measures visual acuity, or 20/20 eyesight, unusually it does not assess functional vision, so a child with ’20/20 sight’ could still have a visual problem.

Functional vision is how your entire visual system – the brain, the eyes, the visual pathways – works together to help you interact with your environment.

There are 17 visual skills that impact a child’s school performances.

The functional vision exam includes a comprehensive assessment of the visual skills including;

• Lazy eye
• Eye focusing
• Eye Tracking
• Binocular function
• Convergence
• Visual information processing

A functional eye exam is vital for all children with reading comprehension challenges.

If your child is not reading to their grade level, contact an eye doctor near you, who can diagnose and treat any visual problems.

SEE RELATED: 2021 Update: Reading Fluency

Vision and reading comprehension

There are in fact 17 visual skills that can impact a child’s school grades. Listed below are just 3 of the top functional vision problems related to reading comprehension:

1. Eye focusing (Accommodative insufficiency)

Accommodation is the eyes’ ability to focus. Tiny muscles inside your eyes contract or relax to change the shape of your eyes’ lenses and allow you to bring objects at different distances into focus.

When you focus on something close, the muscles contract, and when you focus on something in the distance, they relax. This can make reading difficult when trying to maintain focus on objects up close, such as a book.

2. Convergence insufficiency

Convergence insufficiency is a problem with keeping both eyes working together, especially when focusing on words on a page.

When the eyes don’t converge accurately, it can affect the ability to concentrate on simple near tasks. This can also result in headaches, double vision, and visual discomfort when performing near activities like reading.

3. Eye tracking (Irregular saccades)

Eye saccades is a visual skill that enables a person to make quick eye movements from one object to another, such as moving from word to word while reading. Irregular saccades make reading more challenging and difficult for a child to keep their place when reading.

Can vision therapy help?

Vision therapy is a fully personalized treatment program designed to improve and strengthen visual skills, and retrain a child’s visual system to interpret visual input with increased accuracy and ease.

Vision therapy is more than just simple eye exercises — it improves brain-eye communication, and the effective operating of a child’s visual system.

The goal of vision therapy is to boost attention, concentration, learning, and reading.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Contact an eye doctor near you that specializes in vision therapy, this may just be what your child needs to significantly improve their reading comprehension.

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

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.

How can optometrists help?

Visual processing describes the way the brain processes visual information – this includes all information from a child’s reading, computer, sports, facial cues and social interactions.

Visual processing difficulties affect many students diagnosed with reading and learning disabilities, dyslexia and ADD/ADHD.

What are VIP difficulties?

There are several different types of visual processing difficulties, each with its own symptoms. An individual can have more than one type of visual processing difficulty.

1. Visual discrimination

Visual discrimination is the ability to recognize similarities and differences between shapes, sizes, objects, colors and patterns.

2. Visual figure-ground

Figure-ground perception is the ability to filter visual information that isn’t immediately relevant  so that you can focus on the relevant visual information.

3. Form constancy 

Form constancy is a visual perceptual skill that allows you to understand that a form, shape or object stays the same even when it changes its size, position or is in a different environment.

4. Visual closure

Visual closure is a visual perceptual skill that allows you to know what an object is even when the object is only partially visible.

5. Visual memory

Visual memory is the ability to immediately recall what the eye has seen.

6. Visual sequential memory

Visual sequential memory is the ability to remember and recall a sequence of objects and/or events in the correct order.

7. Visual motor integration

Visual motor integration is the ability to interpret visual information and respond with a motor action.

Signs VIP difficulties?

The most common signs of VIP difficulties include:

• Slow reading speed
• Difficulties with spelling
• Confusing similar looking words
• Reading words backwards
• Writing letters or numbers backwards
• Reduced math skills
• Poor reading comprehension
• Messy handwriting
• Confusion of letters and numbers

How can vision therapy help?

A vision therapy treatment program can improve a child’s visual processing abilities through eye exercises that help retrain the eyes and brain to work together.

Schedule an eye exam with a vision therapy eye doctor near you who can diagnose and treat any vision problems your child may have.

The post What is Visual Information Processing? 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 incorrectly perceives the information their eyes are relaying to their brain, their body will react with an inappropriate motor response.

Visual motor integration is crucial for activities that require the body to respond to visual information, such as eye-hand coordination and playing sports. 

Schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help improve any visual problems your child may have.

SEE RELATED: Visual Form Constancy

What is visual motor integration?

The ability to interpret visual information and respond with a motor action is visual motor integration. For example, you see a ball and you respond by moving your hands to catch the ball.

Visual motor integration is essential for the development of their fine motor and gross motor skills.

Signs of poor visual motor integration

Your child might have trouble with visual motor integration if they exhibit some of the following visual processing symptoms:

• Difficulty staying within the lines when coloring
• Difficulty catching or kicking a ball
• Trouble fastening buttons or tying shoelaces
• Difficulty copying from the board
• Poor handwriting
• Trouble in geometry and lining up math problems

If you suspect a problem in your child’s vision, contact an eye doctor near you, to have your child’s vision evaluated.

How vision therapy can help

Vision therapy can improve visual motor integration skills through eye exercises that help retrain the eyes and brain to work together.

These exercises will help them improve their fine motor and gross motor skills to improve their body coordination and enhance their enjoyment of participating in sports.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you who can diagnose and treat any vision problems your child may have.

The post Visual Motor Integration appeared first on Optometrists.org.

The ability to remember the objects in a certain order is crucial to learning how to read, write, develop comprehension and succeed in math.

Schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help improve any visual problems your child may have.

SEE RELATED: Visual Closure

What is visual sequential memory?

Visual sequential memory is the ability to remember and recall a sequence of objects and/or events in the correct order.

For example, a child with poor visual sequential memory may  read the word ‘felt’ as ‘left’ or ‘cat’ as ‘act.’

Signs of poor visual sequential memory

Your child might have trouble with visual sequential memory if they exhibit the following visual processing symptoms:

• Reading or comprehension difficulties
• Difficulty remembering forms (including shapes, orientation, sizes, and colors) or characters in the correct order
• Often whispers or talks aloud as they write
• Trouble spelling – misses, adds or jumbles letters within words
• Trouble recognizing and remembering patterns

If you suspect a problem in your child’s vision contact an eye doctor near you, to have your child’s vision evaluated.

How vision therapy can help

Vision therapy can improve visual sequential memory skills through eye exercises that help develop the child’s visual information processing skills.

These exercises will not only improve a child’s sequential memory issue, but help them improve their reading, comprehension and spelling skills so that their academic performance improves.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you who can diagnose and treat any vision problems your child may have.

The post Visual Sequential Memory appeared first on Optometrists.org.

Does your child still reverse letters, numbers or words? It could be a visual form constancy problem.

Form constancy is necessary to understand that letters, words and numbers remain the same whether in a book, newspaper, a sign or in a different font or text.

Children who have problems with form constancy may frequently reverse letters and/or numbers, causing reading or math difficulties.

What is visual information processing?

Visual information processing (VIP), also known as the visual perceptual skills, are the skills necessary for processing visual information, such as when reading, using a computer, playing sports, understanding facial cues, and more.

Difficulties with VIP are often found among students reading and learning disabilities, dyslexia and ADHD.

What is visual form constancy?

Visual form constancy is a specific visual perceptual skill that allows a child to understand that a shape, form or object stays the same even when it changes its position, size, or is in a different environment.

For example, when you see the letter ‘A,’ it’s always the letter ‘A’ whether in a word, bigger text or different font.

Schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help improve any visual problems your child may have.

SEE RELATED: Visual Sequential Memory

Signs of poor visual form constancy

Your child might have trouble with visual form constancy if they exhibit the following visual processing symptoms:

• Reading or math difficulties
• Struggles to find missing items quickly
• Struggles to recognize objects when placed in a new location
• Struggles to always recognize familiar objects or places in photographs
• Has trouble using building blocks or putting together a puzzle based on a picture
• Has trouble judging heights and distances
• Has trouble reading unusual fonts

If you suspect a problem in your child’s vision, contact an eye doctor near you to have your child’s vision evaluated.

How vision therapy can help

Vision therapy can improve visual form constancy skills through eye exercises that help retrain the eyes and brain to work together.

These exercises will help your child to more effectively remember words and improve spelling and number recognition.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you who can diagnose and treat any vision problems your child may have.

The post Visual Form Constancy appeared first on Optometrists.org.

It could be a visual figure-ground perception problem.

Figure-ground perception is a key component of visual processing that allows children to understand what they see.

This is an important brain function that affects everything from learning to read to solving puzzles.

Schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help improve any visual problems your child may have.

SEE RELATED: Visual Descrimination

What is visual figure ground?

Figure-ground perception is the ability to filter out irrelevant visual information so that you can concentrate on what matters.

This enables a child to locate precise visual information in the midst of a cluttered context. For example, we use figure-ground perception when reading a flyer on a busy bulletin board.

Signs of poor visual-ground perception

Your child might have trouble with figure-ground perception if they exhibit the following visual processing symptoms:

• Trouble concentrating on books with small print and/or many words on a page
• Trouble copying notes from the board
• Struggles with Hidden Pictures and I Spy games
• Trouble picking out details in images or words
• Trouble scanning for information in text

If you suspect a problem in your child’s vision, contact an eye doctor near you, to have your child’s vision evaluated.

How vision therapy can help

Vision therapy can improve visual figure-ground skills through eye exercises that help retrain the eyes and brain to work together. These exercises will not only improve a child’s visual figure-ground perception.

Vision Therapy will also help them improve the literacy skills so that learning doesn’t have to be a struggle.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you who can diagnose and treat any vision problems your child may have.

The post Visual Figure Ground appeared first on Optometrists.org.

Visual discrimination is the ability to determine similarities and differences between various things, a skill that helps a child understand and appreciate the subtle differences in words.

This skill is especially important for learning how to read and write.

Schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help improve any visual problems your child may have.

SEE RELATED: Visual Memory

What is visual discrimination?

Visual discrimination is the ability to recognize similarities and differences between colors, size, shapes, patterns and objects.

Good visual discrimination prevents a child from confuses similar looking words.

For example, when reading, it’s visual discrimination that enables them to understand that the words “spring” and “spin” are different even though they have the similar letters.

Signs of poor visual discrimination

Your child might have trouble with visual discrimination, if they exhibit the following visual processing symptoms:

• Confuses letters and numbers
• Loses their place while reading aloud
• Trouble enjoying activities like puzzles or reading
• Trouble finding information during open book quizzes
• Trouble picking out details and differences

If you suspect a problem in your child’s vision, contact an eye doctor near you, to have your child’s vision evaluated.

How vision therapy can help

Vision therapy can improve visual discrimination skills through eye exercises that help retrain the eyes and brain to work together. These exercises will not only improve a child’s visual discrimination issue, but help them improve their reading skills so that learning can be easier and fun.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you who can diagnose and treat any vision problems your child may have.

The post Visual Descrimination appeared first on Optometrists.org.

The ability to quickly view parts of objects and mentally determine what they are before seeing the entire object is important for reading quickly and fluently, and for predicting differences in similar words.

Schedule an evaluation with a vision therapy eye doctor who can help improve any visual problems your child may have.

SEE RELATED: Signs of Visual Processing Information Dysfunction

What is visual closure?

Visual closure is the ability to visualize a complete whole when given incomplete information or a partial picture.

This ability helps children to read and comprehend information quickly; their eyes don’t need to process each letter in each word separately in order to understand the word by sight.

Visual closure allows a person to differentiate between words that sound similar, especially those with similar beginnings or endings. It can also help  children recognize inferences and make predictions.

Signs of poor visual closure

Your child might have trouble with visual closure if they exhibit the following visual processing symptoms:

• Needs extra time to sound out words they already learned
• Trouble finding an item if part of it is hidden
• Trouble pulling the correct paper or book from a stack
• Trouble putting together jigsaw puzzles
• Trouble with games that require guessing an item based on a close-up photo

If you suspect a problem in your child’s vision, contact an eye doctor near you, to have your child’s vision evaluated.

How vision therapy can help

Vision therapy can improve visual closure skills through eye exercises that help retrain the eyes and brain to work together.

These exercises will improve not only a child’s visual closure problem, but also strengthen their word recognition and reading skills to improve their learning and overall school performance.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

Schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor near you who can diagnose and treat any vision problems your child may have.

The post Visual Closure appeared first on Optometrists.org.