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.

The ability to remember what we see is important to process short-term memory into long-term memory.

Visual memory is necessary for most academic tasks, including reading, spelling, reading comprehension, math and copying from a board to a notebook.

When a child has poor visual memory, school can become difficult.

What is visual memory?

Visual memory is the ability to immediately recall what the eye has seen. It allows a child to remember what a symbol, object, shape or form looked like, which is essential for learning.

Visual memory for reading and writing

There are four specific visual memory skills that are necessary for success in reading and writing:

1. Visual sensory memory includes information that comes from any of the five senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste). This type of memory enables you to remember a word or image that was shown for just a brief period of time and then easily recall that information.
2. Visual working memory helps you to remember information for short periods of time, such as when asked to repeat a sentence in a story, or put the events of the story in proper sequence.
3. Visual spatial memory allows you to create a picture of the information in your mind. This is necessary for many skills, such as understanding sequences of events, recalling text and images in a story, and remembering the correct spelling of a word.
4. Visual sequential memory helps you to remember the sequence of letters, objects and events in the correct order. This is essential for spelling as well as comprehension of text.

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

SEE RELATED: Visual Motor Integration

Signs of poor visual memory

If your child exhibits several of these symptoms, poor visual memory could be the cause:

• Difficulty copying information from a book or the board
• Difficulty recognizing letters or numbers
• Difficulty with sight words (sounds them out instead)
• May appear lazy in written work
• Confuses letters or words when writing
• Poor math skills
• Poor reading comprehension
• Poor spelling skills
• Slow handwriting
• Trouble finding letters on a keyboard or numbers on a calculator
• Trouble memorizing basic information such as phone numbers

If your child shows signs of any of these symptoms, contact an eye doctor near you to have your child’s vision evaluated.

How vision therapy can help

Vision therapy is a customized program that can improve visual memory through eye exercises that retrain the eyes and brain to work together and also develops the visual memory skills.

These exercises will not only improve a child’s visual memory issue, but help them to improve their spelling and reading, so that learning doesn’t have to be a struggle.

If your child has a visual information processing problem, they may also have a binocular vision problem.

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 Memory appeared first on Optometrists.org.

It could be a sign of visual information processing dysfunction.

A visual processing disorder can cause problems with the way the brain processes visual information. There are many different types of processing disorders and symptoms. Visual processing difficulties (VPDs) affect many students diagnosed with language-based learning disabilities.

If your child has been diagnosed with a language-based learning disability, contact an eye doctor near you to have their vision evaluated.

SEE RELATED: Introduction to Visual Processing

Types of visual processing disorders

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.

Signs of visual discrimination issues include:

• Confusion of letters and numbers
• Difficulty finding information during open book quizzes
• Losing their place while reading aloud
• Trouble enjoying activities like puzzles or reading
• Trouble recognizing differences and details

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.

Signs of figure-ground issues include:

• Slow reading speed
• Trouble concentrating on books with small print and/or many words on a page
• Trouble copying notes from the board
• Trouble picking out details in words or images
• Trouble scanning for information contained in written materials.

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.

Signs of form constancy issues include:

• Difficulty finding missing items quickly, even if they are in plain sight
• Difficulty recognizing objects when placed in a new location
• Difficulty recognizing familiar places or objects in photographs
• Trouble judging distances and heights
• Trouble reading unusual fonts

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.

Signs of visual closure issues include:

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

5. Visual memory

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

Signs of visual memory issues include:

• Spelling difficulties
• Difficulty recognizing numbers or letters
• Difficulty copying information from the board or a book
• Difficulty with sight words
• Reduced math skills
• Poor reading comprehension

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.

Signs of visual sequential memory issues include:

• Difficulty remembering forms (including orientation, size, shape and color) or characters in the correct order
• Difficulty spelling – misses, adds or jumbles letters within words
• Often whispers or talks while writing
• Trouble recognizing and remembering patterns

7. Visual motor integration

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

Signs of visual motor integration issues include:

• Reduced hand-eye coordination
• Dislikes sports
• Difficulty copying from the board
• Difficulty staying within the lines when coloring
• Messy handwriting

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.

Vision therapy is a customized program that will develop the child’s visual skills, leading to improved classroom performances.

LEARN MORE: Guide to Vision and Learning Difficulties

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 Signs of Visual Processing Information Dysfunction appeared first on Optometrists.org.