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80% of children’s learning is done visually. Reading, writing, whiteboard work, and computers are all hard going if you cannot see clearly. Having clear, comfortable vision is necessary for a child to learn successfully. So many of the day to day learning tasks at school require seeing and processing visual information quickly.
No, not necessarily. The whiteboard may still look clear and sharp to a child who is having problems with close vision tasks. A child that doesn’t see the whiteboard clearly may not even think to complain because it has always looked that way.
Unfortunately, a simple distance vision check for the whiteboard does not detect a variety of other problems which affect reading and focus.
Clear eyesight helps in learning particularly reading. However other critical visual skills are still needed. Children must have a variety of scanning, focusing, and visual coordination skills for learning to understanding print. If these skills have not developed well, learning is stressful and difficult.
We call these Ocular Motor functions.
Children who have learning difficulties, especially with reading, often have focusing blur or poor eye muscle coordination. This creates stress or fatigue with close work. Children with these vision-related learning problems often have excellent distance eyesight.
Consequently, their near vision ocular motor function problems go undetected at standard school screening.
Parents, caregivers, and teachers should consider undetected visual problems as a contributing factor if learning is not keeping pace with other indicators of ability and intelligence. This is particularly so if symptoms of visual stress are present. A full and thorough eye examination is the most effective way of eliminating the possibility of a vision problem.
1. Ocular motor disfunction
This is a sensorimotor anomaly of the oculo-motor system characterised by the inability to perform accurate, effective ocular saccadic and/or fixational eye movement patterns.
The effect of this disability is to make reading more difficult. It is not the same thing as Dyslexia. Treatment for this problem will improve reading performance.
2. Irlen Syndrome
Irlen syndrome, also referred to as scotopic sensitivity syndrome (SSS), visual stress, or Meares–Irlen syndrome. Irlen Syndrome is not the same thing as Dyslexia, but a person with Irlen Syndrome is often mistaken to have Dyslexia. A common thread with Irlen Syndrome, is that Stress - none of us do well when stressed. Irlen lenses ease stress, fatigue, and many patients read far more efficiently.
3. Amblyopia
Amblyopia, or blunt vision aka “lazy eye,” is the loss of one eye’s ability to see details. It is a common vision problem in children. Amblyopia occurs when the nerve pathway from one eye to the brain does not develop during childhood. This confuses the brain, and the brain may learn to ignore the image from the weaker eye. Your Optometrist may recommend Vision Therapy through VisionLink to enhance the weaker eye detail detection.
4. Strabismus
Strabismus is a disorder in which the two eyes do not line up in the same direction, and therefore do not look at the same object at the same time. This results in the child using only the better eye to see to avoid double vision.
In many instances vision therapy, corrective spectacles or tinted lenses at VisionLink can assist in your child's eye co-ordination and reading function.
Kiwi's know that good things take time, so come to us, have the tests done without feeling that you have been "rushed thru", and you'll know what we mean when we say "we take the time!"
Book appointmentKiwi's know that good things take time, so come to us, have the tests done without feeling that you have been "rushed thru", and you'll know what we mean when we say "we take the time!"
Book appointment
