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PACIFIC CENTER NEWS PARENT CORNER VISION PROBLEMS AND SCHOOL
PERFORMANCE
Vision goes beyond eyesight and involves receiving, processing, and understanding visual information. Vision is learned like walking. However, unlike walking, vision development generally proceeds without parent awareness. Because of developmental differences, no two people see exactly alike. Visual skills are important to academic success. Dysfunctions in one or more of these skills can hinder a child’s ability to learn. EYE TEAMING is one of our most important visual skills. Our eyes are designed to work together, but each eye functions and records images independently. Each eye must aim at exactly the same point for the recorded images to be identical, allowing the brain to combine them for clear single vision. When the eyes do not aim together, the recorded images are different and cannot be combined. Reading and comprehension become increasingly difficult for children with eye teaming problems. Their eyes tire, float apart, and end up pointing at different places on the page. The result is blurred, scrambled, or double vision. These children can also be highly distractible, finding it difficult to concentrate because the eyestrain is so great. Other symptoms include losing place as the print "swims," fatigue, headaches, and frustration. EYE TRACKING is required to follow a line of print. When reading, children with tracking problems can experience jerky and inaccurate eye movements resulting in loss of place, skipped or transposed words, and poor copying skills. They have trouble with comprehension because of difficulties in moving their eyes accurately and often use their finger or a marker to help keep their place. FOCUSING is seeing clearly during reading and quickly shifting focus when looking from near to far (desk to board). Print becomes progressively blurry for children with focusing problems the longer they read. They sometimes hold their books close to their faces or lay their heads down. ESOPHORIA, the tendency for the eyes to turn inward, causes children to see things as smaller than they actually are. To see an object properly, children bring it closer; eventually, the head is buried in a book. FORM PERCEPTION is needed to determine similarities and differences among shapes, colors, and sizes. If children cannot perceive and copy simple geometric forms, they will not understand the wiggly lines that make up letters, words, and sentences. VISUAL MEMORY is the ability to immediately recall characteristics of a given object or form. This skill helps children remember what they read and see by processing information through short-term memory. Children with poor visual memory struggle with comprehension, have difficulty remembering what a word looks like, or fail to recognize the same word on another page. VISUAL PERCEPTION is needed to interpret, analyze, and give meaning to what is seen. Children with visual perception problems confuse similar looking words, fail to recognize previously learned words, or demonstrate poor sight recognition. Excessive letter reversals are also a common symptom. According to the American Optometric Association, about 16% of all children suffer from inadequate visual skills. Up to 94% of children with reading problems have reduced visual skills. As children mature, over 80% of what they learn is visually processed. A child’s eyes are used constantly in the class-room and at play, so when vision is not functioning properly, the child may struggle in school, struggle with or avoid reading, require extra time to complete assignments, have difficulty in recreational activities, tire more easily, and develop poor self-esteem. Anything children cannot do well, they would rather not do. They may be accused of having a short attention span or be told they should try harder. They are often mislabeled as dyslexic, brain dysfunctional, learning disabled, or hyperactive. Children with uncorrected vision conditions or eye health problems face many academic and social barriers. As a parent or teacher, be alert. When children complain or display symptoms and are not working to potential in school, a vision problem may exist. Children cannot tell you if something is wrong because they have always seen this way. Their vision is normal to them. If you suspect a problem, schedule a comprehensive examination. Optometrists diagnose and treat vision problems, are schooled in developmental aspects of vision, and often use lenses, prisms, and vision therapy to enhance and improve visual functions. A behavioral optometrist who specializes in children’s vision can run a complete diagnostic work-up to determine whether your child’s visual skills are hindering school performance. Vision is trainable, and children can develop necessary skills through proper therapy. Programs are customized depending on the severity of the condition, the patient’s motivation and readiness, and the frequency of therapy sessions. It is important to understand what to expect of a therapy program and how goals will be achieved. Not all programs are the same. Vision therapy is a series of special eye exercises and treatment procedures to correct problems that glasses alone cannot help. During therapy, children learn to control their eye muscle coordination and build eye teaming skills. Most healthy vision therapy patients enjoy long-term resolution of their visual problems. Early detection greatly increases chances of successful treatment and normal vision development. Effective treatment can occur at any age, although the length of the treatment increases the longer the condition has existed. Children rarely outgrow these problems, and without treatment the problem can become so ingrained that successful vision therapy at a later date is more difficult. When vision disorders are detected and treated, parents report that children complete homework more easily, enjoy reading for the first time, achieve their full potential in school, and become more self-confident. Parents also report fewer family tensions as behavior problems decrease. Remember, good education means good schools, good teachers, and good vision.
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