Do you have a child who takes forever to do homework? Or hates to read? Learning related visual problems directly affect how children learn, read or do closse work.
We need to properly utilize over 15 different visual skills in addition to seeing 20/20 in order to succeed in reading, learning, sports, and life.
Undiagnosed and untreated visual related problems such as poor coordination between the two eyes and visual tracking problems are significant contributors to early reading difficulties and ultimately to special education classification.
A recent study funded by the National Institute of Health and the National Eye Institute revealed that at least one out of every twenty school-aged children is impacted by convergence insufficiency, an optometric condition in which the eyes have difficulty aiming and focusing at things close up such as reading and writing.
There are also other visual problems that can be easily diagnosed by a proper eye exam.
The five most common signs that a visual problem, beyond 20/20 eyesight, may be interfering with a child's ability to read and learn are:
1. Skips or rereads words and lines when reading. 2. Poor reading comprehension. 3. Takes longer than it should to finish homework. 4. Complains of double vision, occasional blurred vision, or word moving on the page 5. Has a short attention span for reading and homework, needs lots of breaks.
Any of these symptoms is a sign of a possible visual problem. The good news is that once diagnosed, these visual problems can be successfully treated with a personalized program of optometric vision therpy.
To help identify children who may be experiencing a visual problem that is affecting their learning ability, Dr. Smith, Krueger,and Jessop offer a FREE VISION SCREENING one Saturday each month for children between the ages of 5 to 18.
To schedule an appointment for one of our upcoming FREE VISION SCREENING please call Jean at 619-297-4331 x 224 to reserve a time and take that very important first step in discovering the quality of your child's visual skills.