Vision and Learning

Vision and Learning

In the classroom, children need adequate visual skills to best serve their learning. It has been estimated that 80% of learning occurs from vision. At our office, we treat many children that have learning-related vision problems resulting from poor visual skills.

Some common symptoms of children with learning-related vision problems include:

- Skipping lines and words while reading
- Complaints of eye strain, headaches, double vision, or blurry vision while reading
- Fatigue with reading and academics
- Poor posture or excessive head movement while reading or copying
- Squinting or closing one eye
- Getting very close to the page, or rocking back and forth while reading
- Avoidance of reading and other “near-work”

If your child is having exhibiting any of these symptoms, a comprehensive eye and vision exam with visual skills testing is recommended. There is much more to vision than simply reading the eyechart across the room. Visual skills testing of eye teaming, eye focusing, and eye tracking are essential to uncovering if your child has a learning-related vision problem. Many learning-related vision problems are treatable by vision therapy.

It is of note that while vision therapy does not treat learning disabilities such as dyslexia or ADHD, symptoms of learning-related vision problems can be mistaken for learning disabilities. In addition, patients with learning disabilities may also have learning-related vision problems. In such cases, treating the vision problem can help the child to use their eyes more efficiently in the classroom, allowing them to put more of their brainpower towards learning.

For more information about the link between vision and learning, call our office or visit www.OVDRA.org