Learning Difficulties & Vision Problems

A Neuro-Visual Processing Evaluation is a comprehensive evaluation during which the doctor analyzes not only functional vision problems (e.g. problems with eye muscle coordination), but also visual processing problems that affect our ability to attend, concentrate, orient ourselves in our spatial world, and organize movement. A Neuro-Visual Processing Evaluation differs from a routine eye exam in that the doctor will spend additional time analyzing vision behaviors to gain more information about visual imbalances.

How Vision Affects Learning

Children often have vision problems that interfere with learning abilities in the classroom. Frequently these vision problems are not diagnosed, even following normal eye examinations and vision screenings at school or in doctors’ offices. Vision problems interfere with and challenge the ability of a child to attend and concentrate. When vision problems are severe they can affect perceptual abilities and can even cause developmental delays.
Functional and/or developmental vision problems can cause interference with teaming of the two eyes. This can cause children to have difficulty maintaining the alignment of their eyes, particularly when reading and writing. Focusing problems can also interfere with a child’s ability to sustain visual attention during reading and writing activities.

There are visual skills that when not functioning properly relate to the symptoms of eye strain, headaches, and may result in learning difficulties.
A vision examination should include a careful functional analysis of near vision skills including the ability to develop pursuit tracking, quick eye movements, and sustained focusing ability.

Listed below are some common symptoms of vision problems that can affect learning ability. Children who have vision problems are frequently diagnosed with Learning Disabilities and/or Attention Deficit Disorder. It is important to understand that Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder are classifications of symptoms and are generally not a cause in themselves. It is possible that the underlying reason for having either condition can be a result of undiagnosed vision problems.

Common symptoms of functional vision problems affecting children in the classroom are as follows:

• Eyestrain after reading and/or writing
• Headaches
• Double vision
• Blurring of print
• Poor handwriting, clumsiness
• Seeing words jumble or move on the page Color
• Losing one’s place when reading
• Using a finger to keep the place when reading
• Lack of retention of written material
• Daydreaming or loss of attention and concentration
• Having to re-read a paragraph to understand it
• Blurring of vision at distance after reading

Treatment

After a careful functional vision examination, treatment options may include glasses that relax the visual process enabling improved focusing ability and eye teaming or integration. Glasses may be recommended for school and for all reading and homework. Frequently parents and teachers, or even children themselves, will notice that reading and writing skills may improve from simply using these specially designed glasses.

Another option that may be considered is vision therapy. This is a special approach that trains children to establish improved visual skills necessary to meet the visual demands of reading and writing in the classroom. In vision therapy the doctor will present special activities using instruments, lenses, and prisms, to establish visual skills in order to improve visual function.

The ‘Learn to See’ Program

Every child must “learn” to use their vision to create experiences necessary for their perceptual development. In this way, a child creates a unique visual style and learning style that will be used in education, sports, and all aspects of daily life. The visual process within the brain is the main way in which children explore relationships affecting social interaction, learning, coordination, and self-esteem.

“Seventy percent of all of the sensory nerves in the entire body receive impulses from the eyes. Over eighty percent of all learning experiences come through a child’s vision.”
– A. Gesell MD

The “Learn to See” program is provided by a team of professionals with over seventy-five years of combined experience in working with children who have problems with vision, development, learning, and behavior. In addition to the careful vision assessment, the team will analyze the child’s developmental age, long and short-term memory skills, fine motor and perceptual motor coordination, the ability to follow directions, organizational skills, cognitive maturity, mathematical and logical thinking, clarity of speech, and language expression.