Reading & Learning Difficulties
Good vision is vital to reading well. Although vision may not be the only cause of reading difficulties, it is sometimes overlooked.
As a part of our therapy program, we build our patient’s skills up from the ground level. We teach the eyes how to function alone, then as a team, and involve more difficult skills such as visualization and visual memory. Both fine and gross motor are also incorporated. By the end of our individualized therapy program, the patient has all of the necessary tools in their vision skills toolbox and the knowledge and self-awareness to know when to use a specific tool they have now gained!
Reading & Learning for Adults
Your brain needs to accurately decode your vision. This includes things like visual memory for spelling and directionality for understanding letter reversals.
Because reading problems usually have multiple causes, treatment must often be multidisciplinary. Educators, psychologists, optometrists and other professionals often must work together to meet each person’s needs.
The optometrist’s role is to help overcome any vision problems interfering with the ability to read. This may require the use of corrective spectacles and/or the implementation of a variety of eye exercises.
Reading & Learning for Kids
80% of kids struggling with reading will have trouble with how their eyes track, move, or work together. If your child’s eyes cannot track properly, they will not be able to see the words the same way you do.
Their eyes may jump to the last letter, then back to the first, or jump through the word in some other random order. If the eyes aren’t perfectly aligned, each eye may end up jumping to a different letter, further confusing your young reader.
Writing Requires Fine Visual-Motor Skills
The fine motor coordination required for writing needs finely tuned visual coordinates. If your child is struggling with writing, they could have undiagnosed vision problems.
Signs of a vision causing problems with writing:
- Reversed letters
- Unequal spacing
- Difficulty copying off the board
- Reduced writing output
- Poor spelling
7 of the 9 symptoms of Attention Deficit can be caused by a vision problem
If you were trying to ride a bike with flat tires, wouldn’t you have trouble to keep riding? If a child’s eyes don’t work efficiently and it requires a lot more energy to try to read or stay focused, they will give up sooner or avoid doing it.
Studies have shown that treating these vision problems (if present) reduces the attention deficit disorder symptoms.
‘In an open trial, attention and internalizing problems improved significantly following treatment for CI (Convergence Insufficiency).’
Behavioral and Emotional Problems Associated With Convergence Insufficiency in Children: An Open Trial.
Borsting E1, Mitchell GL2, Arnold LE2, Scheiman M3, Chase C4, Kulp M2, Cotter S5; CITT-RS Group.
J Atten Disord. 2016 Oct;20(10):836-44. doi: 10.1177/1087054713511528. Epub 2013 Nov 22
Reading
Up to 80% of struggling readers are lacking visual skills. If the eyes can’t track accurately through the text, reading becomes difficult. These problems can mimic other learning disabilities.
Writing
Messy writing with bad spacing? Vision problems can cause writing to be messy with unequal spacing, reversed letters, or slow output. It is also a leading cause of trouble copying off the board.
Attention
If the eyes don’t work well together, it takes more energy to try to stay focused. It’s like trying to ride a bike with flat tires. These vision problems cause 7 of the 9 symptoms of attention deficit disorder.
Spelling
‘Fonetik‘ spelling? If a child doesn’t have good visual memory abilities, spelling will often be phonetic or random. Less than 50% of the English language is phonetic so visual memory skills are a must.
Vision Skills That Are Necessary For Reading:
Eye Tracking
If your eyes don’t track accurately, the information on the page will get mixed up. When it’s bad enough, a child may not even recognize the same word three lines later.
Eye Teaming
For focus and attention, your eyes need to work together efficiently. Problems like convergence insufficiency can cause headaches, migraines, difficulty with computer screens and more.
Accomodation
Your brain controls how accurately your eyes focus on the page. Problems with accommodation can cause blurry vision, headaches, difficulty with concentration and more.
Visual Processing
Your brain needs to accurately decode your vision. This includes things like visual memory for spelling and directionality for understanding letter reversals.
80% of Struggling Readers are Lacking 1 or More Visual Skills
Vision Problems Can Look Like:
Dyslexia
If the information does not make it accurately from the page to the brain, it will cause problems learning the written language. Too often testing assumes that vision is working properly, and diagnoses a problem higher up the chain.
Attention Deficit
Children with ADHD who also had eye teaming problems were found to score lower on the ADHD testing once the eye teaming problems were treated. 7 of the 9 symptoms are the same.
Learning Disabilities
If the brain doesn’t take in or process vision accurately, it can cause difficulties in learning that range from mild to severe. In the process of diagnosing a learning disability, these visual functions are often overlooked.
Developmental Disorders
Developing accurate coordination requires accurate coordinates. If you didn’t know where to go on a map, it would be hard to get there.
How Long Does Treatment Take?
No two patients are alike—each person experiences reading difficulties uniquely. Some individuals may require just a few weeks of vision therapy, while others may need more long-term treatment. The good news is that the improvements achieved through our vision therapy program are generally long-lasting, helping to significantly enhance reading skills and overall visual function.