Struggling Readers? Have You Considered This To Be The Reason?


Students with learning related vision problems often go undiagnosed, causing many children to be mislabeled with learning disabilities, ADHD, ADD, and more. Find the signs and symptoms of learning related vision problems here, and learn how vision therapy can help!

     Hello Friends! Thanks for stopping by! I think you are going to be glad that you did today! I have some thought-provoking information to share with you! So many times over the years, I have had students who struggle with reading fluency and comprehension, handwriting, and writing skills, geometry and spacial skills, only to find through many months of evaluations, parent/teacher meetings, and ESAP meetings that the problem is a vision problem...not a "you need glasses" vision problem, but a learning related vision problem. This issue has been especially high on my radar because my own son was diagnosed with a learning related vision problem when he was 9 years old, and recognizing that problem and getting to the root of it was a major turning point in his life!

     Recently I was very fortunate to be able to attend a seminar explaining exactly what is going on for children with these types of vision problems and it was so enlightening!  Fascinating stuff friends! Like, did you know...

Do you have students who struggle with reading and learning, but you just cannot put your finger on the cause? It may be due to a dysfunctional visual system, and vision therapy may be the answer!

     Now, these are not "just get your glasses and you will be all fixed up" vision problems... those vision problems are usually caught in a standard eye exam given in the pediatrician's office or the nurse's office. These vision problems go beyond  20/20 vision tests. What you need to know about those "standard" vision exams that students get from the pediatrician or the school nurse is...

Do you have students who struggle with reading and learning, but you just cannot put your finger on the cause? It may be due to a dysfunctional visual system, and vision therapy may be the answer!

     So... many students are entering our classrooms with a "clean bill of health" as far as vision is concerned, because they have been told they have 20/20 vision. But in reality, they are riddled with vision problems that interfere with their ability to read, learn, comprehend, and even pay attention!

Do you have students who struggle with reading and learning, but you just cannot put your finger on the cause? It may be due to a dysfunctional visual system, and vision therapy may be the answer!
Actually, a fully functional visual system allows us to answer the following questions:
  • Where am I?
  • Where are other things in space?
  • What is it that I see?
  • What can I tell you about what I see?
It is not only important for a child's brain to use the eyes to receive information effectively, but it must also comprehend that information quickly and react to it appropriately. 
     Ok, you are thinking, but why then don't these students ever complain about not being able to see properly?
 Here is where the problem is...

Do you have students who struggle with reading and learning, but you just cannot put your finger on the cause? It may be due to a dysfunctional visual system, and vision therapy may be the answer!

     They don't realize that what is happening to them when they are trying to read or do math is any different than anyone else in the room...they just figure, it is one more thing they just don't seem to do very well!
     So if the students aren't telling us... how are we supposed to know there is a problem? Well, there are lots of signs and signals to look for in a child who is having learning related vision problems. Some of the most common ones are...

Do you have students who struggle with reading and learning, but you just cannot put your finger on the cause? It may be due to a dysfunctional visual system, and vision therapy may be the answer!

     Unfortunately, because the problems these children are having affect how their eyes focus, work together, or move along a line of print when reading, these learning related vision problems cause children to struggle unnecessarily, and can result in their being mislabeled as learning disabled or having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
     How often have you had a student whose learning behaviors are just "off" and you can't exactly put your finger on what is going on?
     In my experience, the signs that have stood out the most to me in my classroom that have been red flags have been: skipping lines when reading; saying that the words are "moving" on the page; horrible handwriting, especially when copying from the board; holding the book far away from their face to read; excessive erasing; only doing part of the work and then just stopping/giving up; doing great with math computation but struggling any time we work with geometrical shapes and figures; and very strong school-related anxiety.
     (During the seminar we were able to "walk in the shoes" of the students who struggle with visual learning problems, and we were given the opportunity to view things in the ways that these children view them. Below is an example of what a child with blurred vision or trouble focusing may constantly deal with in the classroom.)

Do you have students who struggle with reading and learning, but you just cannot put your finger on the cause? It may be due to a dysfunctional visual system, and vision therapy may be the answer!
   
     Can you imagine how difficult and exhausting this would be for a child? In the time that we were at the seminar, after experiencing briefly the different visual problems students may face, the adults in the room were FRUSTRATED, EXHAUSTED, AND OVERWHELMED!
     So once we see these signs and symptoms and suspect there is a learning related visual problem, then what? Well the student needs to be evaluated by a Developmental Optometrist who can then determine the exact problem or problems the child is having. Many of these students are then placed into a vision therapy program, which is a program of activities specifically designed to help the patient develop the visual abilities/areas, which are inadequate for schoolwork.Vision therapy trains the visual system to function properly.
     I wanted to share this information with you because over the years I have seen several success stories as a direct result of working with Developmental Optometrists and Vision Therapy programs. If you would like more information about vision therapy and learning related vision problems you can visit www.seemybest.com


12 comments

  1. Such important information!!! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks! It is so easy to lump kids together and make blanket statements about why they do what they do, but in reality, every kid is so different!

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  2. Great post! I am going to mention this to our sped teacher as I think I may have a student affected by this. Thanks so much for sharing!

    ~Laura
    Luv My Kinders

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    1. Thanks so much Laura! Email me if you want more information! There are lots of very simple accommodations that you can put into place for your student that may help in the meantime!

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  3. Great post! My own son actually ending up with progressive lenses in fourth grade because he had a focusing issue! His vision was good but his eyes couldn't focus for long periods of time (beyond 10 minutes) which affected reading books, board work and computer tests. His teacher was frustrated with Zach on state and county testing because he was "distracted" but the doctor said after 10 minutes or so his eyes because physically exhausted and couldn't read due to being stressed from trying to focus!

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    1. That poor pumpkin! I totally get it! Can you imagine?! I so wish there was more awareness about this. My son had such school anxiety, we were ready to put him on medication at age 8 only to find out it was a vision issue. The anxiety was coming from feeling overwhelmed and frustrated at school, but not knowing why since he thought everyone was going through the same issues! I am so glad you found out what was going on with Zach! xxoo

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  4. Wow, what an informative post!! This was fascinating and really makes me think about former students. Thanks for the great information!!

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    1. Thank you Kathie! I really want to spread the word on this one!

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  5. What a great post! Thanks for sharing; I can think of a few kiddos in my past that this very well could have been the case.

    Amanda

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  6. You're so A M A Z I N G!!!!
    Love you!
    ((Hugs))

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