Everyone knows the eyes have to see clearly (visual acuity) to function well. The eyes have to do much more than that, though. When looking at near, the eyes have to focus on the page to make it clear (eye focusing) as well as work together (eye teaming). When reading, the eyes have to move accurately from one word to the next (eye tracking) without losing place. These skills are critical for reading and learning, and when deficient can cause frustration, misbehavior, and school failure (barriers to learning). Some children have an eye that turns in or out (eye turn or “strabismus”) or an eye that doesn’t see as well as the other (lazy eye or “amblyopia”), and this can significantly interfere with their visual skills and depth perception.
HOW DOES VISION AFFECT LEARNING?
Most of the learning done in school is dependent on VISION. If a child has to struggle to see, they are going to struggle to learn. Often children are misdiagnosed with learning disabilities such as ADHD or dyslexia.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD IS BRIGHT BUT FEEL THEY AREN’T LEARNING OR PERFORMING UP TO THEIR POTENTIAL?
DOES YOUR CHILD EXERT A LOT OF EFFORT TO KEEP UP IN SCHOOL?
Sometimes these children are just referred to as lazy when really their visual skills are deficient and hindering their learning ability. Vision and learning are directly connected!
A major portion of what we learn is taken in through the visual system. Vision is a contributing factor to an individual’s ability to attend and respond to classroom instruction.
There are many aspects of vision which might affect an individual’s abilities to attend and respond to teacher instruction.
- Nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism can result in blurred vision or eye strain, and relate to performance in the classroom.
- Individuals may have focusing problems which do not allow them to rapidly change focus from book to chalkboard and vice versa.
- They may have difficulty using both eyes together. This dysfunction can require excess effort to overcome and may interfere with visual information processing.
- An individual may have difficulty controlling eye movements. This could result in loss of place when reading, frequent guessing of words, need for the use of the finger to maintain one’s place, or other more subtle difficulties.
Learning-Related Vision Problem Facts & Figures
- Up to 25% off all school age children have vision problems significant enough to impair
academic performance. The rate may be as high as 60% for those children labeled as having
- An evaluation of the visual efficiency of beginning readers in a public school found that
visual factors were the primary cause of reading failure and that most current school
screenings are inadequate to detect these problems.2
- A study of inner city youths found that poor vision is related to academic and behavioral
problems among at-risk children.3
- American Foundation for Vision Awareness
- Optometry & Vision Development
- Journal of Behavioral Optometry
How Can I Identify Vision-Related Learning Difficulties?
A qualified eye doctor can help identify vision problems that may inhibit learning. Click here for information on “Questions to Ask Your Eye Doctor”.
Teachers and parents can observe many signs that may indicate vision and/or learning related problems. Vision problems can affect a child’s behavior. The symptoms of ADHD and learning disabilities can be similar to the symptoms of a vision problem. Click here for a “Symptoms Checklist”. This information will be helpful to print and bring to the examination with your eye doctor.
What is Visual Information Processing?
The brain must efficiently interpret and process information and surroundings from what is seen. The academic curriculum is designed on the assumption that children possess certain visual information processing abilities, as well as other skills, at certain chronological ages. In other words, is the child visually ready for school? The child who has not developed the required level of skill may have difficulty from “day one”. These difficulties might manifest themselves as problems in reading, writing, mathematics, spelling, thinking, sports endeavors, playground activities, and even the social relationships children have with their siblings and peers.
Visual Information Processing Disorders and how they relate to Academic Performance
Visual Processing Disorder
Associated Learning Difficulties
|Visual form constancy = ability to recognize an object even when seen in different orientations or presentations||
|Visual memory = ability to remember what has been seen||
|Visual sequential memory = ability to remember sequences||
|Visualization – seeing with the “mind’s eye” or acting something out in your head even if never seen before||
|Laterality = development of left/right awareness on one’s self||
|Directionality = development of positional concepts in space||
|Spatial Relations = the perception of the position of objects in relation to one’s self or to each other||
|Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) = ability to process and reproduce what is seen by drawing or writing||
|Visual form discrimination = ability to discriminate among different shapes and remember what shapes mean||
|Size Constancy = ability to understand that object maintains the same size even when at far away distances or seen relative to other objects||
|Visual Closure = ability to fill in an incomplete piece of information or come to a conclusion with limited visual information||
|Figure-ground = identifying a specific detail from surrounding information||
|Visual-auditory integration = ability to process visual and auditory information (visual recognition of auditory input and vice-versa)||
Compilation of personal experience, information from “Hidden Eye Problems Can Block Learning” (Mitchell Scheiman), Optometric Management in Learning-Related Vision Problems (Scheiman & Rouse) and study group discussion -10/2006 Jen Simonson, OD, FCOVD
How Can Visual Information Processing Disorders be treated?
There are numerous research and clinical studies demonstrating the effectiveness of optometric vision therapy for treating problems in the functioning of the visual system. There are also numerous case reports supporting specific diagnoses and treatment plans. Studies have also demonstrated visual deficiencies and visual information processing deficits in older individuals, supporting the fact that children do not simply outgrow these deficits.
WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?
A comprehensive eye exam by a specially trained optometrist can help you determine treatment.