Vision Impacts Learning

For years, eight-year old Jeremy had trouble reading. He would skip lines when reading, transpose letters and could not remember words he’d just read. Above all else, he simply did not like to read.

“I didn’t really want to do it,” says Jeremy. “It was just so hard I didn’t want to do it. It was like, ‘No, I don’t want to read!”

“My first thought was maybe there’s a learning disability,” his mother, Margie Summerour, remembers.

But it wasn’t Jeremy’s ability to learn. It was his eyes – as it is for many kids.

In research from the Journal of Learning Disabilities , sixth graders with below-average reading skills improved their test scores by up two grade levels after 12 hours of vision therapy.

“There are so many children that have struggled and struggled and struggled, only to find out at age ten and eleven that they had a vision problem that would’ve made learning a lot easier had they found out before the child started school,” says optometrist Dr. Sharon Berger.

She says the problem, in part, is that routine vision screenings aren’t as thorough as a comprehensive eye exam.

“Very often, the screenings might check the visual acuity,” says Dr. Berger. “They might just have the child read the letters off the chart. That’s all they check.” But comprehensive exams look for more, she says. “Are their eyes healthy? Can they look and fixate and track their eyes across the page and keep their place when they read. Also, how well do they use their eyes together?”

The Summerour children each had vision screenings and checked out fine. In fact, all three kids needed glasses and Jeremy needed vision-therapy exercises to help his eyes focus and track words while reading.

“It’s very scary that children are just told that everything is fine and they don’t know any better. All they know is they’re struggling,” says Jeremy’s mother.

Experts say when learning problems surface, parents should first rule out vision trouble with a comprehensive exam.

For Jeremy, it’s opened up a whole new world.

He says, “I really want to read. I think I’m gonna like it.”

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

For most people, getting glasses or contact lenses will fix their eyesight problems. However, some children may suffer from vision impairments that aren’t corrected by glasses or contacts. As a parent, you may want to ask your ophthalmologist about the following ailments.

• Cataracts – The lens inside the eye becomes cloudy. People with cataracts lose clear vision and become sensitive to light.
• Albinism – An inherited condition that affects clear vision and produces sensitivity to bright light, glare and direct sunlight.
• Optic nerve damage – Damage to the nerves involved in vision. Optic nerve damage will affect a person’s field of vision. Glaucoma is one type of eye condition that can cause optic nerve damage.
• Macular degeneration – Where damage happens to a small section of the inside of the eye that allows us to see color and fine detail.
• Retinitis pigmentosa – A degenerative condition that reduces the field of vision.
• Nystagmus – An involuntary repetitive movement of the eyes.
• Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) – Damage to the retina that occurs in some premature babies who are treated with oxygen at birth.
• Usher’s syndrome – A genetic disorder that includes hearing loss and retinitis pigmentosa.

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

Experts suggest doing the following if your child has vision impairment:

• For serious vision impairment, attention to the placement of furniture is important.
• Ensure that big or bulky furniture or furniture with sharp edges is not placed near regular walkways.
• Families can develop helpful habits, for example, making sure that doors and drawers are not left open and that kitchen or dining chairs are pushed under tables.

For children who have low vision, you can make the home safer by checking that lighting is appropriate in every area.

Vision and Learning
Focus on the Family
Children’s Vision Information Network