Reading Problems: An Often Overlooked
Solution
by Paul Rousseau, OD, FCOVD
Working with a child who is having difficulty with reading and learning
can be initially challenging. Yet, with each failure it becomes more and
more frustrating, and emotionally draining.
You are sitting in your dining room, working with your child, watching him
trying to read the same paragraph for the third time. But, this time you
notice that something doesn’t look right with the way his eyes are
moving, so you quickly call your eye doctor to schedule an appointment.
You anxiously await your visit to the eye doctor, only to find out that
“everything is fine.” Now what? Maybe it’s something else….
but what could it be? Is he just an auditory learner?
According to the American Public Health Association, “25% of students
in grades K-6 have visual problems that are serious enough to impede learning.”
In addition, the American Optometric Association has found that over 60%
of children with learning difficulties have undiagnosed vision problems.
This does not just refer to people who have never had an eye exam. Many
vision problems go undetected because most people think that “20/20”
means you have perfect vision. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yes, it does mean you can see the size of letter you are supposed to be
able to see from 20 feet away, but that’s all it means. In addition,
most eye doctors don’t test how well a child can see up close for
the length of time required to read and learn.
There are over 15 visual skills, in addition to being able to see 20/20,
that are required to read and learn. So how do you know if your child has
a vision problem or not?
Regular eye exams typically evaluate only eye health, acuity (how clearly
you can see the eye chart) and the need for glasses. In order to determine
if your child has a vision-based learning problem you need to see a Developmental
Optometrist who will provide a Developmental Vision Evaluation to test:
eye movement control, focusing near to far, sustaining clear focus, eye
teaming ability, depth perception, visual motor integration, form perception,
visual memory and visual perceptual skills.
It is also vital that parents must know the signs of a vision problem. If
your child struggles with reading, please ask yourself the following questions.
Does your child:
- Omit or substitute small words (like “of” for “for”, or “if” for “of,” etc.)?
- Get frustrated trying to read or do homework?
- Take much longer doing his/her homework than it should?
- Have trouble making out words?
- Slow when copying or make lots of errors?
- Find it harder to read at the end of the day than in the morning?
- Skip words or repeat lines when reading out loud to you?
- Reverse letters like b's into d's when reading?
- Have a short attention span with schoolwork?
Dr. Paul Cates of the Faith Christian Ministry states that vision problems
can definitely interfere with a child’s ability to learn. One parent
that he spoke with years ago was relieved to discover that vision was the
source of her child’s difficulties. After homeschooling for 9 years
and successfully teaching 2 of her children how to read, her fourth child
presented a unique challenge; nothing she tried seemed to make a difference.
Fortunately, her prayers were answered when she attended one of Dr. Cate’s
lectures.
In his lecture Dr. Cates had briefly mentioned that vision problems can
interfere with a child’s ability to read and learn, and explained
that you need to see a Developmental Optometrist if you suspect there may
be a vision problem. As soon as she got home she searched to find a doctor
in her area. Sure enough, even though she had taken her daughter for 3 eye
exams before, and had been told there was nothing wrong, she was amazed
to find out that indeed her daughter was struggling with a vision problem
when she tried to read up close.
How do you treat vision problems of this nature? Sometimes they can be corrected
with glasses, but the majority of the time you need vision therapy. Developmental
Optometrists provide vision therapy in their offices. Recent research published
in the Journal of Learning Disabilities, revealed that sixth graders with
below-average reading skills improved their test scores by up two grade
levels after vision therapy.
If you are just starting to teach your child to read, Dr.
Paul Cates of the Faith Christian Ministry has some excellent guidelines
to help you know if your child is visually ready to read. He has been kind
enough to grant permission to share this list with you.
CHECKLIST FOR VISUAL PERCEPTION- 4-5 YEARS
Can your child:
-
complete Shape and A-B-C puzzles?
- discriminate in likenesses and differences?
- note missing parts?
- identify the whole, when only a part is seen?
- see the goal in a maze?
- identify shapes within the environment?
- discriminate shapes?
- match shapes to the outlines of the shape?
- understand variations in size, color and position?
- discriminate in size activities?
- do peg board designs?
- reproduce patterns from a given copy?
- reproduce patterns from memory?
- reproduce designs from memory?
- identify body parts?
If you answered no to any of these questions, your child may not have developed many of the visual skills required for reading. A developmental optometrist would be able to tell you what visual skills are missing, and what would be needed to help your child develop those skills.
Whether your child is just learning how to read or if your child is struggling with reading and learning, you need to see a developmental optometrist. For more information on the critical link between vision and learning or to find a Developmental Optometrist go to www.eyeonlearning.com.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Paul Rousseau, of the Center for Achievement thru Vision Therapy,
is a board certified optometrist, providing specialized services for children
with vision-based learning problems, as well as adults for over 17 years.
Dr. Rousseau is a popular speaker with parent and professional groups and
may be reached at (321) 253-2020.